On Saturday, 14th March a Rugby and a Hockey match took place at the School.  A write up about the rugby will be included shortly (in the meantime there are some photos below) but here's news of the hockey and the gathering at the Star and Eagle in the evening written by Naomi Clark, Tor Harmer and Freddy Proctor.

TBS Hockey Match Report: Saturday 14^th March 2009

“Goodness me, he hasn't changed a bit!”

“He's left school now? Wow, that makes me feel old!”

“Do you remember the time when...”

These were some of the comments that could be heard when members of The Bethanians' Society were reunited with old friends in Kendon car park on Saturday 14^th March.

It appears that gone are the days of the hockey matches, come mud baths, on the arena pitch, which are embedded in many people's memories, as it was down to the School's shiny new astro pitch to begin proceedings. The beautiful weather had brought the spectators out in force.  Along with teachers, pupils and friends, the rugby players and Mr Marriot were there to show their support in the first half before they made their way up to The Firs for the rugby.

Two teams were formed, aptly named 'Vintage', captained by Naomi Clark, and 'The Young Ones,' led by Nicki Hughes. Vintage started quickly scoring two goals thanks to the speed and skill of Tom Humphreys and Chris Perry. Worryingly for The Young Ones, this was quickly followed by a third, however the match was far from a foregone conclusion and, thanks to Jonathan Marsh, The Young Ones were back in the game with an unstoppable goal.  A fourth goal for Vintage by Chris Perry took the match into half-time with a score of 4 - 1 to Vintage.

 

Vintage started the second half complacent and, having lost a key defender to the rugby, The Young Ones took advantage with two more great goals from Philip Scott and Jonathan Marsh to produce a nail-biting 4 - 3 score to Vintage. Soon into the second half the clock was stopped as the ball hit Gemma Blacker in the face.  Once Gemma was happy that her face was not “puffy” she bravely soldiered on and helped her team increase their lead with two more goals from Chris Perry. The second half continued with some impressive performances from all players, some of whom had not played hockey since leaving Bethany quite a number of years ago. A late goal from Jonathan Marsh made the final score a very respectable 6 - 4 to Vintage. After the match both teams headed up to The Firs to support the rugby players.

Thanks are given to Dougan McDonald for umpiring the match and Sam King for helping with the organisation. Their support was very much appreciated.

After the matches everyone made their way to the Star and Eagle in Goudhurst where The Bethanians' Society had laid on a superb buffet meal.  This was attended by 60 to 70 Old Bethanians, their friends and supporters.  It was fantastic to see so many young people there and it provided a great opportunity to reflect on the matches and to catch up with friends and what they had all been up to since leaving school.

Alex Dale, who organised the players for the rugby match, presented Phil Marriott with one of the rugby shirts he had organised for the match. This had the number 23 on the back, just in case he needed reminding of how many years he has worked at Bethany! Alex also presented him with the match ball signed by all the players. Phil was extremely grateful and gave an emotional response to Alex for organising the match and also thanked Tor for organising the hockey match.

This was an extremely memorable and enjoyable way to end a great sporting day and I would like to thank Alex and Tor for all their hard work in organising the teams for the matches. I would also like to thank Alicia Houghton for organising events at the school and Matt Payne for refereeing the rugby match and organising the pitches and changing rooms.

 

Rugby Photos