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News Action Packed Weekend for Rovers The opening week of May saw Rovers in frenzied football action as the teams made up for fixture cancellations. The Firsts put themselves back into promotion contention by taking four points from a double header with second placed Hutton whilst the Reserves lost to Rayleigh Town. The Thirds had an excellent 3-3 draw midweek with champions Real Maldon but their defensive frailties let them down on Saturday losing 3-4 to Battlesbridge but they hang on to second spot in the league. Also on Saturday Hill's old boys moved up to third in Division One of the Essex Veternas League by defeating Herongate. Wayne Purser had opened the scoring with a sublime finish before Merfyn Roberts scored the important goal. On Wednesday Rovers' Ladies team travelled to Assundon and played suprbly to win 2-0 with strikes from Amy Tuscher and Sarah Taylor. The future for the female game at Beacon Hill looks bright as the 14s Girls won Division C with a 5-1 win at Great Danes and the 13s Girls secured a third place finish in Division B by taking all three points from Billericay Town. The 10s Girls played out an excellent friendly fixture at Great Danes in preparation for their first full league season next year and won 2-1. Hill's Boys' teams also go from strength to strength. Pride of place goes to the u10s who put in a fantasic performance in the Divisional Cup Final on Saturday before succumbing to a strong Dunmow team 1-2. To show their resourcefulness they followed this up on Sunday with a 1-0 win at Maldon Saints to go clear at the top of thier Divsion. The 14s consolidated a top four finish with a 2-0 win over Flitch with a double from Wes Flood. Beacon Hill's 12s had a quadruple win weeknd, Spartans beat Great Notley Titans 2-1 and Valley Green 2-0 whilst the Trojans defeated Latchingdon 7-1 and Great Notley Wolves 5-0. 5 / 5 / 2013 Beacon Hill's u12s in Cup Triumph Rovers' under 12 Trojans brought home their Divisional Cup by beating Uplands Yellows in a closely fought encounter at the Burnham Ramblers Stadium on Sunday. The single goal victory left the supporters of the Trojans hoarse with delight. Manager Richard Chapmans was pleased with their style of play and thought to victory was a great reward for the squad's efforts all season. The way the boys conducted themselves was a credit to the Club. Back on the League front the Men's Teams produced a mixed bag, the Reserves lost 0-5 to Hutton, the Thirds scored three times in a frenetic closing 15 minutes to draw 4-4 with Kenson whilst the Sundays beat Bocking 2-1 to return to top spot. Beacon's 12s Spartans moved up to second place in Div 1 with two emphatic victories: 5-1 over Uplands Blues on Saturday and an 11-1 mauling of Deaneswood on Sunday. This is the highest position any BHR youth team has achieved in the modern era. The 10s Boys beat a spirited Hedingham side 5-1 whilst the 8s passed the ball well but went down in a friendly to a strong Colchester Villa outfit. Rovers' female players must have annoyed the footballing gods on Sunday: the 13s lost 1-2 to a last kick goal by Holland and the 10s were desperatly unlucky to lost to a sinlgle goal by Uplands. It looked like the flow of fortune was continuing to ebb away from Hill in the afternoon when Rovers Ladies team had all the play against visitors Billericay Town only to find themselves 0-1 down with 10 minutes to play. Finally a Beth Perfect-Browne strike earned Rovers a point that keeps them mid-table. The upcoming week is packed with action: Wednesday sees the Ladies travel to Assundon whilst the Thirds host title winners Real Maldon at the Hill. There will be a full set of matches at the weekend including the Firsts returning to action in a double header at the Hill against Hutton. 4pm on Saturday sees more Cup Final action for Beacon Hill with the u10s Boys at the Burnham Ramblers Stadium. 28 / 4 / 2013 Sunday Silverwear Slips Away but Festival Football a Success Beacon Hill Social played their Divisional Final at Braintree Town FC on Sunday and despite their best efforts could not repeat last season's cup win eventually losing out to a very strong Supershooters FC 0-4. Manager Wayne Purser was proud of the performance and appreciative of the vocal and entrhusiastic support. At the other end of the football spectrum Beacon Hill's u6s played their first matches in the black and white stripes. Rovers hosted the Chelmsford Alliance's debut Football Festival (pictured)and welcomed teams from Springfield and Maylandsea as part of the FA's new initiative for offering football for youngsters in a format away from the intensity of league football. Essex County FA official, Chris Singh was very happy with what he saw, lots of great skills and enthusiasm and thanked Beacon Hill for their excellent organisation. Much of the credit goes to Dan Rapson and Nick Smith for setting up this new approach. Back on the serious business of League points the Mens' teams had a productive weekend. The Reserves had a double header against Cup Finalists Baddow and recovered well after losing the first game to take three points from the second, Tom Stimson scoring the winner with the last kick of the match. The thirds beat Kenson 3-2 thanks to a brace from Matt Surridge and the Vets beat Brittannia 5-1, the goals coming from the usual sources: Chocco Fodor (2), Danny Brand, Wayne Purser and Terry Beck. The Ladies couldn't keep the momentum going suffering a player shortage due to runners commendably completing the London Marathon. The 10 players who were available put in one of the team performamnces of the season against a strengthened Hutton Reserves, having the best of the play but not the goals, losing 1-3 with Sarah Taylor scoring from the spot. The Beacon Hill youths as usual provided lots of cheer on Sunday morning. A host of home fixtures setting up another festival of football at the Hill. The 14s Boys beat Maldon and Tiptree Utd 2-1 to keep their run going of only losing once since November. It seemed like half of Maldon had made the trip up the Hill as Rovers' 13s Girls played some excellent passing football to run out 2-0 winners against Maldon Saints and Saints' u10s Boys suffered the same scoreline defeat to Beacon's u10s. Beacon Hill's 12s Trojans moved into the top two after defeating Latchingdon 4-1 whilst 12s Spartans went down to their first League defeat,0-5 to table topping Valley Green. Beacon Hill's 10s Girls played a friendly against Colebrook and despite losing 1-4 can take heart from how well they played. There was dissapointment for Rovers' Soccability squad as the weekend's tournament at Shrub End was cancelled as hosts Colchester United Community Trust had gone into Administration during the week. How a Community Trust linked to our local professional club can go bankrupt is embarrassing and led to over 200 footballers with learning and physical disabilities having no chance to play their matches. Beacon Hill are now in negotiations with the Soccability League and Health Authority to see if the Hill can host an event in the coming months to make up for this shortfall. 21 / 4 / 2013 Sparta Slaughtered and Dunton Done Sparta Basildon invaded the Hill midweek in the Division One Cup but Rovers' First team easily repelled their advances with goals from Matt Simmance and Karl Swanborough leading to a 2-0 victory. On Saturday it was Sparta's Reserves who came our way and this time it was Rovers' Reserves who won the battle, 4-2, to secure a vital three points. On the scoreboard it was youth to the fore: Matt Rout got two with singles coming from Tom Stimpson and Ben Bird. Also on Saturday the First Team were doing Dunton Rangers by 3-1 with Karl Swanborough getting his customary strke supported by further goals from Charlie Quinn and Callum Neave. This leaves Rovers handily placed behind the leading pack in Divsion One and awaiting their next league fixtures as opponenets sort out cup matches. Rovers' Veterans team took the long journey to Walthamstow to play Old Palmertarians. Playing with the gale force wind in the first half Beacon's old boys blew OPs away and rached the break four goals to the good thanks to strikes by Danny Brand (2), Terry Beck and a sublime hit by Chocco Fodor. Trenches were dug in the second half and a clean sheet resulted. A 4-0 win and three points secured. Hill's good fortune ran out for the Adults' Teams on Sunday, The Ladies crashed 1-6 at Silver End whilst Beacon Hill Social surprisingly dropped vital points losing 1-2 at Zizou. Beacon Hill's youth teams kept up their succesful seasons at the weekend: 14s Boys beat Wilvale 3-2 and the 10s Boys won 6-0 at Braintree Town, the 14s Girls won 5-3 at Island whilst the 13s Girls went down 1-4 to Hutton. On Saturday morning the under 8s squad played three matches against Writtle and won them all without conceding a goal. 13 / 4 / 2013 Youth Team Successes Beacon Hill's youngsters led the way towards potenial club silverwear this weekend. The 12s Spartans found themselves 0-2 down to runaway league leaders Valley Green in the semi-final of the Knockout Cup only to fight back and take the tie 3-2 in extra-time. Their under-12s squad compatriats, Trojans, are already booked into their League Cup Final as are Hill's under-10s. The Club's girls teams were not to be outdone at the weekend with the under-14s beating Chelmsford City 4-0 to go top of their Division. It was a mixed weekend for Beacon Hill's adult teams: Men's first team going down 0-3 to Academy Soccer whilst the Ladies beat Lawford 3-2. Mens Reserves were beaten 0-2 by Mayland whilst the Thirds won a goal fest at Teagan by the odd goal in 13 (thirteen!). To keep the ying and yang flow of the weekend the Vets lost (1-3 at Manford Way) whilst the Sundays won (2-1 at Cressing). 9 / 4 / 2013 Ladies Fall to Semi-final Defeat Beacon Hill's Ladies certainly go about constructing a Cup run the hard way. Previous round victories have come via extra-time and penalty shootouts and they now faced County Cup finalists Takeley in their Essex Women's League Cup semi-final. Hill were quickly out of the blocks, were denied by the visiting keeper yet then found themselves 0-2 down and Takeley showed their strength in controlling the remnants of the first half. Hill's Ladies do not give up easily and dominated the second half and goals from Justine Dallard and Amy Tuscher tempted a dramatic comeback only for Takely to take the tie after pouncing on an error in defence. Tough luck on Hill but this excellent performance, one of many this season, raises the bar of expectation amongst the squad and the remaining games shuld see a continuation of the team's good passing football. 29 / 3 / 2013 Canty Suffers Break A pre-Easter weekend of snow saw the Hill looking the perfect picture for a Christmas card but no good for football. The bad news from Wednesday's training had already filtered around that Anthony Canty had broken his ankle in a freak accident that seemed innocuous at the time. This is a real tough blow for Canty, one of the Club's most upbeat personalities, given that's it's three years to the month since he broke his tibia playing for the First Team at Silver End. He's pictured here (no 10) scoring one of his trademark left foot freekicks at the Hill. 25 / 3 / 2013 Thirds' Six Pointer With the fixtures piling up Club Secretary Steve Carter pulled a master stroke for the Thirds on Saturday organising a double header to be played at home against Halstead. This turned into the genuine six pointer as two wins moved Rovers up to third in Division 5. Goals from Carter, Quinn and Swanborough saw a 3-1 in the first match and a double from Paddock and another Quinn strike produced a 3-2 scoreline in the second. The vagaries of the fixture list and inclement weather meant that the Reserves were the only other Hill adult team in action and they went down 2-5 at Writtle. On the youth front it was all smiles amongst the boys' teams led by the u10s who won the home 1st leg of their cup semi-final 9-0 against Notley. 12s Spartans won their Division 1 fixture at Baddow by 3-2 and Trojans consolidated their position at the top of their league, winning 5-1 at Woodham. The two Beacon Hill girls teams in action saw narrow defeats, 13s going down 5-7 at Colchester and the 10s 1-2 to Great Danes. 18 / 3 / 2013 Doubles to order as the Mighty Quinn strikes Another weather wash-out saw minimal action but doubles for Quinn and Swanborough saw the Thirds to a comfortable 4-2 win at Frenford keeping them in touch with the leaders in Division 5. Hill's Old Boys travelled to table toppers Ongar and fought hard but with no end product, the 3-0 scorline to the homesters a fair reflection of the play. On Sunday the 12s Spartans won 2-0 at Uplands with a double from Josh Chapman but it was real team peformance, good passing football in the first half then some redoubtable defending in the second to keep a clean sheet. The only other fixture was Rovers' u10s Girls playing only their second ever league fixture. They passed the ball superbly before succumbing to a 1-0 defeat at Colebrook leaving coach Darren Stevens very pleased with their progress and optimistic about the future. 9 / 3 / 2013 A Weekend of Sunny Delight for Rovers For the first time in months the weather was kind: the sun shone with a gentle breeze and no rain. Rovers had 11 teams in action over the weekend and they responded with 8 wins and a draw. Spring has sprung and lets hope Rovers can keep up the good work till the end of the season. In the Mid-Essex Division 1 Hill's First Team led the way with a convicing 3-1 victory at Frenford whilst the Reserves put on a great show at Braintree Utd running out 4-2 winners fed by an Alex Milne hat-trick. The 3rds went down at home to Burnham Athletic and whilst the Veterans were still hibernating the Ladies collected three points from Colchester Town. The weekend's points tally for the adults teams was extended further by Beacon Hill Social putting five unanswered goals past Zizou FC. Beacon Hill's youth teams kept their recent good runs going. Booking a place in their League Cup Final were the u12s Trojans, defeating Flitch 2-0 (3-1 on aggregate). Hill's Girls teams were both victorious, the 14s 3-1 away at Tigers and the 13s with yet another clean sheet and four goals at Maldon Saints. The 14s boys forced a good 2-2 draw at home to Gt Notley whilst the u10 boys defeated Galleywood 7-2. 