At the time of writing the season still has six weeks to run, including the Easter Festival at Worthing and we are hoping that our current good form continues.

The first team, with six wins in succession, has had a good season despite a shaky start. To finish third in our league was a very good performance, our best ever, and would have been even better had we not lost four of the first seven league games. Maybe next year will be our promotion year! Many congratulations are due to Richard Cooke, who has captained a side which differed considerably from that envisaged at the beginning of the season, and upon which injuries and other absences have forced constant changes. Congratulations too must go to Neil Ruthven as leading scorer, and Richard Nash and Roger Loveland for their ability to control games from midfield.

The 2nd XI, again well captained by Robert Fell, has always been a difficult side to beat, but equally has not found goals easy to score. Much of the credit for the side's good defensive record must go to Ian Brooker, who volunteered his services as a goalkeeper in November and has improved with every game since. The experience of John Cholmeley and Tony Loveland, blended with the youth of Alan Mabbs, who has settled quickly into the team, Bobby Hanna and Maurice Salzmann has formed the backbone of this side.

Chris Barnes, skippering the 3rd XI for the last time after seven years in the job, has not had quite such a successful year as in the past. The main problem has been the loss of a number of players from the Club, which obviously has a greater effect on the lower sides. Also, playing without the same goalkeeper regularly has caused its problems. Many of the stalwarts of the 3rd XI have played ably in the 2nd XI and special mention should be made of Andy Loates, Tony Rogers and Tony Blake.

The 4th XI, now captained by Chris Mitchell after Richard Butler had to resign for business reasons, is enjoying its hockey, though the results have been somewhat unpredictable. While they are suffering from having an unsettled side, Bill Braid is still scoring goals (with his feet too) and Wayne Puttick is still stopping them at fullback, in both the 4th and 3rd Xls where he has played a lot this year. Great thanks go to Percy Parker, who has been a regular goalkeeper for the Club this season while still a schoolboy.

The enigma of the Club is undoubtedly the 5th XI. Nigel Palmer never knows what changes will be made to his side between selection and the game. His side's own version of Total Hockey has led to many high scoring games and yet they have also managed 0-0 draws. This was also the only side in the Club to beat Oxted (3-1) even though they only had eight men and Oxted had eleven. Many thanks are due to Nigel and Bobby More for having undertaken the unenviable task of running this side in a difficult year, and congratulations for doing it so successfully and with good humour.

Our Sunday side the Pagans deserves a special mention here. They have had their best season in living memory, winning six out of seven matches. Selected from the entire Club, the Pagans have enjoyed their Sundays immensely — both on and, of course, off the pitch.

With five teams playing every Saturday, a flourishing social side, league hockey for the 1st XI, and shortly for the 2nd XI, and a playing membership whose ages range from 18 to 50, we have a lot to offer hockey playing Cranleighans of all standards. The Club looks forward to seeing more school leavers next season.