BUZZING: The Midwives (black shirts) swatted the Bluebottles 6-2 to join the contenders for the Bill Stickles Cup. ©Al Macphee/MiraclePR
The 71st Torbay Easter Hockey Festival got underway in a riot of colour at Clennon Valley on Friday morning, with the traditional flag-raising and bully-off followed by an opening game between the two most vibrantly attired of the competing teams: Stags, in full Mexican-style fancy dress took on Normans, in their fluorescent outfits.
Stags charged into a three goal lead, but Normans pulled one back before half-time. Stags went further ahead after the break, but Normans pulled another one back before a late goal sealed a 5-2 victory for Stags.
Next up were Torbay Hockey Club, under their tournament monicker of Torreadors. They played an experienced Cleevillians side bolstered with a handful of Oddfellows players. Cleevillians did well to keep the score down to 2-0 by half time, but Torreadors went on to score three more in the second half, running out 5-1 winners.
Oddfellows then battled it out with Normans. After a goalless first half, Oddfellows celebrated a 4-2 opening game win.
The highest scoring game of the day was between Torreadors and Stags, with the Torbay side winning 8-6 for a 100% start. Oddfellows also made it two out of two with a 6-4 triumph over Cleevillians.
Meanwhile, at Torbay Girls’ Grammar School, the remaining four teams had been in action. The touring Buffaloes side got off to a winning start, beating Bluebottles 5-1. That was followed by the only draw of the day, established league side Esanders and Midwives scoring four apiece.
After lunch, Buffaloes and Esanders fought out a superb game with Buffaloes going 3-0 up before the Bristoleans turned the tables, running out 4-3 winners.
Finally, Midwives scored early en route to a 6-2 win over Bluebottles.
At the end of the opening day’s action, the leading goal scorers hoping to lift the Bill Stickells Cup are the Torreadors with 13, followed by the Midwives and Oddfellows with 10.
TEAM FOCUS: CLEEVILLIANS
Rob Link says: “We’re based in Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, and we’ve been going for 80 years now as a club. We’ve been coming to this festival for the last 70 years (the festival has been in existence for 71 years, but we missed it in the first year). We’re a very family orientated club. Lots of fathers and sons play hockey together.
“We are Bishop’s Cleeve Hockey Club, which originally started as a company team (British Aerospace). There is a hill nearby, called Cleeve Hill, which overlooks Bishop’s Cleeve village, so we’ve combined the two to form Cleevillians. We normally play in the West of England Hockey League, but we’re running short of players this year, so we’re trying to rebuild. This is the first year where we’ve not entered a team into the league.
“If anyone wants to take up hockey, I would recommend they Google hockey in their area and browse the websites that come up to see what they have to offer. Some clubs will have youth teams, so if you’re young and you want to develop, then you can join one of those. If you want to play high level hockey, you look for clubs that have got first a second sides high in the leagues.”
TEAM FOCUS: TORREADORS
Chris Reeves says: “We are Torbay Hockey club. The Torreadors has been our festival name for longer than I’ve been alive – and possibly since the start of the festival. We have been attending the festival since its inception, I think. There were also a few seasons when we fielded additional teams under the name Pink Panthers.
“Our first team play in Division 2 South, and we’ve got a second and a third team in the Riviera 1 and 2 divisions. So we’re not playing at a particularly high level, compared to some of the guys who are here, but we should hopefully be fairly competitive because we’ve got a good selection of players this year. Hopefully, everybody can enjoy themselves and want to come back next year.
“I’ve played hockey since I was at school. It’s fun. It’s quick. It’s just a really enjoyable game. If you’re interested, contact your local club, see what’s available around you and get involved. And if you’re a team looking to come down, I’d highly recommend the Torbay Easter Hockey Festival. All the games are played in a good spirit and it’s a good, fun weekend.”