4 / 3 / 2013 Ladies offer only cheer Beacon Hill Ladies took the scalp of last seasons Premier division cup finalists Silver End United in what was an overall poor weekend of results for the Adult teams. Goals from Anna South, Marnie Freeman-Hacker and a brace from Jo Smeaton secured a 4-2 extra time win in their quarter final clash after the scores were locked at 2-2 after 90 minutes. Their opponents in the semi final will not be known until next weekend when Takely and Billericay Town reserves lock horns with the semi final dated for 24th March. In a poor weekend for the mens teams John Plumbs firsts put in a valiant effort against unbeaten leaders Tillingham. With a severely depleted squad due to injury and non availability they lost by the odd goal in 3 but in truth, had their finishing been better they should have inflicted a first defeat on the leaders. Rob Hills seconds suffered more misery with a crushing 7-2 defeat away at City Colts and with the 3rd team with no fixture it was left to the Vets to record a victory for the Saturday teams. However, despite a Danny Brand goal they succumbed to a 3-1 defeat to Britannia. Sunday Social seemed to be an odds on bet on Sunday to secure 3 points given their recent form and two victories over opponents Old Bramstonians. Bramstonians threw the form book out of the window though and an extremely poor performance saw Social slip to a 3-2 reverse with Lee Sonnex and an OG not enough to secure a point. An injury time winner putting pay to that. 25 / 2 / 2013 6 of the best for Social Sunday Social claim the headlines this weekend with an emphatic victory over old adversaries and promotion rivals Notley. Falling behind on the stroke of half time through a penalty, Social bounced back with an emphatic second half performance scoring 6 goals without reply. An inspired performance from captain Anthony Canty, had a hand in all 6 goals scoring one and assisting in the other 5 for Michael Baker, Rob Hewer, Eddie Holroyd and a Jamie Cracknell brace which closed the gap further on the league leaders. It wasnt such good news on Saturday with both 1st and 3rd team fixtures once again falling foul of the weather with the reserves losing out to Extreme United 3-0 in a game switched to the PIT with the Hill out of action. The PIT certainly saw its fair share of action over this weekend with the ladies completing a hattrick of games to be played on our second ground. Unfortunately they were unable to complete a comeback against 100% league leaders C&K Basildon in a narrow 3-2 reverse. Trailing 2-0 in the first 20 minutes, goals from Marie Hall and Justine Dallard pulled the scores level before an excellent long range effort won the game for the visitors. Hills ladies currently occupy 5th position in the table. 17 / 2 / 2013 Soccability success at Shenfield Our best league performances ever saw both teams go undefeated without conceding a single goal in eight games! Five wins and three draws, scoring eight with seven different goalscorers, and conceding none. Congratulations to all our 15 players who hit top form on the day. 16 / 2 / 2013 Rovers' Up and Down Cup Weekend Hill's First Team had a long journey to North Weald for their Quarter-Final clash. Hopes were high that Beacon Hill's name would be engraved on the County Trophy for the second time in three years. Grit and determination were to the fore in Hill's display but they could never get their noses in front as goals flew in at a regular beat. An exhausting extra 30 minutes saw Hill yet again draw level but when North Welad scored the ninth goal of the game Rovers were unable to find the equaliser. Better news on the silverwear front came on Sunday with Beacon Hill Social progressing to the League Cup Final for the third season on the bounce. Additional minutes were needed again but this time they went in Hill's favour, beating Zizou 4-2. Back on League duty a very young Reserves team put in a commendable display bofore losing to a single Writtle strike whilst the 3rds picked up a point in a 2-2 draw at Teagan Athletic. Over at the Hill Beacon's old boys established a 2-0 half-time lead then resisted a Newbury Park fight back and finally vanquished their foe with two goals in the last three minutes to take the points. Danny Brand's hat-trick helped with the 5-3 scoreline. The weather tolled for most of Hill's youth matches but the 12s were very pleased that groundsman Stu Harwood's efforts paid off when they produced two outstanding performances. Spartans progressed in the League Cup with a single Alex Wadsworth strike seeing off Coggeshall. In the same competition Trojans, who play in Div 5, came up against Div 2 outfit Dunmow. Trojans by name and Trojans by nature as they put in a epic display to twice produce late equalisers (Harry Tunningley getting both) as extra-time on this occasion produced a 2-2 draw and replay. A superb team effort with Ethan Humphries leading by example in midfield. The 7s and 8s games against Tiptree and Cochester Villa and tried their best battling against tough opposition and the weather which didn't help the coaches focus on developing a passing game. 11 / 2 / 2013 Ladies on the spot as Chelmsford pay the penalty Hills ladies earn the adult headlines this week after a hard fought cup win over their Chelmsford City counterparts. Following 120 minutes of goalless action Hill triumphed 5-3 on penalties when Chelmsfords 4th effort went skywards. With the weather still causing havoc with the fixture calender games for both the first team and reserves were postponed on Saturday leaving Andy Thomas' third team the only side seeing action. A 2-1 victory over Focus Ferrers kept the pessure on at the top of Division 5 thanks to goals from Gaz Taylor and Karl Swanborough. Sunday Socials scheduled game away at Bocking was another casulaty of the weather but a late offer to Old Bramstonians of a game at the PIT proved successful. With both sides yet to meet in the league this season Social made the most of their divisions inactivity with a 3-1 win. Goals from Anthony Canty, Lee Sonnex and an own goal saw them move clear into second place and close the gap on leaders Super Shooters. There were mixed fortunes for the youth teams this week. BHR U12 Spartans went further in the Essex Cup than anyone can remember any of our youth teams before them. To go out on penalties shows just how close the match was. The U13 Girls bowed out of their League Cup but the Cup run continues for the U12 Spartans who continued the tremendous footballing performance of the U12’s this season with a strong 4-1 victory. 5 / 2 / 2013 County Cup Cruise Rovers' First Team progressed into the Quarter-Finals of the County Cup with an 8-3 demolition of Runwell Hospital at the Hill. Ross Kochan led the way with a hat-trick supported by a single strike from from his brother Stuart and efforts from Dallinger, Swanborough, Smith and Melia. The County Cup trail was continued on Sunday when Hill's u12s travelled to Harold Hill and won 2-0. Joshua Haward opened the scoring with a long-range free-kick and the result was settled in the second half when Josh Chapman headed in a Henry Wilkins corner. This is s great achievemnet for the boys. Beacon Hill have never progressed this far in a County Youth Cup before and the Hill now find themselves in the draw with the likes of Chelmsford City. From a 1st round of 115 teams this is a great performance for a village based Club like Rovers. It was hard going on the league front for our Saturday men's teams: the reserves, thirds and Vetarans all losing. Things picked up on Sunday when Beacon Hill Social won a thriller 4-3 at Becker's Green to move into 3rd place with a game in hand. Saturday morning had seen the Hill do one of their regular Coaching Circus events where all the coaches go and coach other Rovers' teams. A great morning was had with Hill's coaches producing superb training sessions. This seemed to sharpen everybody's performance and the football produced was of a high quality. This standard was continued into a clean sweep of wins for the boys teams on Sunday. The 14s had a brillinat 2-1 win at top of the table Ravens with goals from Charlie Taylor after an excellent set up by Wes Flood and Kieran Johnson hitting a direct free-kick winner. !2s Trojans kept up their place at the top of their division with a 6-0 thumping of Tollesbury whilst the 10s cruised into the semi-finals of the cup, winning their group with games to spare after a straight forwatd victory at home to Hedingham. The 8s had an excellent morning of internal matches in preparation for their upcoming fixtures and the 13s girls also had a friendly away at Clacton, a tough encounter where the girls fought hard against a team from two divisions up the ladder. 14 / 1 / 2013 Essex Cup gets closer On a cold weekend the Boys Youth teams all played well to beat the cold and their opposition. The U14 Boys had a great away win against the league leaders Ravens Youth., and the Spartans moved into the last 8 of the Essex cup, with a convincing 2 - 0 victory over Harold Hill. Joshua Hayward scored from a 40 yard free kick. Joshua Chapman scored a header in the last minute from a Henry Wilkins corner. Trojans hit 6 against Tollesbury. Sam Luscombe scored a hat trick. A very lively Harry Tunningley got 2. Archie Wright scored our 5th with a smart finish at the back post 13 / 1 / 2013 Scorpions Stung by Terrific Trojans! The Trojans advanced to the 3rd round of the Knock Out cup, with a brilliant victory against 2nd division opposition, Dunmow United Scorpions. A brace from both forwards, Henry and Sam, secured the fine win. Great all-round team performance, with all players giving 110% 7 / 1 / 2013 1 / 1 / 2013 Ladies beat the weather but not Law, while Trojans go top With all of the mens fixtures on Saturday beaten by the weather it left only the Ladies and Social the chance on Sunday to see some action. Whilst the ladies were successful in getting their game played, Social were left frustrated. Having not played for five weeks the Ladies traveled to Lawford and although Sarah Taylor notched a brace, taking her season tally to 11, Hill were unable to take anything from the game conceding six in reply. Social traveled to Bocking and after the pitch was passed fit on a Saturday inspection the match referee saw otherwise. With both teams on the pitch warming up the referee postponed the game 10 minutes before kick off deeming the seemingly reasonable surface unplayable, much to the astonishment of both sets of players. Better news from the U12's, the only youth teams to play this weekend. Trojans moved to the top of division 5, with a comprehensive victory over Great Notley Wolves at home. Final score 5 - 2. Excellent performance from Henry Bellis scoring a hat trick. Caleb Robertson grabbed his first goal for Beacon Hill. Spartans lost narrowly 1 - 0 away to Deanswood in the league cup. However the performance was excellent and they fought to the bitter end. 17 / 12 / 2012 Mother Nature 4 Beacon Hill 1 Waterlogged pitches decimated the adult fixture list with all the Saturday and Ladies games postponed. Only Sunday Social were victorious against the elements whilst defeating opponents Old Bramstonians in their league cup quarter final clash. On a fantastic playing surface at the PIT a brace from Anthony Canty and single strikes from Jamie Cracknell and Chris Allen helped Hill to a 4-3 win which secured a semi final place. Two goalkeeping errors and a Charlie Banfield own goal gave the scoreline a closer looking feel in a game that Social dominated for long periods and one that they should have won by a greater margin.. Youth Summary Spartans Marching On! It wasn't just the adults who suffered at the hands of the weather either with waterlogged pitches putting pay to the majority of youth team matches again, with the only exception being the U12 Spartans. Playing against Clacton in the last 16 of the Essex Cup, three goals and a clean sheet ensured progress through to the next round. 10 / 12 / 2012 The Weekend Preview In recent weeks the weather seems to have been a consistent winner with only the first team showing any resistence to it being the only team seeing any action. This weekend they will look to continue their winning ways with a visit to third from bottom Academy Soccer. With Karl Swanborough in scintillating goalscoring form it will be a major surprise if they dont collect the three points on offer. Reserves Rob Hills men have only won one league fixture so far this season with that victory being a 7-2 win over this weekends opponents Sparta Basildon Reserves. With both sides on 4 points victory at home will see Hill leapfrog their opponents in the league table. Thirds Andy Thomas' men have seen their surge to the top of the table stall with no game in 3 weeks. This weekend third from bottom Halstead Wanderers are their opponents at the Hill and like the first team it will be a surprise if they too dont collect the 3 points on offer to keep the pressure on at the top. Veterans - No fixture Social The weather has already put pay to Socials away cup quarter final against Old Bramstonians but a switch of venue will see the local rivals go head to head at the PIT.. With former Hill player Marc De La Rue and current first teamer Jay Matthams in the visiting ranks it promises to be a real battle for the local bragging rights, with a place in the semi final at stake.. Ladies The Ladies will look to repeat their opening day success against Runwell and Rayleigh on Sunday with a visit to their third from bottom opponents. That 5-2 success was one of their 4 league victories so far which has rewarded them a current position in the top three. 