Outdoor hockey is one thing, but indoor is an entirely different beast - a breathtakingly fast paced game, with much higher scores and different rules, the indoor game is certainly unique and is not, as is common misconception, the same game on a different surface. To get a little more technical, indoor hockey differs from its outdoor counterpart in a number of ways: six players are on the pitch at a time in indoor, as opposed to eleven, you cannot hit the ball (this includes slapping), the ball cannot be lifted, and the halves have length of twenty rather than thirty-five minutes.

On the weekend of the 7th/8th of January, Bournville’s indoor team, comprising of Mike Baddeley, Matt Dear, Harry Rowland, Tom Rowland, Stefan Sekula, Pete Sidwell, Lee de Souza, Ed Stanhope and manager Danny Higgins, headed up to Manchester for the Division Two North league competition. The team were quietly confident due to their previous successes in the indoor game - Bournville were unlucky to miss out on promotion to Division One last year - and were eager to perform well again this time out. This showed right from the off, with a tough, but well deserved 5-4 win against local rivals Olton, with a goal from Mike Baddeley securing the game at the death. Next up were the northern outfit Doncaster, whom Bournville easily disposed in a huge 9-4 victory. That was it for the Saturday, and the team went back to the hotel and prepared for what they knew would be a greweling Sunday.

Waking up bright and early, Bournville prepared for a daybreak encounter against Cheltenham. ‘Ville recorded a 5-0 victory in the game, and this granted them a confirmed spot in next week’s final. However, the team were not finished there, and trounced Deeside Ramblers 9-1 in an extremely impressive performance. Tired legs, and just a single substitute proved costly in the final game against the huge 11-strong squad that Clifton-Robinson had brought along and unfortunately, the boys could not quite make it a clean sweep for Bournville.

It was an outstanding performance nonetheless for the side, finishing a well deserved top of the league. Looking forward to next weekend where they will head to Bristol with the chance to secure promotion, the lads’ metal will be tested to the limit when they come up against some tough (yet certainly beatable) opponents. Best of luck!