The Next Generation comes forth

The score of course is not real.. it is the hull number for USS Enterprise, the game itself was a 10+ goal thriller, we won't give away the ending, but it was a cliffhanger and some good hockey was played.

The U-16s were an obvious selection, they were the clubs U16 team (one obvious exception was Ross - the hairy schoolboy, like a Vulcan among humans - to say a man among boys would be unfair as they were all men out there).

The Captains XI (Macker not Kirk) were an interesting mix, it truly was a random mix of all the club had to offer - the good,the bad and the ugly - and when asked to identify - Cookie stopped at Moose and said no more - as he could fit all 3 categories, and he looked scared to continue with his first thought.

Billy and Stapo (Federation President?) had the pleasure of umpiring this fun game -played with a bit of intensity. (watching Stapo trying to turn the lights remotely was worth the admission fee - a wee northern lad was sent to push the switch eventually (so it was not as dark as Deep Space Nine by the end of the game)

Great goalkeeping was the order of the day - and when one-on-ones were taken, players seem to enter a timewarp as the keepers had all the time in the world to thwart the internationals (Indoor and Outdoor) - until Macker arrived in his own timezone and scored (and never mentioned it again, other than he grazed his knee - probably friendly phaser fire). As Spock would say "it was not logical captain", how can he be the one to succeed - defies the laws of physics

Man of the Match (Harry St L) had fun taunting Gordy all night- and was sharp enough to keep at sticks length to avoid any accidental damage. Marco, Alastair and Dylan also added to the drive of the young guns and several goals were scored as result of great work up front by Jake and Simon.
When the hairy schoolboy was on the pitch it was a little calmer and the captains XI did not have it all their own way.
Alternate senior captain (was it Picard or Cmdt Rath?) ran the show for about 2 mins in center mid until the battery drained and was lucky that at least one of the team was active (Craig was late arriving so Ben was the token youngster!)

One cry of "He'll ne'er take it Cap'n" was heard and sure enough it was a dream ball to Sam on the open side and he went on reverse and missed it... but we was 'giving it all he got'.
As for the substitutions ... a masterclass in strategy.. Oh Wait .. it wasn't unless a game is only 3 quarters long - it's not rocket science - even the U16s know there are 4 quarters in a game.

Speeches and presentations rounded the game off nicely (Graham & Macker took a little longer than Quentin, brevity is everything)

The after match analysis in a nearby tavern went on a little longer than expected (Davy H leaving first mentioning something about re-checking his thesis and the Klingons on the Starboard Bow/the other end of the table- trying to figure out how to invade Scotland with golf clubs, it was that type of night) - but the consensus was ...the club's future is safe knowing the next generation of players is coming through nicely.