6 / 12 / 2012 Swanborough Targets Record Beacon Hill's First Team stood alone at the weekend, every other adults team's fixture was postponed. Credit due to groundsman Stuart Harwood's hours in the bank that's created such a good playing surface. Battlesbridge were the visitors and Hall and Smith at centehalves had to be strong to resist the set piece challenges with Tom Norton making an impressive debut stepping up from the Reserves. Dave Heward opened the scoring for Hill but they were pegged back by an unfortunate own-goal and at half-time the game was even belanced at 1-1. Manager John Plumb made some tactical tweaks at half-time and with Beacon winning the ball much higher up the pitch the chances started to flow and goal hungry centre-forward Karl Swanborough had an early Christmas feast. By the end his hat-trick had won the game and pushed his tally to 15 in 9 games. He's probably eyeing the recent goalscoring club record of 31 in a season by Matt Surridge but he'll have to go some to challenge the all-time Beacon Hill record of Billy Woods with 58 goals in the 1957-58 season. In the Youth Section it was the under 8s who got the only game in, a match at Chelmsford City on Saturday morning before the frost descended. Coaches Gordon Henrici and Mike Eldridge were really pleased with the high standard of play with the Rover's little'uns outpassing their opponents showing this group of players are well on the way to playing the game in the right way. 1 / 12 / 2012 Weekend Washout The only escapees from the deluge were the First and Thirds who shared fixtures with Frenford. Beacon's First team took a point with a very late Swanborough equaliser to make it 2-2 after conceding a sloppy goal in the 89th minute, the spirit of the team showing thorugh in very trying conditions. Hill had taken the lead in the first half with great team goal, Swanborough and Kochan combining to leave Melia with a tap-in. The Thirds never got to an exciting finish, the match being abandoned at half-time with Rovers leading 1-0, a fine strike from player manager Andy Thomas after being set up by Stu Harwood. 25 / 11 / 2012 The Weekend Preview With Socials game already falling foul to the weather (Friday afternoon) and the Vets having no game scheduled it is the responsibility of the Saturday Mid Essex sides and the Ladies on Sunday to record wins over their opponents. With the poor forecast ahead it may be the weather that proves to be the most difficult opponent. First Team Following on from their thumping cup victory last weekend JP's men host bottom of the table Frenford Senior 'A' on Saturday. The fixture calendar has seen a lot of cup activity over recent weeks which has resulted in Hill slipping into the bottom 3. Now having a number of games in hand on the majority of the sides above them tomorrows opponents are a good side to start that steady climb upwards. Reserves Rob Hills men travel to Braintree & Bocking to play a side with a similar league record to themselves. Both sides have 4 points and although their opponents have a game in hand Hill will fancy getting something out of this fixture. Thirds With no game last week due to Dunmows failure to raise a side, Andy Thomas' troops face a longer than usual trip down the A12 to face Frenford Senior 'B'. The Division 5 table is looking to be an open affair with any of the top 7 teams still in the running for title honours at this early stage. With Hill in second and Frenford in 5th a three point haul will be a real boost for Hills chances. Ladies Its second against third at the Hill on Sunday as the ladies entertain local rivals Witham Town. Only goal difference seperates the two teams at the moment with Hill looking to reverse the 2-1 defeat suffered earlier in the season and go above their near neighbours in the Premier Division table. NO YOUTH TEAM PREVIEWS WERE SUBMITTED 23 / 11 / 2012 Swanny sends Belle Vue down river. Four goals from Karl Swanborough including a second half hattrick was the catalyst for a thumping 7-0 county cup win for the first team over previously unbeaten Belle Vue Social Club. The Colchester & East Essex Division 2 leaders had no answer to Hills firepower with debutant Howard Wright scoring a scorcher from distance and a brace from Ross Kochan added to the tally. Manager John Plumb added that although the scoreline looked impressive it probably should have been double figures with a number of missed chances going begging. The reserves continue to look for their second league win after a 4-1 reversal at home to Mayland Village. Matt Rout providing the only positive from the day with a well executed finish. The third teams visit to Dunmow was a late casualty with their opponents unable to raise a team which saw Andy Thomas' men being replaced at the top of the table due to their inactivity. Social moved up 3 places in the table to 3rd place with a 4-1 victory over CFC Shalford reserves at the Pit on Sunday morning. James Freeman turned in an impressive performance and was rewarded with a hattrick. Substitute Jamie Cracknell added a fourth goal before Shalford scored a late consolation goal with the last kick of the game. YOUTH REPORT "A pleasure to watch" was the comment to her team by Rachel Banham, coach for the girls U13's after their narrow defeat to table toppers Billericay in a close match at the Hill on Sunday. The U14 girls also suffered defeat with an early cup exit at the hands of local rivals Great Notley. All the other youth teams secured wins as the U12 Trojans marched on towards the Cup with a convincing 3-0 win over Writtle and a great 2-1 victory in the Essex Cup for the Spartans. Another Cup victory was claimed by the U10's who won 3-1 at home vs Braintree Town, in the League Cup maintaining their winning streak Our youngest team traveled to Danbury and in a dazzling display matched the Arsenal/Spurs scoreline at 5-2 proving once again that passing and team play is the way to go! 19 / 11 / 2012 The Weekend Preview This weekends preview starts with County Cup action for JP's men when Colchester & East Essex Division 2 leaders Belle Vue Social Club visit the Hill in a 3rd round tie. Boasting a 100% league record from their 5 games played so far and with only a miserly 3 goals conceded, Hill will hope their forwards can dent that record. With two 1-0 victories in the competition already so far Belle Vue may prove a tough backline to breach. Reserves With only one win so far this season Rob Hills men have struggled of late, with player availability looking to be the main culprit for the poor run of form. A home game for them this weekend sees the visit of Mayland Village, a team that have already seen off Hill in a league cup tie earlier this month by the scoreline of 4-0. With this in mind a tough game looks to be on the cards with any improvement looking to be seen as a success. Thirds Andy Thomas' men have been quietely going about their business in recent weeks and have sneaked in under the radar to sit proudly on top of Division 5. This weekends visit to Dunmow looks to be on paper a relatively straight forward victory with their opponents propping up the foot of the table with no points from their 5 games. Veterans Two weeks ago the old boys turned around a 2 goal deficit against league leaers Chipping Ongar to rescue a point in the corresponding league fixture. Its the same opposition again tomorrow, albeit this one in the League Cup as Hill will look to go one better this time around and secure a place in Round 2. Social Its also a quick turnaround for Social and CFC Shalford as the teams go head to head less than a month after their last league encounter at the Pit on Sunday. Social won that game with an excellent performance and they will look to repeat that victory with virtually a full strength side to choose from. Ladies Its second against third at the Hill on Sunday as the ladies entertain local rivals Witham Town. Only goal difference seperates the two teams at the moment with Hill looking to reverse the 2-1 defeat suffered earlier in the season and go above their near neighbours in the Premier Division table. NO YOUTH TEAM PREVIEWS WERE SUBMITTED 16 / 11 / 2012 Social are Essex Team of the Year ! Beacon Hill Social have been crowned the Essex Chronicle Team of the Year in the Essex Sports Awards 2012. At the annual sports awards dinner on Friday evening at Chelmsford City Football Club, Social were crowned winners pipping Essex Redbacks UK Baseball and Harvey Hogg Speedway to the coveted title. Polling enough votes to secure a place in the top five a panel of judges then whittled the numbers down to 3 which secured Social a place at the awards dinner before declaring them overall winners. Manager Wayne Purser was accompanied to the ceremony by players Lee Sonnex, Matt Davies, Matt Wilsher, Rob Hewer, Charlie Montrose, Dean Slator and captain Anthony Canty and all were astonished to win the award. "We didnt expect to get any higher than third to be honest and when they started to announce the third place teams acievements we were all extremely happy to have secured the runners up spot", Purser added. "When they followed that up by announcing the second placed teams achievements and it wasnt us, the look on the squads face was that of utter disbelief ! Its a fantastic achievement, topping of a great first season at the club and i would like to thank everybody that took the time to vote for us to get us to this stage". As well as receiving the winners trophy all players received individual medals as well as a 12 month partnership with Sports wear manufacturers Hexx, who will provide various opportunities and exclusive offers for the team over the next year.. 13 / 11 / 2012 Hill Produce a Pick'n'Mix Set of Results What a mixed bag of results Hill produced this weekend. Best pick would probably be the Thirds whose 4-2 defeat of Mundon Vics puts them top of Division 5. The Rovers' goals coming from Craig Morrant, Stuart Kochon and a double from Stuart Browne. On the scoresheet for the Ladies were Emma Page and Marnie Freeman-Hacker as they defeated Chelmsford City 2-1 to move to third in the Essex Ladies Premier Division. Hill's Veterans team picked up a point at Rosebay, a 2-2 draw secured by strikes from Danny Brand and Terry Beck, his first for the club. The First team had a disapointing day going down to 1-2 league defeat at home to Sparta Basildon despite another strike form Karl Swanborough and the Reserves crashed 0-5 at Durning. On Sunday Beacon Hill Social celebrated their recent Award as Essex Team of the Year with a 3-2 victory over Cressing, Antony Canty (pictured, no.10) being the party's magician with a hat-trick. Hill's boys teams kept up their recent good form whilst the girls were having a weekend off. The 14s beat Great Notley 3-1, the 12s Spartans scored six against Baddow and the 10s had a comfortable win at Hedingham Utd. The 12s Trojans pulled out a very sweet performance in the cup, beating a team from two divisions higher than them, Barnston, 3-1. 11 / 11 / 2012 The Weekend Preview First Team Its back to the bread and butter of league action for JP's men after 3 weeks of cup activity when Sparta Basildon visit the Hill. Occupying a place in the table one above Hills sixth, both teams will look to close the gap on the sides immediately above them with games in hand on the teams in 3rd and fourth place. Reserves The reserves will want to bounce back immediately from a heavy defeat in the league cup last week but may find things difficult when they travel to 3rd placed Durning. Having already been on the wrong end of a 3-1 defeat to the same opposition last month Rob Hill will want a much improved performance than that last time out against much better opposition. Thirds Andy Thomas will look to secure a hatrick of wins this season against his previous club Mundon Vics when they visit the Hill. A 2-1 league cup win followed by an 8-0 victory in the league will make Hill heavy favourites in this local derby. Vets A stunning second half comeback against league leaders Chipping Ongar last weekend secured a point for Macca and his men and in doing so put an end to a miserable run of defeats. This weekend a short journey down the A12 to Billericay will see bottom of the table Rosebay providing the opposition. Hill won the reverse fixture last month 2-0 although the opposition proved to be a good side and their league position looks to be a false one at this early stage of the season. Ladies After last Sundays deluge of rain put paid to their fixture agaist Silver End the Ladies return to action at the Hill on Sunday against Chelmsford City Reserves. A solitary point seperates City in sixth and Hill in third place and with a game in hand on their opponents Stu Harwood will want to pressure the top two with a full quota of points in this fixture. Social After last weekends abandoned game Social entertain Cressing at the Pit with both teams sitting in mid table. Only goal difference seperates the teams but with games in hand on the majority of teams above them both sides will look to climb a few places with victory on Sunday morning. NO YOUTH TEAM PREVIEWS SUBMITTED 8 / 11 / 2012 Beacon's Babes Batter Battlesbridge John Plumb feels he's getting into his stride now in his inuagural season in charge of Rovers' First Team. An increasingly settled squad are now turning good performances into wins and John's decision to blood the youngsters is proving to be a masterstroke. Saturday's trip to Battlesbridge was decided by superb finishing, all seven of Beacon's goals coming from players of tender years. Top of the class goes Karl Swanborough, his four finishes all taken with confidence, Charlie Banfield notched again from the wing and super-sub Brett Melia scored two, his first being a fantastic first time strike to complete a flowing team move. Hill's Reserves had a slow start against Extreme Utd and never recovered, going down 2-7 at home whilst the Thirds put in a great performance at table-topping Burnham Athletic but had left their shooting boots at home and lost to the game's only goal. Just to prove that it's not all the young dudes who can strut their stuff Rovers' old boys team pulled off a stirring comeback in their Essex Veterans Division One fixture. Visitors Chipping Ongar brought their 100% record to the Hill and with two excellent first half strikes they seemed destined to extend their lead at the top. However they couldn't quite finish Hill off who stuck gamely to their task with a great team effort. Gaffer Neil Mackenzie's second-half substitutions made all the difference and suddenly Ongar were not looking so confident and strikes in quick succession from Kevin Rooney and Danny Brand secured a share of the spoils for Rovers. Sunday's weather saw a wipe-out for all Hill's fixtures but not before the flood washed away Social's game at Bamstonians after the optimistic referee had started in the hopes an ark would appear. 