Tenby Ladies Hockey Club players Ruth Ferguson, Annie and Michelle Johns joined Pembroke Ladies player Jane Wheeler on a hockey weekend in Holland recently.
The beautiful walled town of Hulst holds a hockey tournament every year with both men and women's teams from Britain, France, Belgium and Holland taking part. This year, the Pembrokeshire girls joined forces with women from mainly English clubs to form a team called the Dragons.
There were seven teams in the tournament. They were to play each other over two days and the top two would play in a final on the second day.
Despite having no opportunity for a practice together, the Dragons made a remarkable start by beating Hop Elise 6-0 in the first game, with Jane Wheeler scoring four goals. The next game ended in another victory and the Dragons were on 'a roll'. Goalkeeper Annie and defenders Ruth and Michelle hadn't had much to do so far, but that was about to change.
The third game was against the host team, Rapide 1, who were on the same points as the Dragons. The Dragons knew they had to get a result. With good defending by the Pembrokeshire girls, this was achieved. A 0-0 draw.
At the end of a very tiring first day, the Dragons could only manage another 0-0 draw in the fourth game, but this was enough to put them at the top of the table with two other teams.
On day two, the Dragons' first game was against Rapide 2 and after a very nervous start the Dragons came out on top 2-0. With another victory in the second game, a place in the final was secured.
The Dragons realised that it was to be a hard game as not only were they playing Rapide 1, but the umpires were also Dutch! There was stalemate for threequarters of the match, with both teams having opportunities to score. With the clock ticking away, extra-time was looming until an extraordinary incident changed the course of the game.
A streaker (male) ran around the pitch and by the time he reached the Dutch goal the Dragons had scored! Maybe Rapide were concentrating on 'other things' and were caught off guard, but within a few minutes the final whistle was blown and the Dragons had won 1-0. It was a fabulous end to a fantastic weekend.
The girls would like to thank Jane and Bernie Wheeler for doing such a great job in organising the weekend. Thanks also to South Pembrokeshire Men's Team (particularly Dave Miller and Dave Ferguson), the wives, partners, friends that went along to support and last but not least Tom and Sam Ferguson and Oliver Wheeler, the junior supporters.
If anyone would like more information on joining a ladies hockey team in Pembrokeshire, please ring Ruth Ferguson on (01834) 844871. For the men, ring Bernie Wheeler on (01834) 891218.