Yorkshire Tour 16-17 May 2009

As Andy Ferrol has said, those of us privileged to be there had a great weekend in Ilkley. This you'd expect when it was arranged locally by David Margerison aided by Lynda. We had a lovely hotel (2 nights B & B for 2 not much more than the price of a dinner for 1 in Amsterdam!! ). Our 3 course dinner there on Friday cost us £10 each including a tip of 5p & the management kept happy hour going until 9pm by when we were all very happy indeed.

First match versus a Yorkshire select on Saturday afternoon gave us some time to sober up but we came second in a 11 goal thriller. Congratulations to Murdoch Shirreffs for getting on the scoresheet for us. Even better done George, Chris (goalies - half each), David & me for getting into the Yorkshire team. That evening we were in a splendid gastro pub in Ilkley where we wined & dined splendidly in a private function room with some of our opposition & their partners before retiring in advance of the Sabbath.

That morning it was Nomadics we faced but they had only 10 including Rab & Murdoch while we had a team of some walking wounded & came out winners 3 -1 to keep us happy for the road north - or south for some. The goal of the weekend (for us anyway) was a stunner from Howard Andrew who hammered in a shot from the edge of the circle after a smart cut back from Dave McIntosh on the right wing.

So more happily we adjourned after a clubhouse drink to David & Linda's where an excellent buffet had been prepared for us and the opposition & even Saturday's mismatch was but a distant memory by the time we all left mid afternoon. The ladies had a trip to Skipton where some advantage was taken of the market on Saturday while on Sunday some found Betty's the famous tea shop in Ilkley. The weather wasn't too bad and it's a beautiful area where I am sure we should return again.

Warm & sincere invitations were made to anybody from Yorkshire wanting to sample the delights of hockey in Scotland any place to get in touch. Thanks again to David & Linda and our club hosts & their staff, opposition players and others who made us all feel so welcome. Pitch & clubhouse facilities were super.

Report by Sandy Weir