4 / 11 / 2012 Brett makes a Melia of Royals Youth team product Brett Melia was the toast of the Hill on Saturday evening with a stunning second half double that sent Colebrook Royals out of the County Trophy and left manager John Plumb purring. Making his debut as a second half substitute Melia scored his first goals at the highest level, both long range efforts. Manager Plumb was full of praise for his new star also acknowledging the excellent coaching at youth level that helped nurture Melia along the way. Andy Thomas' third team could not add a further 3 points to the ones gained at the league leaders the previous week although he will be pleased with the point gained after being 2-0 down at half time. Goals from Michael Baker and Emmanuel 'Bash' Bashorun rescued the game with the managers changes at half time proving decisive. The Vets run of poor form continued with a 1-0 reverse at Newbury Park with player availability and late withdrawals from the squad not helping Neil Mackenzies men. Biggest win of the weekend went to the Ladies as they saw off the challenge of Colchester Town 4-0. A first half effort from Sarah Taylor followed by a brace of headers from Anna South put Hill in control with both South goals coming from Emma Page corners. Page also got on the scoresheet herself as she missed the middle man (or woman) out by scoring direct from a corner late on.! In the youth section our U14 Boys took on Maldon & Tiptree in a midtable battle with both teams securing a point. Both Girls teams had table topping matches, the U14’s consolidating their position at the top beating Hutton 2-0 while the U13 Girls entertained Colchester Villa who walked away with the points beating our team 3-1. The other teams had Cup matches; Trojans picking up the only point for the U12’s and a 7-2 win put the U10 boys top of their table. 30 / 10 / 2012 The Weekend Preview This weeks preview starts with our table topping U13 girls side (pictured) who under the guidance of Rachel Harwood have made an impressive start to their league season. With 13 goals scored and still to concede after 3 games that record will be put to the test when second placed rivals Colchester Villa visit the Hill on Sunday. Adult 1st team: For the 3rd week running JP's men are in cup action and will look to progress to the second round of the County Cup following closely fought defeats in recent weeks. The opposition this weekend at the Hill are Colebrook Royals who ply their trade in the Romford and District League Premier Division. Reserves: No Fixture Third Team: Following last weeks victory over table toppers Burnham Athletic Andy Thomas' team find themselves sitting second in the table. Tomorrows opposition at the Hill are Laindon Orient reserves and Thomas may be tempted to strengthen his squad with the reserves and Sunday Social sides not in action this week to guarantee they keep the pressure on Burnham at the top. Veterans: Two heavy defeats in recent weeks have undone the excellent start to the season for Macca's men who occupy 3rd place in the table. The Vets will look to improve that position tomorrow with a journey to second from bottom Newbury Park. Park are still to win a league game this season but with the unpredictable squad availabilities that veterans football throws up this is a game that Hill cant take for granted if they want to secure the 3 points on offer. Social: No fixture Ladies: After giving the leaders a mighty scare last week manager Stuart Harwood returns from his work induced break to add additional tactical nous on the touchline. The ladies will go into this game as favourites with Colchester Town reserves attending the Hill with the unenviable position of second from bottom. **If your team is not featured in the weekend preview let us know contact@beaconhillfc.co.uk and we will let people know who and where you are playing** 26 / 10 / 2012 Rovers Defy Form Book What a tough weekend's fixtures the computer threw out for Beacon Hill this weekend. The First Team in League Cup action at Premier title holders Great Baddow, the Ladies in County comptetion against Trophy holders C&K Basildon and to complete the set of table topping opposition the Reserves, Thirds and Social all had League games againts their respective division leaders. The only Hill favourites from the form book were the Veterans at home to OPs in the County Cup, a team they'd already beaten 4-0 in the league. Well, so much for predictions. The Firsts were leading 2-0 at half-time with goals from two 17 year olds, Matt Catlin on his debut and Charlie Banfield before experience told and the home team finally vanquished a valiant Hill performance with a last minute 2-3 winner. The Ladies could also be proud of their performance going out of the County Trophy to the only goal of the game. Up at the Hill the Reserves defied the odds with a superb team display to take a point in a 1-1 draw with Hutton whilst the 3rds travelled to Burnham Athletic and won 2-0. On Sunday Rovers' Social team came mighty close to an upset. Goals from Freeman and Holroyd nearly brought a recovery before Hill went down 2-3. And just to prove the form book counts for nothing when the whistle blows there were only Old Palmertarian Vets voices joining in happliy as the fat lady sang, pre-match favourites Hill's old boys crashing to a very disappointing 1-4 defeat. On the Youth front it was service as normal. Beacon Hill's youngsters are producing some fantastic football, a reward for all their hard work during their coaching sessions. Rovers' 14s boys led the way with a 7-2 drubbing of Burnham Ramblers whilst their female equivalents beat Gt Danes 3-1. The 13s Girls kept yet another clean sheet and scored twice away at Holland, the 12s Trojans lost a tight encounter 2-1 at Writtle whilst the 12s Spartans were beating Woodham 3-1 and the 10s travelled home from Hedingham Utd very happy with their performance and a 4-2 win. 21 / 10 / 2012 Beacon in Peaks Challenge In a preview of this weekends Adult fixtures four out of six of our teams face the daunting challenge of playing their respective league leaders, with the first team also travelling to face last seasons Premier Division champions. Only the veterans can claim to be favourites going into this weekend. First Team: John Plumb and his troops will look to carry on from last weekends heroic efforts against the all conquering Tillingham when they visit last seasons Premier Division champions Great Baddow in the Dave Strachan Cup. With the first team being relegated last term it looks on paper to be a straight forward victory for the reigning champions but with their slow start this season and a pre season friendly draw between the two sides Hill will fancy their chances in taking out a big early scalp. Reserves: Player availability looks to be a big problem this week as Rob Hill looks to get his side on track after successive defeats. A visit from league leaders Hutton then is not the fixture anybody would have hand picked to get the results going back in favour. Thirds: With a heavy defeat in the league cup to second in the table Real Maldon last week you would have thought the chances of a slightly easier fixture this week would be high. Unfortunately for Andy Thomas a visit to unbeaten table toppers Burnham Athletic is the fate that the fixtures computer has dealt them. Veterans: A heavy defeat last time out for the old boys means that Neil Mackenzie will look to reshuffle his troops and get back to winning ways. The visit of Old Parmiterians gives the best chance of all Beacon Hill teams to record a victory this weekend given the 4-0 win over the same opposition on the opening day of the season. Social: A tough game for the Sunday outfit when league leaders Supershooters bring their 100% record to the Pit. With the visitors boasting many players from Eastern Counties League Halstead Town this looks to be the toughest fixture of all Beacon sides this weekend. Ladies: Stu Harwoods ladies 3 game winning start to the season has shuddered to a halt recently with 2 defeats and a draw from their next 3. A trip to league leaders C&K Basildon may prove to be too tough a fixture to change that record this weekend with the hosts boasting 6 straight victories from their opening games, conceding only 4 goals in the process. GOOD LUCK to all our sides this weekend...... 20 / 10 / 2012 FA Schools Finals Day success at the Hill Beacon Hill were hosts to this prestigious County wide small schools 7 a side tournament on Thursday in which fourteen schools took part. Over two hundred people were present to see the Rickling school from Saffron Walden come through as winners on the day; they now move on to a regional final. The FA and the schools were generous in their praise for the excellent playing surface and facilities at the Hill, a tribute to our coaches and volunteers who sustain our reputation as one of the best Charter Standard Community Clubs around. Here's a quote received from one of the participating schools "The whole event was so well organised and the atmosphere so positive and encouraging." 19 / 10 / 2012 Social and Youths to the Rescue As the teleprinter rolled through the weekend it wasn't looking good for Rovers adults teams. The Firsts put up a fantastic display at league leaders Tillingham before succumbing 4-5, the Reserves were also losing on the Dengie, 0-4 at Mayland whilst back at the Hill Real Maldon beat the Thirds 6-1. Over at Chelmsford the Veterans got a drubbing by OCs and the Ladies couldn't help the results on Sunday despite a great performance losing in the last minute 2-3 to Assendun. So all hats are off to Beacon Hill Social with their 4-3 win at Shalford. Goals from Willsher, Canty, Cracknell and Banfield and a Man of the Match performance from Matt Davies. With the FA opening St Georges Park this week there has been much talk about the future of the game and whilst Hill's adults had a bad weekend the Club's youth teams just keep rolling out the great performances. The boys had three wins: 12s Spartans 5-0 against Maldon Saints, 12s Trojans beating Sporting 77, who are two divisions higher, 3-1 in the League Cup and the 10s won a thriller 4-3 against Dunmow. The Girls were not to be outdone, the 13s drew 0-0 with Little Oakley ahd still haven't conceded a goal yet this season and the 14s (pictured) drew 2-2 against a strong Chelmsford City team. 15 / 10 / 2012 Mixed Bag for Beacon Beacon Hill Rovers Football Club had a range of results over the weekend led by draws for their leading teams. The Men's First Team played excellently and were unfortunate to be pegged back at the death after leading three times at Stifford Town. Two goals form Charlie Banfield and one from sub Ben Smith nearly getting all three points. The Ladies were less satisfied with their performance but still came away from Billericay Town with a point after goals from Jo Smeaton and Anna South. Also on Sunday the Social Team had a great game in the County Cup against Dagenham but unfortunately went out 2-3. The Men's Saturday teams continued the up and down weekend with a loss for the Reserves, 1-3 at home to Durning, an excellent away win at St Cleres for the Thirds and a great team performance from the Veterans, a 2-0 home win over Rosebay and three hard earned Essex Division One points. Amongst the Youth Teams the weekend saw the 14 boys lose a tough local derby 4-6 against Hatfield Peveral, the 14 girls won 7-2 at home to Island Girls and the 10s boys played some excellent football in a 7-3 win at Danbury. 12s Trojans beat Broomfield 3-0, continuing theri excellent form. On Saturday morning the 8s played two matches against Danbury and Tiptree and Hill's coaches Gordon Henrici and Mike Eldridge were really pleased with the high quality passing. 9 / 10 / 2012 Viva Espana The Beacon Hill 2013 Adult tour dates have been announced and 2013 will see us visit the Sunny climes of Lloret de Mar, Spain. The liveliest resort on the Spanish Costa Brava, for some footie fun in the sun. Enjoy friendly match action, unbeatable nightlife during the evenings, the excellent beach and even Barcelona too. With a passion for football, the region is a cracking choice for adult football groups with accommodation ideally located within walking distance of the beach, bars and restaurants. Departing from Southend Airport on Saturday 18th May and returning on Monday 20th May, this promises to be a tour that all adults will want to be part of. The total cost of this trip is just £270 and includes the following. 3*** Bed and Breakfast Hotel Accomodation in twin/triple rooms with ensuite facilities and pool. (Hotel is within walking distance of the main strip and beach). Coach travel to and from Southend Airport. Return flights from Southend airport to Barcelona airport. Return airport transfers from/to Girona Friendly games vs local opposition (Ladies and Mens). PLUS: The legendary Beacon Hill Tour T-Shirt This promises to be a fantastic weekend and will be a very popular venue so contact Rachel Harwood or see your team manager or committee member without delay. A deposit will be required to confirm your place. Make sure you dont miss out !! 5 / 10 / 2012 Canty in Fantasy Form Beacon Hill's Braintree Sunday League team grab the headlines this weekend with a 5-2 win over Bocking at the Pit. Antony Canty was in fine style picking up lots of points for his Fantasy League managers with 2 goals and 3 assists. The other scorers were Wheeler, Freeman and Sonnex. On Saturday, the First team went down to their first defeat of the season whilst the Reserves trounced Sparta Basildon 7-2. Rovers' Thirds picked up another three points after young Ryan Felton scored the winner in the last five minutes at Frenford, another goalscoring success from Nick Smith's youth team. Hill's Veterans also showed commendable exuberance in coming back from 3-1 down to draw at home to Writtle. The Ladies put in a monumental shift at Witham Town's ground on Sunday, taking the lead after Amie Tuscher had headed in an Emma Page corner only to be pegged back just before the break and conceding a second with 7 minutes left after an intense second half barrage from Town. Hill then nearly rescued a point when Marnie Freeman-Hacker had a shot superbly saved in the last minute. There was more excellent football played by Hill's youth team's, 12 Trojans continuing their free scoring style, 6-1 at home to Sporting and the 13s girls travelled all the way to Little Oakley and won 4-0, their defensive coach, Justine Dallard, happy with another clean sheet. The 14s boys and 12 Spartans both found it tough going at Great Notley, losing 3-6 and 0-2 respectively. The 10s continued their winning ways, 4-2 against Dunmow. 