Ladies 1s vs Norwich City 1 DRAW 1-1
Bury Ladies 1st XI started their first much anticipated East Premier match strongly with great runs out wide and good attacking linking play between midfield and forwards. Despite this they unfortunately conceded a penalty corner within the first 10 minutes which result in a change in the score line in favour to the opposition.

Play was even much for the rest of the first half with end to end hockey. Bury had a number of chances to score including shots at the keeper from some good link up play in the middle but failed to convert as Norwich City’s keeper was strong.

The second half saw energy levels upped and the home side gained several penalty comers, disappointingly these were not capitalised upon. Bury became the dominant force and 10 minutes into the second half some well worked attacks around the offensive ‘D’ they managed to get the ball across their keeper for Kat Soames to jump in front of the keeper to slot the ball home making it 1:1. Bury continued to pressurise them with some great passes out from defence. Millie Collins who must have done her ‘power punch’ work out to find both Anna Ong and Dominique Dyball upfront could still not break the deadlock.

Lots of positives to take away in readiness for their next fixture away to St. Albans.
Alice Prentice, Libby Stacey and Ari Dyball got joint player of the match.

Ladies 3s vs Sudbury 2 DRAW 0-0
First league game of the season saw local rivals Sudbury 2’s entering the gladiatorial ring ( otherwise known as the walled garden ).
We welcomed Imogen Grove , Audrey Mangwende and Ella Calver to their first league game with the 3’s.
Bury started brightly with lots of attacking pressure but couldn’t get past the Sudbury keeper despite some great play by the attacking line of Shazz Holton, Mazz Chapman and Jo Etherton .
Coach Katie Bedford gave some words of wisdom at half time and the second half flowed in a similar vein with lots of possession but no conversions .
The midfield worked tirelessly and the defence were solid.
Keeper Ella looked comfortable when called on, especially late on when Sudbury forced several short corners .
The game finished 0-0 but couldn’t fault the passion and hard work by the whole team .
Lots of positives to take and lots to work on going forward.
Star Player was Cheryl Bosman for solid defending and overall great play and clean sheet award for Ella Calver .
Onwards & upwards ?

Ladies 4s vs Felixstowe 1 LOSS 3-1
The first match of the season started off with a bang! The ladies 4s had their work cut out for them as one of the underdogs in this new league. With a new level of intensity and new players, Bury held onto a 1-1 draw at half time after a movie worth goal from the one and only Jenny Clark a minute after the opponents scored their first goal. Player of the match resulted in a tie, and awarded to Goal Keeper Kerry Woods for her spectacular saves and Bella Bridgeman for her ability to get out of tight spots. Despite sticks to kneecaps (Eloise) and balls to faces (Holly), and two more goals from the opponents, each and every player showed up today. With the pace of the new season set, the play can only go up from here…

Ladies 5s vs Felixstowe 2 WIN 4-1
First game of the season, with some new faces and tactics, but a great game with some fantastic play against a strong team! With the sun beating down on us, it took a little while for us to get into gear… but then Willsy dribbled it around, and slotted it into the goal!
1-0 up and we were tearing it up the pitch, passing in lovely triangles that Finn, Calv and Tim would be proud of.

Second half came around, and the heat split it into quarters. Felixstowe equalised with a brilliant strike from wide right. However, Fran soon capitalised on some excellent Bury play and made it 2-1.

The final quarter saw our last two goals (thank you Fran and Sophie!) to see the end of the match and secure Sophie’s place as Player of the Match. Well done everyone who played!

Ladies 6s vs Felixstowe 3 LOSS 3-2
Despite the score suggesting otherwise, the Ladies 6s started the season with a really strong performance. Bury were the first to score, taking advantage of an interception and driving up the pitch to Sophia Bartram who finished the job. A lucky goal from Felixstowe evened out the score board again but Connie Gardner took matters into her own hands, dribbling almost half the length of the pitch to take on the keeper alone. A fantastic goal from one of our defenders - which quite rightly earned her player of the match.

