A whole range of teams were in action for Yate Hockey Club on the last hockey weekend before Christmas. 

The U14 boys team played their first 11-a-side match of the season against Clifton Robinsons with just 10 players and no subs on the bench.

Even though they were a player down, they battled hard and only lost 2-0. They managed to keep Clifton Robinsons from running away with the game and they played some fantastic hockey themselves to give them plenty of encouragement going forward.

Yate Ladies 1s visited Swindon 1s in the England Hockey Cup. The squad was made up of a mixture of 1s and 2s and they took the lead through Katie Browne. 

But a penalty flick to Swindon made it 1-1 at half time and the home side clinched a winner in the final moment to win the game 2-1.

Yate Ladies 3s had a tough last match before Christmas, losing 4-0 away to Wotton-Under-Edge 2.

On Sunday, Yate's indoor men’s team were competing in a National League indoor hockey tournament.

The first game came against a seasoned Cheltenham team, who gave our men’s team their first experience at an indoor tournament. Yate dominated the opening stages, looking like they belonged, but a short corner given after seven minutes turned into a goal against, and whilst Yate rallied to get back on top, Cheltenham’s experience showed through and they eventually won 3-0.

Buoyed by watching our next two opponents face each other, Yate started strong against Yeovil and Sherborne, quickly showing the opponents a strong defence and a fast attack, with Josh Whittle proving his skill with a brilliant flick on the reverse straight past their keeper to make it 1-0.

Again, it was a matter of experience and Yeovil and Sherborne’s shone through in the second-half, equalising in the first 30 seconds of the second half. Yate rallied well and managed to secure a 1-1 draw.

After a long break, Yate struggled to find the rhythm for the first five minutes against Isca and they never really recovered, eventually losing the contest 4-0.