30 / 9 / 2012 Ten Win Weekend An excellent weekend's football for the Rovers with ten victories and 45 goals scored. It's early days but the quality of football being played across the Club's teams is high and deservedly bringing the rewards. The First Team had a 5-3 home victory over Academy Sports, a game that Hill could never quite close out against a battling opposition but Hill's firepower eventually seeing them home. The Thirds had a stunning 8-0 win at local rivals Mundon Vics with Matt Surridge (pictured) returning to the black and white starting line-up and showing he hasn't lost his touch by scoring all four of Hill's first-half goals. The Ladies team picked up three league points off Hutton, the Veterans beat Old Palmertarians 4-0 at the Hill whilst on Sunday the Social team went down 0-2 to Notley. In Beacon Hill's much lauded Youth Section all the hard work over the last few years is beginning to show through as Hill teams now consistently outpass their opposition. The 14s girls led the way this week with a 12-1 win at Benfleet as the 13s girls were winning 7-0 at Aztec. Amogst the boys teams the 14s had a superb 3-2 home win over Galleywood and Beacon Hill's u10s beat their Galleywood equivalents 4-0. 12s Trojans won an even match 1-0 at Latchingdon but the pride of the bunch has to be 12s Spartans who travelled to Intersports of Basildon and won a thrilling County Cup encounter 3-2. 23 / 9 / 2012 Firsts Lead, Others Follow. For the second weekend in a row both Beacon Hill's leading teams notched convincing wins. The Men's First Team repeated their pattern of playing out a goal-less first half, introducing Matt Wilsher as sub and spending the second 45 minutes banging in the goals. This time it was Burnham Athletic on the receiving end, 5-0. The Ladies travelled to Rochford Town and came home with all three points and their biggest ever win, 12-1. The other Mid-Essex teams picked up good results, the Reserves 1-1 at Braintree&Bocking and the Thirds an enjoyable local derby victory over Mundon Vics. The Thirds' victory was especially notable as 17 year old product of Beacon Hill's Youth set up, Callum Wharton (pictured) scored the winner. At the other end of the age range the Club's vetarans team played out a 2-2 draw with Tillingham. On Sunday that Youth set up produced some excellent football: the 13s girls beat Hawkwell 3-1 whilst amongst the boys teams the 14s lost narrowly 3-4 at Flitch, the 12's Spartans out passed Uplands to an 8-1 win and the 10s overcame Coggeshall Town 5-0. Meanwhile our Sunday Men's team were battling out a Cup match with Valley Green and despite strikes from Holroyd and Wilsher went down 3-2 17 / 9 / 2012 Social nominated for two local awards Our Sunday Social team have had the icing added to their successes of last season with two nominations in the local Essex Chronicle annual Sports Awards 2012. Manager Wayne Purser has been nominated in the Unsung Hero awards category after leading his team to a Braintree and District League Cup double, who themselves have been nominated in the Team of the Year category. Wayne spoke of his surprise at his nomination but was extremely happy with that of his team. "Its fantastic that the lads have received this recognition after all of last years hard work, i just hope that their friends, family and those who represent other teams at Beacon Hill, wether it be parents or players take the time to register their votes for them. It would be a further magnificent achievement for Beacon Hill Rovers as a whole if we could make the final shortlist let alone win it. Especially after recent awards for the website, the 3rd teams fair play award and The FA recognition of our excellent coaching at youth level", he added. The voting is now open and closes at midnight on Sunday October 7th when a final shortlist of 5 in each category will be judged by an expert sporting panel. The winners will be invited to a lavish dinner and awards ceremony at Chelmsford City Football Club on Friday 9th November where the best of local sport will be announced. To register your vote for Wayne and/or the Social team you can either purchase the Essex Chronicle (out every week on a Thursday) and complete the voucher in the paper or text your vote. To vote for Wayne: text EC SPORT 1037 your name and postcode to 65100 To vote for the Team: text EC SPORT 1022 your name and postcode to 65100 Texts cost 50p each plus standard message rate and you can only vote once in each category. 13 / 9 / 2012 Flying Start by Top Teams Both Beacon Hill's first teams started their league seasons with excellent wins, the Mens team winning 4-0 away at Battlesbridge and the Ladies beating Runwell&Rayleigh 5-2 at the Hill. The First Team's new boss, John Plumb was delighted at his team's work ethic in a goal-less first half that set them up to take control with four second half strikes and some solid defending for a clean sheet that bodes well as they attempt to bounce straight back to the Premier Division. The Ladies were instantly rewarded for their pre-season hard work as they gave R&R a run around with some great possession football, Sarah Taylor in the spotlight with a hat-trick. Back in the Men's Mid-Essex League the Reserves lost narrowly 4-3 at UCB whist the 'A'team went down 7-0 at Real Maldon.m On Sunday BH Social beat Onley Arms 2-1 at the Pit. The Youth teams were also in action under a scorching sun at a packed Hill and many made their day harder by giving their opposition a start. The 14s gave Dunmow a two goal head start yet won 4-2 with Tom Bellis polishing his shooting boots, the 12s Trojans went 1-0 in 15 seconds to Woodham Wasps before winning comfortably 6-1 and the 10s were a first half goal down to Braintree Town until some excellent team play turned it around to a 3-1 win. One of the best dispalys came from the 12's Spartans,a 0-0 draw against a strong Woodham Wolves team in their first Div 1 fixture after promotion last season. 9 / 9 / 2012 Double Delight ! Social 4 Notley 2 Social overcame an early 2 goal deficit to claim the Divisional 2 Cup in a fantastic final. Supported by a large contingent of Hill supporters and twenty mascots from our U9, U7 and U6 teams, Social found themselves 2 goals down after only 8 minutes before Dean Slator and Anthony Canty leveled the scores at half time. Two further second half goals from man of the match Canty secured the cup with an excellent second half team performance that opponents Notley found hard to match. After an excellent first season in the Black & White of Hill, Social will now look forward to playing in Division 1 next year where they will look to match this seasons efforts. For the official league match report and photos see the link below. 24 / 4 / 2012 Social go for Double This Sunday Beacon Hills newest recruits the Sunday Social look to add the Division 2 Cup to the League title won in fantastic style 2 weeks ago. Having won 17 of their 18 league fixtures this term they play a Notley FC side who were responsible for the only defeat of the league campaign. With Social winning the other fixture, this makes for an interesting game with the top 2 of the Braintree & North Essex League 2 going head to head. Beacon Hill FC and The Bull at Great Totham have joined forces to fund a coach for both players and supporters to travel to the game free of charge and at the time of writing this article we only have 4 places still available on board. Contact any committee member to claim a place on the bus. The day will be made extra special, win or lose, with Hills U6 & U9 teams providing no less than 19 mascots from their squads for the Social side to share their day with. The Beacon Hill youngsters will enjoy a Champions League walk out onto the pitch as well as getting involved in the warm up. Pre match and hopefully celebratory post match photos will also be available for the lads to get involved in. "Both the lads and myself have been really grateful to everybody at Beacon Hill welcoming us to the club at the start of the season and the continued support throughout. We could so nearly have folded last season as financial pressures increase on many stand alone teams but with those pressures off, we have flourished this year", said manger Wayne Purser. "Not only am I proud that we have brought success to the club this year, it is fantastic to offer the young footballers of tomorrow the chance to enjoy the day as well on Sunday. Who knows, we may be watching the mascots on Sunday in their own Beacon Hill Finals in years to come". Purser went further in his interview, " I would love to see as many Beacon Hill players, supporters and parents at the game on Sunday. Win or lose we have had a great season and that can be mostly put down to the support of everyone at the club. **Socials Cup Final will be played at Halstead Town FC this Sunday (25 Apr) with a 2-30 KO.** 18 / 4 / 2012 Social are Feeling just Champion !! 9 Apr: When the Social Sunday side fluffed their lines 2 weeks ago in their attempt to win the Braintree & District League 2 title against closest rivals and cup final opponents Notley FC, their may have been a few doubters as to wether Social would have the ability to cross the championship winning line. That doubt was firmly put to rest on Easter Sunday with Social running out 5-0 winners against 3rd placed Braintree Sporting and therefore guaranteeing the top spot with a game to spare. A double from Anthony Canty and goals from Cracknell, Holroyd and Baker sealed the win in a game that Sporting contributed much too and the result did not give justice to their performance. With one league game to go, many changes will be made to next weeks line up away at Titan FC with thoughts now edging towards the Cup Final on 22nd April. A full match report will be on the website as usual in due course. 12 / 4 / 2012 Beacon's coaches are up with the pros For the last 2 days (Friday 30th and Saturday 31st March), myself, Justine and Roy all coaches of the Under 12 and 13 girl’s football teams have been on a new football course called “Youth Module One”. This new style-coaching course is based around our Coaching Development Officer Merf’s ethos of player focused coaching and the teaching of decision making in young players (he has been championing this ethos for the last 10 years at least!). We arrived entering a room full of football coaches from all walks of life. To paint you a picture at first we wondered if we were in the wrong location as there was a few grass roots football coaches like ourselves but most were from either academies and even ex pro footballers such as Bradley Allen (ex Spurs), Kevin Gallen (ex QPR) (pictured far left) and Robert Quinn (ex Crystal Palace) (pictured middle) who are now all elite coaches! We realized how lucky we were to be on such a course, and Beacon Hill’s name had helped us get on it. The longer the day went on the more it showed just how much we knew at Beacon Hill already, and coaching and playing alongside the pros showed that all coaches are after the same goal…..to develop their players as much as possible and that yes we all like to win but the development of the players themselves is the most important thing. I want to leave you with one final point, in every game a child has approximately 1350 decisions to make, that’s just how much pressure they have on them. So before you decide to highlight the negatives lets find the positives for those so young. This is a 4 day course and with 2 days left to do in a couple of weeks this has reinvigorated my passion for coaching…. Part 2 to follow. Written by Rachel Harwood 3 / 4 / 2012 Social look to claim title this weekend After a fantastic month of matches in March which has seen Social win all 3 league games scoring 20 goals in the process and conceding only 4, victory this weekend will secure the league title. Playing under the clubs banner for the first time this year, Social have clocked up a fantastic 14 wins from their 14 league matches and standing in their way of their 15th will be fellow title rivals Notley FC. On top of their league form, Social have also reached the final of their Divisional Cup which is to be played at Halstead Town FC on Sunday 22nd April, KO 2.30pm. Notley will be their opponents on this occasion as well. The match this Sunday is a 10.30 am KO at our new ground, The Pit in Great Totham. If your team doesn't have a fixture on Sunday morning then supporters are urged to attend and hopefully spur the lads onto another victory which will secure Beacon Hills first piece of silverware this season. 22 / 3 / 2012 Sundays turn it up to Eleven 20 Jan: Beacon's Sunday Social side (pictured) made it eleven straight league wins after their away victory over send placed Notley FC. Their hard-fought win extended Hill's lead at the top of BNESL Division 2 to eight points. See the link below for the full match report. The Third team came from a goal down to secure a draw from their home game against Mundon Vics Reserves, Junior's second half strike giving Beacon the point. The First team suffered a heavy home defeat to fellow Premier Division strugglers SFC Billericay. For more details and match reports see the team pages. 20 / 2 / 2012 Taylor triple sews up another three points 19 Jan: Beacon's Ladies gained their second win of the season at home against Billericay Town Reserves. A well deserved victory saw Sarah Taylor grab a hat-trick with Justine Dallard chipping in. See the link below for the full match report. 19 / 2 / 2012 Social up for the Cup! 20 Jan: After an impressive league campaign that has seen the Sunday Social side record 11 straight wins from their 11 games so far, intentions turn this weekend to League Cup action with a place in the final up for grabs. Opponents CFC Shalford Reserves have not had the best of times against Social recently with 2 league defeats this season as well as a Cup Final loss last term when Social were playing under the name of Mitre United. Social won't be taking their opponents lightly though and will need to perform at the consistent levels they have done throughout their league campaign if they are to progress through to the final to take on Notley FC. The match will be played on the excellent Shalford Village Hall pitch and support from all of Beacon Hills teams would be gratefully appreciated. The match kicks off at 10-30. 19 / 2 / 2012 10 out 10 for Social as Vets sink Britannia 31 Jan: The Sunday Social side (pictured) made it ten wins from their ten league games on Sunday, beating Sporting 77 4-1 at home. Goals from Jamie Cracknell, Eddie Holroyd and Simon Roast enabled Beacon to maintain their 100% record in BNESL Division 2. The Vets won their fifth league game of the season over a Britannia struggling to keep their place in Essex Division 1. Having only lost one from their last six league games, Beacon's old boys kept up their good run of form with a 5-1 win. The Third team made an admirable comeback in their league game against St. Clere's A. 3-0 down with twenty minutes to go, Beacon looked dead and buried before goals from Ryan Gibson, Rob Smith and Kev Miles leveled the match. Results elsewhere didn't favour Rovers - the First team lost away at Scotia Billericay, the Reserves lost 3-2 at home against Braintree and Bocking while the Ladies lost 3-2 away to Chelmsford City. See team pages for more details. 