Felixstowe were relentless however, and 2 injuries in a short space of time caught our defence off guard and a bobbly short corner & speedy field goal gave them the win.
This was a really really strong performance from both new and returning players, which makes me very excited for what is come for the Ladies 6s season this season.

Mens 1s vs Ipswich 2 DRAW 2-2
Bury M1s kicked off their season by playing hosts to Ipswich 2s. With both teams looking to make an immediate return to Div 1 this season, it was a hotly contested match with Ipswich making the initial breakthrough with a well-taken penalty corner. Bury bounced back and played some excellent hockey before striking twice in two minutes through Rafa Parker-Humby and then Harry Reidy to take the lead at half-time. Bury waned in the heat, helping Ipswich to score a scrappy equaliser. Despite a late rally and a flurry of chances, Bury had to settle for a competitive and entertaining draw.

Mens 2s vs UEA Mens 2 WIN 2-1
Bury M2s began their campaign with a trip to UEA 2s. In a typically scrappy encounter, the returning Tom Dykes was involved in all the action on his way to collecting two yellow cards. Despite lacking a player for large chunks of the game, Bury were able to battle to a win. A father/son combination led to a Noah Ciappi goal, and Ali English got the other after a well-worked penalty corner. A great start to the season

Mens 3s vs Norwich Dragons 3 DRAW 1-1
Good first game of the season played in some very un-hockey weather. Initially struggled with new team and new players but grew into the game and really controlled the ball and the midfield well. Had most of the possession and look good on attack only to be denied by some great work by the Dragons keeper. Last few minutes saw discipline slide and 2 green cards had us on the back foot and a last gasp penalty stroke saw the game end level.

Mens 4s vs UEA Mens 3 DRAW 0-0
Bury started the trip away to uea. Bury with bare 12 played some good hockey in an even first half. In second half bury bossed the game but could not beat uea keeper who made save after save. Bury defence including man of the match Jason Konrath kept uea and bury had to settle for a point.

Mens 5s vs North Norfolk 2 LOSS 5-2
Bury started their campaign on a beautiful afternoon in Sheringham.
With a last minute call up for the evergreen Mr Ballard bury started positively and met Norfolk toe to toe. The stalemate was broken by Norfolk with a well taken goal.
Bury were soon back on parity with a well worked passage of play out of defence culminating with Matt receiving the ball on the left side of the D from where he passed to Tim Thompson on the P spot who calmly took his opportunity to score.
The half finished 1-1.
after halftime team talk and jelly babies bury came out positively for the second half and after about 8 minutes were awarded a penalty corner, from which Connor managed to slip the ball to Tim who again dispatched the ball into the goal.
However this ultimately was the final highlight for Bury, as with the heat and lack of fresh legs, Norfolk took control scoring 4 goals in the last quarter.
Unfortunately a disappointing result for our first game of the season, but with Cranes at culford next week hopefully numbers will improve.
Well done to the rest of the men’s teams this week.

Mens 6s vs Colchester 5 WIN 2-1
The development team have kicked off the season with a great game captained by Gareth. Colchester scored first however Bury were quick to come back with the equaliser by Josh Harpur from a short corner. The game remained at 1-1 until the last few minutes when JJ Etherington scored from another short to get the win for Bury. Great play by the youngsters on the team with the steadying influence of the old hands and guest appearances by Josh Harpur and James King from higher up in the club.

Definitely to be celebrated was having Gareth Norman playing alongside his sons Blake and Fionn. Not to be out done Jason Etherington mucked in with his boys JJ and Noah. This is why a development team is so special along with giving juniors the chance of adjusting to the 11-a-side game. Throw in the odd talented player or two from the top teams and its a recipe for inspirational hockey.

A successful start has given us plenty to build on, lets focus on keeping our structure . In all the excitement we are overloading with players in attack and sometimes leaving the defence high and dry. We will not get away with this all the time!"