Whilst the summer weather may not be much of a success story, Sidmouth Hockey Club have recently triumphed in the local Ladies Summer League with a second place finish in their pool.

Whilst the summer weather may not be much of a success story, Sidmouth Hockey Club have recently triumphed in the local Ladies' Summer League with a second place finish in their pool.

Their final match, against Isca, was a well-fought battle but eventually it was Isca who went through to the finals on goal difference.

Sidmouth started off well in their section, with a 2-0 victory over Exeter School. Their second game was a closely fought one against a well-organised Teignmouth team, and Sidmouth were pleased to come out of it with a draw - the 1-1 final score being a big improvement on their 6-1 loss to Teignmouth at the end of last season!

The third game was against a team from Exe Hockey, and this was the first game where Sidmouth struggled, eventually losing 4-1 to a much stronger team.

After their loss, Sidmouth went on to win convincingly in their next two games, beating both local rivals Otter Crickets and another Exe Hockey team.

The final result of three wins, a draw and two losses was by far Sidmouth's best performance in this league to date, and is a credit to the commitment that the players have shown to the club over the past year.

Support and player availability for all the matches was very good, with a large number of first and second team players all keen to play.

Goals were scored by Sarah and Anna Cloke, Lea Pidgeon, Sam Parkyn, Sarah Dean, Lauren McMahon and Hattie Vanstone, with many other players unlucky not to find the back of the net, including Jess Tubbs, whose powerful strike from a penalty corner was unfortunately disallowed.

l Sidmouth Hockey Club runs two ladies' teams and four men's teams during the winter, and training has now started at Sidmouth College on Thursday evenings at 7.30pm. (This will move to Ottery in September on Wednesday nights!) New players are always welcome, any age or experience!

If you are interested in joining Sidmouth Hockey Club, either come along to training or call Sarah Dean on 07887 587802.