Report by Dean Sewell
Team captained by Dean Sewell and organised by John Lees
A group of just enough Thistles 60s (with a little help from one or two late 50s, plus Ian McCreath and Terry Duffy from our O65's as needed) made their way from various parts of the UK to Timperley, Manchester for a very enjoyable three days of hockey.
We gathered on the Tuesday lunchtime for an afternoon game against the Dutch, who, in their inimitable style, scored against the run of play, on the break, and we went down 2-0. Undeterred, we entered the Wednesday morning game against LX England 60s, scoring our first goal but still ending up on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline, Dave Mackay scoring. We had a long break before the late afternoon game against LX England 65s, and with the pitch bathed in autumnal sunshine we managed a 1-1 draw, Iain Lynch with our equaliser. After a very enjoyable meal in an Altrincham Indian restaurant that evening, which most of the squad attended, we returned to the pitches on Thursday morning for our final game. This was a repeat encounter against LX England 60s. It was another competitive game but with a scoreline of 2-0 against us. Timperley Sports Club was an excellent venue, with good clubhouse facilities. Oktoberfest is to be recommended.