31 / 1 / 2012 Skipper shows Redbridge the way 14 Jan: In an excellent team performance, Beacon's Ladies came from two goals down to beat third placed Redbridge. Marie Hall and Sarah Taylor started the comeback before skipper Lynne Galloway (pictured front right) scored her second goal in two games in the final minutes to secure the win. Beacon's never-say-die attitude finally reaped its rewards and earned them a much deserved win after a difficult season so far. Rach Harwood typified their determination after the game saying, "2012 is going to turn our fortunes around and we will fight this relegation till the end, taking some tips from Blackburn...." For more details see the Ladies' team page. 15 / 1 / 2012 Firsts secure vital win at Rhodesia 15 Jan: The First team went to bottom-of-the-table Rhodesia United needing a win to revitalise their Premier Division season. A first-half hat-trick from Adam Sansom (pictured) and a Marc de la Rue header clinched the points leaving Beacon within reach of teams above them in the table. The Reserves lost out in a tight encounter at home against Latchingdon. Three home goals were not enough to secure much needed points. The Third team fared a little better, coming away with a point from their home game against Focus Ferrers. Beacon will be a disappointed that they didn't hold on to a three-goal lead, but were eventually relieved not to have lost a game that swung to and fro. An early strike from Junior, two goals from Kev Miles and a couple of fine saves from keeper Rob Hill gave the Thirds the draw. The Vets came away from Frenford aggrieved after a second-half penalty proved decisive in a very evenly matched game. For more details see the team pages. 14 / 1 / 2012 Sundays bid for county quarter-finals 17 Jan: Our Sunday side play in the last sixteen of the Junior County Trophy this weekend. Barking Community are the team that stand in the way of them and a place in the last eight of the Essex-wide tournament. The match is at home (The Pit) at 10.30am on Sunday and the more support we can give our newest side the better... 13 / 1 / 2012 Veterans and U17s make winning start to 2012 9 Jan: Following the holiday break all the men's teams resumed their seasons last weekend, with the Vets emerging the only victors. The First team found Little Waltham too strong in their Mid-Essex Premier Division tie. The Reserves were unlucky to not get anything from their game against Shelley Royals in Division 3, while the Sundays had their six-game winning streak ended by Beaumont Wanderers as they were knocked out of the Charle Turnbull Trophy. The Vets however claimed their fourth league win of the season, a result that lifts them to third in the table, while the U17s had an impressive 5-3 win over Chelmsford City which puts them in the driving seat for a League Cup semi-final place. All of the adult teams are in league action this weekend and the U17s take on high-flying Braintree Town in their Knock-out Cup. 9 / 1 / 2012 2012 kicks off with cameras at the ready 6 Jan: It's straight back into action for most of Beacon's teams in the first full weekend of 2012. Most notably, our youth teams will be taking part in filming for the FA's new coaching films and the RESPECT campaign (seen supported in the pic). Filming will take place on Saturday 14th January at your usual morning training session. You will need to complete and hand in a consent form (see 'related link' below) in order for your child to participate. See your team manager for further details. Matches this weekend include the First team at home against Little Waltham, the Reserves away at Shelley Royals and the Veterans at Herongate on Saturday. Sunday sees both the Social side and the Under-17s in cup action away to Beaumont Wanderers and Chelmsford City Whites. 1 / 1 / 2012 When nearly all else fails, Sundays make semis 13 Dec: A very frustrating weekend for some of the Beacon adult sides was lifted by a superb League Cup quarter-final victory by the Sunday Social team (pictured). While four of our sides lost out in hard-fought games, our freshmen claimed their thirteenth win of the season. The First team were on the receiving end of a late comeback as Benfleet Rangers hauled back Beacon's two-one lead in the final ten minutes. The Reserve team almost mounted an incredible comeback after being four goals down, but fell just short despite their late surge against Stock. The Third team held their own against top-of-the-table Extreme United until the visiting team capitalised on some luck and Beacon's tiring legs to run away with the game. The Vets however managed their third league win of the season through Fodor's eleventh and twelfth goals of the season and a brace from Hunt as they made it three games unbeaten. The Sunday side were the highlight though, with goals from Wheeler, Sonnex, Slator, Roast and Canty's fourteenth of the season finishing Braintree Sporting. The superb match report is a must read (link below). The Ladies' season continues to deal harsh blows as they were unlucky to lose by the odd goal to Chelmsford City Reserves. See team pages for more details and match reports. 13 / 12 / 2011 New times ahead while Sundays roll on 7 Dec: Two weeks in the life of Beacon's adult teams has seen some changes while some successes just keep on going. The First team now have a new player-manager with Dave Shelley taking up the reigns. With the backing of all at the club, Beacon will be looking to move from strength to strength as it seeks to progress men's football. Many thanks must go to Wayne Purser and Kev Lee for managing the team over the past two months. On the pitch, the Sunday Social side continue to dominate Braintree and North Essex Sunday League Division 2. A 4-2 win over Cressing takes them 5 points clear at the top of the table with a 100% record. The previous week saw Beacon move through to the last 16 of the Sunday County Junior Trophy after an extra-time win over Hutton. The Third team continued their revival over the past two weeks with a win and a draw over local rivals Real Maldon. While the draw meant that Beacon did not qualify for the semi-finals of the League Cup, their emphatic 6-2 victory the following Saturday boosted their League place. The Veterans are making progress, picking up points as they seek to improve their League position. A draw against top of the table Shenfield showed they are able to match the best on their day. The First, Reserve and Ladies are all coming to terms with their respective situations. Changes, tough oppositions and bad luck have meant that wins have been hard to come by. Recently closer games suggest better times lie ahead. For more details see the team pages. 7 / 12 / 2011 Social a Christmas cracker 5 Dec: Last Friday saw Beacon Hill Rovers (plus friends) descend on Forrester Park Golf and Country Club, Great Totham en masse for their Christmas celebrations. A total of 177 people, from inside and outside the club, attended the Hog Roast and Disco at the excellent local venue - demonstrating Beacon Hill's desire to contribute further to the local community. An enormous thanks to Social Secretary Nikki Smith for organising the event which will be talked about for some time to come. More social events are being planned for 2012. To be part of these exciting events contact Nikki by email on social@beaconhillfc.co.uk or speak to any of the club committee members. 5 / 12 / 2011 Thirds and Sundays light the way 24 Nov: Two wins last weekend from Beacon's freshers and its 'A' team proved to be the highlight of a weekend that marked the end of the first quarter for the adult teams. Norton, Park and Pollock netted for the Thirds as they overcame Focus Ferrers following a frustrating set of results. Canty, Cracknell and Holroyd struck for the Sunday side (pictured) as they continued to set the pace in their division. Four losses across the other teams leaves them all in need of better fortune in the run-up to the winter break. See the team pages for more details. 24 / 11 / 2011 Under 17 Boys team hit Greens for six! 7 Nov: The U17 Boys stole the show this weekend with a tremendous 6-0 win over Boreham Village Greens in the League Cup. The First team lost a tight encounter against Harold Wood, the Reserves were edged out of the League Cup by Latchingdon while the Third team eared a point against Mundon. The Vets secured an impressive three points against league-leaders Hutton but the Ladies suffered a heavy defeat to FC Clacton. The Sunday Social team progressed through to the next round of the Sunday County Cup with a 2-1 win over Thurrock League side Tyrells Hall. See the team pages for more details. 9 / 11 / 2011 Beacon's first 'soccer* school' a major success Oct 28: Beacon Hill's first ever 'soccer* school' event during the October half-term was a major success. The two-day event saw over 35 children take part in the games, competitions and coaching session. Beacon Hill's highly-regarded youth coaching complemented the fun that included team games and tournaments. With prizes, medals and awards on top, all the players had chance to have fun while improving their skills. All of those who took part did absolutely brilliantly and before it was even over many were already looking forward to the next event. For all their hard work, thanks go to all who helped coach, run and organise the event which gave so much to all involved and helped raise funds for the club too! *use of the s-word is for alliteration purposes only 1 / 11 / 2011 Veterans rule Britannia 30 Oct: Beacon's old boys (pictured) stole the limelight this weekend with a hard-fought victory over Britannia in their Essex League Division 1 match. The Veterans' first league win of the season proved to be Beacon's only adult team win this weekend. The Ladies took a point from their travels to Assandun Vikings but the Reserves, Thirds and Sundays all lost at home. A County Cup exit, a narrow league loss against top-of-the-table and a first defeat of the season for the men's sides respectively. See the team pages for more details. 30 / 10 / 2011 Essex Schools FA Finals at the Hill! Beacon Hill enhanced their role in the community by hosting yet another prestigious Essex FA County Finals day. On Thursday 20th October at the Hill, Terling Primary won through as Essex Champions to play in the National Finals of the English Small Schools Under 11s FA Tesco Cup, to be held at the Marathon Ground in Greenwich in 2012. On a glorious Autumn day ten schools from across Essex competed for this opportunity to go to the National Finals. Runners up Mountnessing Primary also played some excellent football but Terling came out on top; a great achievement for a small local village school team. The FA are always pleased to be able to visit the Hill and said “we extend our gratitude to FA Community Club Beacon Hill Rovers FC for allowing us the use of their excellent facilities”. 20 / 10 / 2011 Holroyd's two winners lift Firsts and Sundays 17 Oct: The First team made light of their recent form with an outstanding away win over an in-form Little Waltham side. A Will Carter penalty and a late winner from Eddie Holroyd brought to an end Waltham's six game winning streak. The Veterans progressed into the second round of the County Cup with a 3-1 win over Great Baddow. Csaba Fodor hit two before Danny Brand sealed the tie. Down at The Pit (pictured), the Sunday Social team secured a narrow league victory over Titan United. Eddie Holroyd provided Beacon the winner for the second time in two days, taking Hill five points clear at the top of Division 2. The Reserves were beaten at home by Tillingham Hotspur while the Third team's run of form was halted in the final few minutes of their home game against Sparta Basildon Reserves - a late winner giving Sparta the three points. The Soccability team played their first matchday of the season and came away with three victories and four draws in a good start to the season. See the results page for more details including match reports. 17 / 10 / 2011 17s in remarkable cup turnaround 17 Oct: In what may turn out to be the most remarkable comeback of the season, the Under 17s made their way into the second round of the knockout cup in quite spectacular style. Facing a Wilvale Rangers side second in the Division above them, Beacon quickly found themselves behind and went into half-time 4-0 down. In a remarkable transformation Hill turned the tables on the visitors in the second half with goals from Callum Wharton, Lewis Hughes, two from George Stafford and a penalty from Brett Melia in the final stages that completed the dramatic tie. See their team page for more details and the match report. 