TROPHY WIVES: The Midwives lift the Bill Stickells Cup after putting away 46 goals, 13 more than runners-up Esanders. ©Al Macphee/MiraclePR
Midwives made a winning start on Easter Sunday, adding another five goals to their tally in a 5-1 victory over Buffaloes at Clennon Valley. Torreadors then got back to winning ways with the only goal of the game against Normans. After lunch, Buffaloes enjoyed a decent 8-3 win over the Torbay outfit before Normans inflicted a first defeat on the Midwives, 6-5 the final result.
Over at TGGS, Esanders kept their unbeaten start going with a narrow 5-4 triumph over Oddfellows who lost for the first time. It was also close between Bluebottles and Stags, the West Bromwich side running out 6-5 winners. In the afternoon, Cleevillians were narrowly beaten 5-3 by Esanders who finish the tournament unbeaten.
Even before Monday dawned, the Midwives had an iron grip on the Bill Stickells Cup. With Esanders having completed their fixtures, Buffaloes would have had to have trounced the Stags and hoped the Festival XI could somehow keep out the Midwives. As the wind began to build, it was clear that this wasn’t going to happen. In a game which swung this way and that, Stags pulled off a 6-4 win.
Two-nil up after five minutes, it looked as if the Midwives were starting the cricket season early against a Festival XI side. But the challengers settled soon after and managed two goals of their own in the first half, which ended 6-2. The second half was pretty even, and the game ended 9-4, Midwives racking up 46 goals in total.
After a pause in play to allow the Midwives to lift the Bill Stickells Cup, the final game of the tournament, between Oddfellows and Torreadors, got underway. Oddfellows took a first half lead, but Torreador equalised from the penalty spot – after having already had one penalty saved.
All that was left was to present the Redcliffe Cup for fair play. That was a three way tie between Bluebottles, Cleevillians, Oddfellows.
What a colourful, entertaining, sun-blessed event this was. It is no surprise that players and families have been coming down for decades. Let’s hope that the Torbay Easter Hockey Festival will be a local staple for many more years to come!
TEAM FOCUS: ESANDERS
Dan Smith says: We’re from Bristol, and we represent Clifton Robinsons Hockey Club – and our friends, of course.
We’ve been coming here for about 60 years. Clifton Robinsons is a big club. The top end play at a high level and the low end play at a social level. We’ve got a mix of that here at the festival.
102 years ago, Robinsons Hockey Club started as an offshoot from a paper bag company in Bristol called E.S. & A. Robinsons. We shortened it to Esanders, so the touring side is known as that.
The reason I come down is for the social aspect. It’s all about coming together, having a couple of shandies and celebrating what we do, every Easter, in glorious sunshine. Hockey is there as well – to pass the time.
TEAM FOCUS: BLUEBOTTLES
Tufty Millman & Paxo Pound say: We are an invitation team, largely based around Westbury & United Banks hockey club in Bristol, but people do come from different areas as well.
We’re not entirely sure where the name Bluebottles came from. All the teams got named after ridiculous things back in the day, so it’s been Bluebottles for longer than we’ve been coming on tour.
We’re on about our 60th year as a club, Tufty has been doing 36 years himself, and it’s Paxo’s 34th. We’ve got people who very much enjoy the festival and love coming year after year.
It’s the pull of the people you play with and against, the camaraderie and the bay itself. Tufty was feeling awful this morning and he went to the front of the hotel, looked out and there was the sunshine, the blue sky, the bay – what could be better?
We veer towards the social side of the festival, but you don’t get that without trying to play hockey. So we try to play hockey, we do OK and have some fun.
TEAM FOCUS: BUFFALOES
Andy Barnett says: We are a collection of rag tag hockey players, really. We’re originally from Smethwick Hockey Club, but we’ve now got players from Stafford Hockey Club and a couple of local boys. Basically 14 of us, from all over the place, come together every Easter just to do this. So it’s an excuse to go away together and, usually, enjoy the sun. Our captain, whose dad had the team in the 90s, took the Buffaloes name and kept it going. Like buffaloes, we’re a big collective herd. We come together, we drink together, we play together and then go off on our nomadic lives and maybe don’t see each other until this time next year (unless someone gets married!)
We have a real 50/50 split between competitive and social hockey. We’ve got a couple of people who play hockey week in, week out, and a couple of people who come along. You can probably tell the difference based on the ones who are hitting the target and not! You’ll play some teams like us that have a mix of players who don’t play and play, teams who are all hockey players and teams that are not hockey players at all.
There’s a reason why it’s my fifth tour. We’ve got a seventh, a ninth and a couple of elevenths. It’s a real opportunity to come down to a nice part of the country and play a good competitive game, but it’s a really nice social mix as well. If you’re someone who’s looking for good hockey on good pitches, but also likes a good crack, it is a really nice balance.
TEAM FOCUS: ODDFELLOWS
Phil Day says: We’re the Oddfellows hockey club. It originated with some of our parents who went to university together at Exeter University.
We’re now on not only the next generation, but the one below that, so grandchildren are now playing. It’s developed with friends and family, and we’ve got a big package that came from Thames Valley some years ago. We only meet once a year and we’re looking forward to many years ahead.
Many years ago, when the festival looked like it was about to fold, three or four of the Oddfellows met in a bar and decided that not only would they put a team into the festival, but they would start taking charge of the festival. It’s really stayed with the club ever since.
Although the teams go out to win, we play with a real festival spirit. We come down as a family unit, generally speaking, but clubs can also take as much enjoyment out of it as they want. Some frequent Torquay bars, some frequent Paignton. But generally there’s a good spirit and some fun hockey.
TEAM FOCUS: MIDWIVES
Anthony Brady says: We’re from Sanderstead, South Croydon. We’re the Trinity Midwhitgiftians, and the Midwives is just the name we went with. We’ve been coming to the festival for over 60 years. We’re all cricketers as well, and this is the one event we go to before the cricket season.
If all you want to do is come out, play two games of hockey a day and then get out to the Spinning Wheel in Paignton and have a great laugh with your mates, you can’t beat it. It’s fantastic. This is genuinely the only thing I play hockey for.
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