Teams in the Rossborough Women’s Division One and Men’s Division One hockey leagues took centre stage in the final games of the year on Saturday.

The sides caught the eye with some fantastic goals and excellent hockey on display which will surely impress the captains of the Premier League teams.

Starting with the Rossborough Women’s Division One, Vikings C took on Bacchas C and won in convincing fashion with 11 goals scored and none conceded. Charlie Millward and Tamzin Naylor led the way with four and three goals each respectively. The display by the All Blacks must surely be having the Vikings B and Vikings A captains scratching their heads and thinking of pushing the players up to the A team, especially if they continue to perform like this.

Elsewhere, Valkyrs C returned to form by defeating Ramsey B, with Ellen Barker proving to be the hat-trick hero. The result also means that Valkyrs move to within three points of the current league leaders and have a game in hand which puts them right back in contention for the title.

With pacesetters Vikings B not playing this week, it gave Bacchas B the opportunity to catch the league leaders and they did so in fine style by defeating a well-organised Castletown B team to move to within two points of the summit with a game in hand.

Much could be decided on the winner of the next game between Vikings B and Bacchas B which will surely be a mouthwatering fixture in the new year.

In Rossborough Men’s Division One, league leaders Valkyrs B for the first time this season found themselves going 1-0 down early on in their fixture against Bacchas Colts.

As such, Valkyrs knew they had to pull a goal back before half-time and they did just that with the first half ending one goal apiece.

The second half turned out to be even more exciting, with Colts regaining the lead only to see Valkyrs B level it up again. Once Valkyrs equalised, they took the game by the scruff of the neck and for the first time in the match took the lead which they quickly doubled.

Despite this, Bacchas Colts did not give up and scored to give themselves hope of mounting their own stirring comeback. But, despite their efforts, Valkyrs managed to find the back of the net to take home both points in what was an end-to-end game.

The result means that the westerners remain top of the league by two points ahead of Castletown A who earned a narrow victory over Vikings C, mirroring the scoreline the last time the two sides met.

One interesting story was the fact that Christian Steriopulos set up the young Matty Gorry to score his first goal in senior hockey.

This had added significance as Steriopulos was actually coached by Gorry’s grandad and now the youngster is looking at his team-mate for his own development as a hockey player.

With Castletown’s first string taking both points on offer, attention turned to the southerners’ second string who took on Ramsey B.

The latter have struggled this season to field full teams because of injuries and player availability, but were able to field a strong side oozing with youth and Premier League ability, countering this pundit’s argument that Ramsey B were the less mobile of the two sides.

Castletown’s discipline let them down at times with no fewer than four yellow cards being issued on top of a green card. They couldn’t muster a challenge until the dying minutes when, with the final touch of the ball, Joey Magee scored but it was too little too late.

With Ramsey B dominating the attacking play most of the game, they went home 3-1 winners and closed the gap to fifth-placed Castletown B to three points.

The final game of the day saw Harlequins B go on a scoring frenzy against Bacchas C with 11 goals scored, Ronan Santanatoglia going home with the match ball after scoring four goals. The result leaves Bacchas C rooted to the bottom of the table now three points adrift of the teams above them, while Harlequins B closed the gap to fifth-placed Castletown B to one point.

With hockey now finished for 2020, thanks go to the organisers, umpires, coaches, players and spectators for making the first half of the 2020-2021 season as exciting as it has been so far.

There is much to look forward to in 2021, with league titles to be won or lost and relegations to be decided.

Best wishes to everyone for a Merry Christmas and a fantastic new year.