16 / 10 / 2011 Soccability get 2010/11 FA fair play award Our Soccability team (pictured) received the FA Soccability League 2010/11 Fair Play award at the annual presentation evening recently. Held at the Community Stadium and hosted by Colchester United (with mascot Eddie the Eagle in attendance!) over 300 players involved in the FA Soccability league enjoyed a very lively night of speeches, awards, food and drink! Top of the pile for awards for us were Ladies player of the year Melissa, Championship players player of the year Sam and managers player Rob, Fun League players player of the year Nigel and managers player Matt. The organisers said the presentation evening was a huge success and we are pleased to have Beacon Hill Rovers FC providing coaching in Witham Photographs of the evening show players with their awards presented by Colchester United players Ben Williams and Andy Bond 6 / 10 / 2011 New 9-a-side pitch gets a 5-star performance Hill's Under 12 girls (pictured) were the first to test the new 9aside pitch on Sunday, welcoming their closest rivals Colchester Villa. The game got off to a quick start with Hill gaining the majority of possession on the new pitch and getting to grips with their new surroundings very quickly. Hill played their best football to date with crisp passing through from Sal in goal at the back having the confidence to roll the ball out to the defenders Holly, Phoebe and Soph through to the midfield of Rosie, Izzy, Olivia, Ellie and Faye right up to Claire and Jess upfront. The game saw Hill go from strength to strength playing Villa mainly out of the game, the main reason allowing this was that Hill played as a team. Hill's pocket rocket Claire found the back of the net 3 times, twice in the first half including a penalty, and the third came early in the second half giving her a Hill hat-trick. The fourth came from an unfortunate own goal from the Villa defence with Rosie and Izzy forcing the error with great pressure and the fifth Hill goal was a great first goal from Ellie late in the second half. With a some great play down the left from Faye and Sophie, Ellie fired home into the top right hand corner leaving the Villa keeper with no chance. The score finished 5-0 to Hill - a great team performance from all well done. 4 / 10 / 2011 King makes Springfield pay the penalty Oct 2: The Third team continued their run of good form with a 2 - 1 win at Springfield in their Division 5 League Cup Group A match. With the game level as full-time approached, James King was brought down in Sprigfield's box then promptly got up and converted the penalty. Their fourth win in succession puts Beacon's young side in the driving seat of their group table. The First team without many of their regulars, traveled to Great Baddow in the Premier Division League Cup. In a tight game that the available players can take pride from, Beacon were in the game after equalising in the second half but succumbed to a late goal. The Ladies and the Veterans had disappointing weekends as the lost to Runwell Hospital and Shenfield respectively. The Reserves won 3-2 in their cup game. For more details see the team pages. 2 / 10 / 2011 Sundays are 4 from 4 as Thirds win 3rd in 3 Sept 26: The Sunday Social side maintained their 100% start to the season with a great win over previously unbeaten Braintree Sporting FC. Twelve points from four games leaves the clear at the top of Braintree and North Essex Sunday League Division 2. The Third team notched their third win on the bounce with their win away at Mundon Vics Reserves. An early goal from Mark Yabsley proved enough to take home the three points. The Firsts and Veterans both lost at home but on Sunday the Ladies picked up their first point of the season against Billericay Town Reserves with the help of two goals from Emma Page (pictured). See team pages for more details. 26 / 9 / 2011 Green lights the way in Thirds' cup opener 21 Sept: Ben Green scored four as Beacon's Third team made a great start to their League Cup campaign. In the new format competition, Beacon took the initiative in Group A with a 5-2 win over Focus Ferrers Reserves. Hat-tricks from Lee Sonnex and Jay Cracknell gave the Social side (pictured) an emphatic win over Onley Arms. The win takes Beacon to the top of the league with a trip to Braintree Town Sporting next week. The Veterans claimed their first league point as they held Essex Police to a draw in Chelmsford. The Ladies are also still looking for their first win of the season after their loss away at Hawkwell. See team pages for more details. 21 / 9 / 2011 Soccability league dates announced for 2011/12 Essex FA have agreed the dates for the coming season which opens up with a visit to Basildon on Saturday 15th October, see the Soccability page for all the fixture dates. Not all the host locations have been finalised, but the team will be travelling this season to Colchester, Maldon, Basildon and possibly Shenfield! 13 / 9 / 2011 Beacon make it a 1, 2, 3 while Social hit 5 again 12 Sept: The First, Reserve and Third teams all recorded their first wins of the season on a weekend that also saw the Sunday Social side win their second league game of the season. The Firsts' victory came in the Dave Strachan Cup at home against Mid-Essex Division 5 side Real Maldon. Heward, Sansom, Lewis and Bennett shared the goals that lead Beacon to face Brendans or Hutton in the next round. The Reserves took three points from their trip to Stock United. In a fine team performance Smith, Legg and Curson delivered the goals to give Beacon their first points of the season. The Third team also notched their first league win this campaign with a big win at Battlesbridge Reserves. A hat-trick from Green, two goals from Mark Yabsley and one from Pollock saw Beacon safely home. The Sunday Social side made it two league wins out of two with a 5-3 victory over Tolleshunt Knight Eagles, putting them second in the league at this early stage. The Vets and Ladies both started their league schedule, but neither could manage a point in tough opening fixtures. See team pages for more details. 13 / 9 / 2011 U9s and U11s shine as U17s get the point 12 Sept: Nearly all of Beacon's youth teams were in action last weekend, with the picks of the results being the U9 Rovers' win, the U11 Trojans and Spartans both winning and the U17 Team scoring on the final whistle to earn a well-deserved draw. See team pages or the link below for more details including match reports. 12 / 9 / 2011 Canty hits three as Sundays lead way 5 Sept: A tough start to the season was had by the Saturday men's teams as all lost their opening league fixtures. The highlight of the weekend came however on Sunday as the Social side took all three points from their game against CFC Shalford Reserves. In their first competitive fixture under the Beacon banner, a hat-trick from captain Anthony Canty helped them to a convincing win and a great start to their league campaign. The First Team went to SFC Billericay and despite leading through goals from James Lewis and Adam Ratcliffe, returned with no points to show. The Reserves saw visiting side Shelley Royals take a two goal lead before a Toby Legg strike brought Beacon back into the game. Unable to capitalise, Beacon fell foul of a Shelley breakaway goal which effectively ended the tie. Meanwhile the Third Team had a torrid time at home against St.Clere's A. After testing the away keeper twice and hitting the post Beacon found themselves two-down at half-time. The second half was more straightforward however as St.Clere's dominated and went on to win convincingly. The Ladies suffered a similar fate in their friendly at home against Assundun Vikings. In their friendly the Vets drew 3-3 with Tiptree, helped by two goals from Csaba Fodor. For more details see the team pages or the link below. 5 / 9 / 2011 Sundays hit six in final run-up to first season 29 Aug: In the last round of friendly matches before the season begins, Beacon had five of their adult teams getting a final run out. The Sunday side were excellent as they put six past Venables FC at home - the perfect lead into their first league game for the club next week. The First team took on a very good Swallownest Miners Welfare F.C on Saturday. A tough game saw Beacon struggle against a team many divisions higher than them. The highlight for the home side was a trademark Adam Ratcliffe (in picture, number 7) free-kick that dipped over the wall an in at the far post. The Ladies, playing their first game since their fine showing at the FA Charter Standard Tournament took on Witham Town at home. Coming back from a goal down twice, they looked good going into the new season. The Reserves went to Bicnkacre on Sunday morning and played out a scoreless draw. Steve Shelley was denied on a number of occasions by some fine goalkeeping while his brother Dave helped keep Beacon in the game between Hill's sticks. On Thursday, the Third team faced Feering at home, and after going one-up through a Tom Norton goal couldn't hold on in the second half, losing 3 - 1. All the teams go on to play their first league matches at the weekend. For a full preview to these teams' seasons click the 'related link' below or the link on the left side of the homepage. See team pages for more details. 28 / 8 / 2011 Beacon Hill website scoops county award! Beacon Hill's website has been announced as the winner of the 2011 Essex County FA's Club Website of the Year award, adding to the club's growing list of regional and national honours*. Judged among the 1600 clubs in Essex, Beacon continues to show that it's an example of excellence at grassroots level. But the website is still developing. And YOU can help make it even better. To keep it relevant and useful it needs up-to-date content. Report on a game you've recently seen, whether Premier, Ryman or Mid-Essex League. Pen an article on an aspect of the club. Write a short news piece. Or share a new idea. Then email it to contact@beaconhillfc.co.uk. See the link below for the Essex FA's news article. *2006 - FA Charter Standard Club Award 2008 - Essex FA Charter Standard Club of the Year 2008 - FA National Charter Standard Club of the Year (from over 4500 clubs nationwide) 2009 - Essex FA Coach of the Year 2010 - FA Charter Standard Community Club Award (one of only 22 clubs in Essex) 2011 - Essex FA Club Website of the Year 19 / 8 / 2011 Forrester Park teams up with Beacon Hill Beacon Hill and Forrester Park Golf and Country Club in Great Totham have come up with an offer that any golf, tennis or lunch lover would be crazy to pass up. Donate £20 to Beacon Hill Rovers FC and you will receive a voucher to play golf, tennis or have lunch at Forrester Park. That's a golf greenfee voucher worth up to £30, two hours of tennis or a half price lunch (not including drinks) for four people. Plus you'll get a discount card valid for one year that will give you money off golf, tennis, food and drink, function bookings and swimming. All that while also supporting Beacon Hill! For further details click the related link below. Contact Nikki Smith on 07811 400 803 or email social@beaconhillfc.co.uk to take up the offer. 25 / 7 / 2011 Under-7s lead the way with RESPECT The Under-7s have been busy supporting the FA's RESPECT Programme. Sporting the new Respect FC white scarves during a recent training day presentation attended by the Essex County FA they gave a thumbs up to the positive message. Published on the Essex FA website, the full story includes an interview with U7 coach Nick Smith (in the main article, at the bottom, click on the 'related link'). 23 / 7 / 2011 Soccability's player of the season 16 Jul: The Soccability season never ends but Nick was the winner of the 2011 manager's player of the year. The presentation was made by Coaching and Development Officer Merf Roberts at a recent coaching session at the Witham astro. Nick has been attending for two years now and rarely misses a session. He takes part in the Soccability league matches and has shown tremendous progress from his early days with Beacon Hill, he is a tenacious tackler and his enthusiasm to learn shines through. Congratulations Nick! 20 / 7 / 2011 Mid-Essex announces men's league line-ups 13 Jun: Last week at The County Motor Works Vauxhall Mid-Essex AGM the details of the league structure for the men's coming season were agreed. With a new sponsor, a host of new teams and a balancing of each division to include 11 or 12 teams, Beacon find themselves with a series of new challenges for 2011/2012. The First team remains in the Premier Division. Last season's champions Braintree and Bocking United, and runners-up Scotia Billericay remain in the league. Springfield Rouge and Focus Ferrers are relegated, while Division 1's runaway champions Scotia Billericay Reserves (renamed SFC Billericay) join the top tier and Rhodesia United complete what looks to be a very competitive 12-team division. The Reserves remain in Division 3 after narrowly missing out on promotion by one place. New faces will include Mundun Vics, relegated from Division 1, and Manford Way Reserves who comfortably topped Division 2 last time out. Harold Wood Athletic Reserves and Shelley Royals complete the teams coming from higher divisions while Tilingham Hotspur and Silver End United Reserves are promoted from Division 4. The Third team were dealt scant reward for their mid-table Division 4 finish last season - the highest of any 'A' team in the league - with a shift to Division 5. They do however remain a division above the lowest tier and will fancy their shot at a division containing five teams beaten last season, three sides promoted from spots three, four and five of last year's Division 5 and new outfits Rayleigh Town, Hutton Reserves and Academy Soccer Reserves. The Green King Essex Veterans' League threw up fewer surprises. As expected Beacon missed out on promotion on goal difference and are joined by convincing winners of the regional divisions Hutton Old Boys and Shenfield, while Doddinghurst Olympic and Brittania (promoted) and Herongate Athletic(relegated)complete the changes. An early start date was announced with fixtures scheduled to commence on Saturday 20th August. 