ASHMOOR men’s Indoor team acquitted themselves extremely well in the first weekend of matches in the England Hockey Super Sixes Division One. This form of indoor hockey is super exciting with plenty of action, goals and superb skills on display.

For the first weekend, the Ashmoor squad travelled to Nottingham to play their first four matches. Almost all the teams Ashmoor faced were in higher division in outdoor leagues, but such is Ashmoor’s pedigree at the indoor version of the game, that the team can hold their own against some of the very best in the country.

Expertly coached by Jack Dinnie, the team started well in their opening game against Manchester-based Brooklands, Fletch Naisbett Jones scoring the opener three minutes in after good work by the player-coach. However, a lapse in concentration allowed a penalty corner set piece for Brooklands which they dispatched.

A harsh penalty stroke against keeper Chris Bristow gave the opposition a narrow 2-1 lead, which they held onto despite Ashmoor going close from open play and corner chances.

Ashmoor wanted a better start in their second match against Oxted, who are currently 6th in the outdoor Premier League, but a shoddy start gave the South East team a 3-0 lead at the first interval.

From then Ashmoor played a much more assertive game. Cullen Turner pulled one back with a lovely solo goal, and the after half time Alf Dinnie and Rich Ashworth drew the Devon team level. Oxted were on the ropes and with four minutes to go, Dinnie junior scored his second to make it 4-3 to Ashmoor.

However, Oxted had other ideas and two late goals from their tricky striker made it 5-4 against Ashmoor at the end.

The Ashmoor players were determined to put this disappointing start behind them, but when they went 2-0 down against Beeston, another Premier League outfit, it didn’t look promising. However, the team rallied and 16-year-old Ben Barnett pulled one back on the stroke of half-time after a lovely 1-2 with Dinnie senior.

After half time it was all Ashmoor, as the whole squad contributed to a superb performance.

Naisbett-Jones finished off two lovely team moves to give Ashmoor a 4-2 lead, and then penalty corners from Lewis Hammett and Rich Ashworth increased it further.

Lewis Jones then scored his first Super Sixes goal before Barnett grabbed his second. Beeston had one consolation goal to come but the final score was 8-3 to Ashmoor.

In the final game of the first weekend, Ashmoor faced Surbiton, the London-based club fielding numerous current international players, as well as player-coach Barry Middleton, with 435 appearances as the most capped England & GB player of all time!

Nevertheless, Ashmoor weren’t daunted and played some high-quality indoor hockey to match their more illustrious opponents.

Surbiton’s finishing quality was the difference and they worked two more open play goals before half-time after a penalty corner opener from current England Captain Conor Williamson to give them a seemingly 3-0 cushion. However, in the second half Ashmoor upped the level of their performance to new heights with open play goals from Jack Dinnie and Ashmoor Under 18 player Sol Bloomfield to pull the score back to 3-2.

Ashmoor were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty corner, which might have led to an equaliser, but Surbiton grabbed to last goal to make it a respectable 4-2.

Nevertheless, it was a highly commendable performance against a team who have already qualified for the top-8 in Europe play offs in April!

Ashmoor were pleased with their performances in their third and fourth matches, and hope that they can take that improved form into the second weekend of four matches at Bristol and move up from their current 7th place in the Division 1 table.

The weekend promises to be an exciting one for the club, with Ashmoor’s Under 18 Boys squad also playing in the England Hockey National Junior Clubs Finals, having won the West Regional Title in December to earn their qualification.

The team picture shows the Ashmoor squad from the Nottingham weekend.

Back row from left to right: Steve Dinnie (Manager), Chris Bristow, Cullen Turner, Rich Ashworth, Sol Bloomfield, Alf Dinnie, Fletch Naisbett-Jones, Aaron Martin, Cathan Wherry (Assistant Coach).

Front row from left to right: Ben Barnett, Lewie Jones, Jack Dinnie (Player-Coach), Lewis Hammett (Captain), Charles Walker, Ben Andrew.