8 / 6 / 2011 Beacon proud as girls push Leyton Orient 22 Jun: Last Wednesday Beacon Hill hosted its first 5-a-side girls' tournament for seven Under-11 girls' teams. Beacon Hill, Leigh Ramblers and Leyton Orient Advanced Soccer School (LOASS) all entered two teams each and Maldon Saints entered one. Every team played each other once, with the top four teams going through to a play-off for the two spots in the final which was played on Saturday. All the teams played some great football with LOASS A, Beacon Hill A, Leigh Ramblers A and LOASS B going through to the play-offs. Beacon Hill A played LOASS B in the first play off: Hill were the better team overall, playing some great link play with Claire and Holly scoring two great goals to secure them a place in the final. The other play-off between LOASS A and Leigh Ramblers A finished 0-0 so went to penalties with LOASS winning in the end. The final was played at the Wickham Bishops village fête, both teams played some nice football and although Beacon Hill defended well, with some strong tackling from Phoebe, Sally and Izzy and Alexia pulling off a couple of saves, LOASS came out on top through their better passing and the majority of the play, winning the game 2-0 with both goals started from two throw-ins. On a fantastic day, and throughout the tournament, all the girls did Beacon proud. Well played to all. 7 / 6 / 2011 Awards night caps a sterling season 5 Jun: Beacon took to Five Lakes Country Club for their annual end of season dinner and presentation evening following a vibrant season at the club. While the night proved as enjoyable as ever, players, coaches, partners and supporters got a chance to recognise and celebrate on and off the field successes, as well as show their appreciation for the hard work of many who contribute to the club as a whole. On the field all the adult teams maintained their divisional standings following promotions the previous season, notably the Reserves and Third teams achieved the highest league positions in their history and the First team put their name back on a trophy they last won in 2008. The addition of a number of youth teams has seen the club grow significantly with two new girls sides, the introduction a new under-6 program and extra teams formed at both under-10 and under-8 levels. The club continues to expand into 2011/2012 with the introduction of the inaugural Men's Sunday League side, the Under-16 Boys continuing on in youth football, the development of additional facilities as well as the constant improvement of our already superb set-up at our Wickham Bishops ground. On the night presentations kicked-off with Vicky Cooke receiving the hotly contested Young Player of the Year followed by Marc De La Rue collecting his First team award while First team vice-captain Dave Tracey accepted the Tiptree Cup won by the side last month. Justine Dallard, pictured receiving her award from club President Reg Banham, and Nina Christie scooped the player honours for the ladies team while their tour side collected their 6-a-side trophy following their third successive win in The Netherlands recently. The Veterans once again recognised Kev Lee as their Player of the Year, while Tony Riley took the Sportsman's gong. Other season awards included: Clubman of the Year: Nick Smith Mo Seeraullee collected the Soccability award on behalf of Nick Andrews. First Team Player of the Year: Matt Surridge Reserve Team Player of the Year: John Curson Reserve Team Sportsman: Steve Shelley Third Team Player of the Year: John Scott Third Team Sportsman: Ben Green 6 / 6 / 2011 Youth teams end season on a high 4 Jun: A great atmosphere surrounded the Youth End of Season Day. The coaches arrived early to set up, and by 09:00 the flags were flying around the 4 5-a-side pitches. The plan after that was for the coaches to have a “day off” so a HUGE thank you to all the Mums and Dads who stepped forward to take on jobs for the day. The players were split into four teams per age group and after a quick test of vexillology (pictured), the teams were named as representatives from the Women’s World Cup; Sweden, N. Korea, France and Brazil. Managers and referees were volunteers on the day, and off we went. Three hours of football sounds like a lot, but it went really quickly with all the kids playing in matches across the field in glorious sunshine. The winning Country was North Korea who won most points across all age groups. Meanwhile the coaches' day off took a more serious turn. The U16’s arrived for their 11-a-side match against the coaches. Kitted out in an attractive shade of Orange they took control early in the game...but maybe we were just toying with them! Old Age and Experience overcome Youthful Enthusiasm with the final score at 6-1. End of Team Season Awards followed, the winners were: This year the Sportsman’s Award (aka Tilly’s Shield) was presented to: Thomas Peear Under 8: Rovers Players' player - Rory Ferguson-Watts Manager's player - Christopher Burgess Under 8: Ravens Players' player - Alexander Whitworth Manager's player - Joseph Hoctor Under 10: Trojans Players' player - Ryan Seeley Manager's player - Archie Wright Under 10: Spartans Players' player - Joshua Chapman Manager's player - Alex Wadsworth Under 11 Girls Players player - Claire Ross Managers Player - Sally Ross Under 12 Girls Players player - Megan Richardson Managers player - Abigail Johnson Under 12 Boys: Players player - Dacy Warriner Manager’s player - Jack Ridge Under 16 Boys: Players’ player - Matt Neal Managers’ player - Adam Simpson 4 / 6 / 2011 BEACON END SEASON WITH SILVERWARE!! 25 May: On a busy night for Beacon's men the club claimed a trophy in the form of the Mid-Essex Premier/Division 1 Tiptree Charity Cup. Beacon's First team (pictured with trophy) beat Maldon St.Mary 5 - 2 with a hat-trick from Dave Heward the highlight of an entertaining game. The Reserve team did not fair as well in their Tiptree Cup final, also staged at Beacon's home ground. Going into half-time level, Hill succumbed to two Coggeshall Town strikes in the second half. The Veterans had played their Tiptree final last Friday at White Notley against Witham CML. After going behind in the first half Beacon had a number of chances to level, including a strong penalty appeal, before Witham put the game beyond all doubt in the last five minutes with two breakaway goals to make it 3 - 0. 25 / 5 / 2011 Ladies make it a hat-trick in Holland 31 May: Beacon's Ladies (pictured) returned home from the annual club tour victorious following an outstanding performance at the 27th Holland Stores ODP Toernooi 6-a-side competition held at FC Den Helder. With a record of five wins, one draw and no losses the Ladies brought home the trophy from The Netherlands for the third year running in convincing style. While conceding not a single goal, of their 24 goals scored, Emma Page top scored with eight strikes that included a 25-yard thunderbolt in the final match against Brokopondo that stunned the home crowd and crowned a superb team effort. The Veterans came a valiant second in their competition with three wins, one draw and one loss. After succumbing to Geitenbreiers in their first match in what can only be described as a consequence of early-match 'jitters', Beacon proceeded to dominate their games, conceding only once in the following four games. The Men's team found their tour legs harder to find, and their opponents a tougher challenge. In five close games that included one win, three draws and one narrow loss, Beacon were caught napping once too often despite some opportune strikes of their own. In the eleven-a-side Saturday competition Beacon were disappointed to only complete two out of their four group matches. After a typically sluggish start Beacon rallied in the second match, illuminated by a stunning aerial volley from David Park. With nine wins, six draws and only three losses, and sixteen of the eighteen players sharing in the goals during their Dutch weekend, Beacon can claim another successful overseas campaign despite having to negotiate the usual tour distractions. 24 / 5 / 2011 Beacons home in on Tiptree Trophies 23 May: This Wednesday Beacon make a final bid for silverware as two of its teams vie for the Tiptree Charity Cup at the Wickham Bishops Sports Ground. Taking advantage of the home advantage as hosts, the First team kick off their Premier/Division 1 final at 7pm while the Reserves begin their Division 2/3 final at the same time against Coggeshall Town. Supporters required. 23 / 5 / 2011 Trio of teams tilt at Tipree success 18 May: With the league season over for the Beacon Hill men's teams, focus now turns to the end of season charity cup competitions. The Reserves became the last of the Beacon teams to book their place in their Tiptree Charity Cup competition with a 3 - 2 win over Braintree and Bocking Reserves. Beacon's second team follow in the footsteps of the First team and the Veterans, both of whom had already reached the final of the Premier and Veterans Tipree Charity Cup respectively. The First team are set to face either Braintree and Bocking United or Maldon St Mary at Wickham Bishops Sports Ground on Wednesday 25th May with kick-off at 7pm. The Reserves play their final at the same time, same place against Coggeshall Town while the Vets travel to White Notley to play Witham CML, beaten 3 - 2 twice this season, on Friday 20th May. 18 / 5 / 2011 Under 12 boys triumph over unbeaten Tolleshunt Knights 15 May: The game started off very tense with both teams trying to show their supremacy. Several close goal attempts in the first half included Wes hitting the post. An excellent free kick delivered from Kieran, placed right in the centre of the six yard box allowed Tom to slot the ball into the net. A second goal came from Charlie with some excellent support play from the midfield, which kept the Tolleshunt defence stretched at all times. Then a corner from Tolleshunt which was not cleared by Rovers and the ball was in the back of the net. 2-1 at half time. In the second half Tolleshunt came out strong with several free kicks going very close. The reward came for all the Beacon boys’ efforts in the last 7 minutes with two further wonderful goals from Tom. A 4-1 victory was a tremendous team effort. Thank you boys and parents it was a delight to see all our hard work come to fruition. 16 / 5 / 2011 Reserves make hay as Thirds shine 18 Apr: With the season nearing its end, Beacon's adult teams face a busy final few weeks with promotions and cups still up for grabs. The First team are cramming in their games; having played four in the past two weeks and with another six to go before mid May. The recent games have brought just a solitary league point and two cup exits. A 2-2 draw away to lowly Harold Wood came courtesy of goals from Chocco Fodor and Jon Yabsley. Great Baddow inflicted a heavy league defeat while Burnham Ramblers proceeded to eliminate Beacon from both the Tolleshunt D'Arcy Memorial Cup and the Burnham Cup. A home tie in the Tiptree Cup remains and with their remaining league matches Hill will be looking to secure a top-half finish. The Reserves continue to vie for promotion from Mid-Essex Division 3. Two away wins against Latchingdon and City Colts have left them in a strong position with four home games left to play. Lying in second place, Beacon take on promotion rivals Felsted Rovers in a game that may be decisive. The Third team have put themselves in a healthy position, firmly mid-table in Mid-Essex Division 4. After a double-header against Burnham Ramblers and a victory over Crays Hill have amassed enough points to be comfortably clear of relegation. With three games to go, Beacon will be seeking to secure a top-half finish. 18 / 4 / 2011 Travelling Vets mugged by Essex Police 3 Apr: Another mixed weekend for Beacon as the First team win, the Reserves draw and the Thirds and Veterans lose out by the narrowest of margins. Despite staging a virtual sit-in inside Essex Police's half for most of the match, the Vets (pictured) were unable to retaliate against the Police's early strike. Beacon's inability to break through the opposition's blockade means they drop to fourth place in Division 1 while their opponents consolidate their place in second. The First team fought their way to an impressive win against Premier Division third place side St.Clere's. Goals from Rob Hewer and a belter from Adam Sansom put Beacon ahead before a second-half strike from the away side made for a tight finish. Beacon's Reserves faced St.Clere's second team down at Stanford-le-Hope and for the second time in three weeks had to settle for a point against their mid-table opponents. Despite Barry Mayes's eleventh goal of the season and James Lewis's fifth, Hill were pegged back to a result that means they drop to fourth in Division 3. The Third team were the victims of a largely self-inflicted defeat in their home match against promotion chasing Runwell Hospital. Despite Dave Pollock's long range equaliser, Beacon's twin gifts of a first-half penalty and a last minute lapse of concentration meant Runwell snatched maximum points while Hill were left nursing their wounds. Beacon Hill's Under-16s found their progress to the League Cup Final halted by a Chelmsford City side determined to overcome their semi-final first-leg deficit. For all Beacon's impressive commitment and determination, they could not find a way through City's defence and found the home side's attack in unforgiving mood. See team pages for details. 3 / 4 / 2011 Firsts stay Focused on Beacon's 90th birthday 26 Mar: The First team managed a comfortable 3 - 0 home win over the Premier Division's bottom team Focus Ferrers. Two goals from Matt Surridge, taking his season's tally to 23, ensured Beacon a victory 90 years to the day after Hill first took to the field. The Third team endured a feisty encounter with third placed Tillingham. After coming back to level twice through goals from Mark Yabsley and Richard Nash Hill were caught by a sucker-punch just before the finish. The Reserve's game against Bradwell United Reserves was postponed. This Sunday (3rd April) the Under-16 Boys play the second leg of their Cup semi-final against Chelmsford City. Beacon go into the tie with a 3 - 2 lead from the first leg. Kick off is at 10:30am at KEGS playing fields (postcode - CM1 3SX) in Chelmsford. 31 / 3 / 2011 Basildon beaten, Colchester and Clacton held Our soccability squad had a good day down at Basildon with a debut goal from Karl and a fine effort from Rob securing victory against the hosts, whilst solid defence gained points from Colchester United C and Clacton B. See match reports for more information. 26 / 3 / 2011 Vets relieved after close encounter with Maids 20 Mar: The Veterans secured Beacon's only win this weekend as they beat Division 1's bottom team Maidonians 3 - 2 at home. In-form Hill went three-up inside the first ten minutes, but the visitors came back to ensure a tight finish. The three points sees Beacon remain 3rd, close behind Essex Police in 2nd. The First team were locked in stalemate with Little Waltham in their Premier Division encounter, with neither side managing to break the deadlock despite chances at both ends. The Reserves were held to a 1 - 1 draw at home against St.Clere's Reserves. After going behind in the first half, Ben Scrivener's strike gave Beacon another point towards their promotion chase. They remain 3rd in Division 3. The Third team traveled to their Division's strongest team and were disappointed not to have gained at least a point. Great Baddow Reserves took the lead inside the first five minutes before Beacon rallied and matched their high-flying opponents for the remaining 85 but found no reward. Beacon had their chances, particularly in a very even second half, and will take many positives from their performance. The Ladies had a tougher time of things in their away match against East Thurrock United. Beacon's 11 faced a team running away with the Premier League and despite Hill's determined showing, particularly in the first half, the home side proved too strong. See team pages for more details. 21 / 3 / 2011 16s take the initiative in Cup Semi-Final 13 Mar: The U16's won the first leg of their Cup Semi-Final in a victory that included a hat-trick from Matt Rout. Playing against a strong Chelmsford team Beacon played a great match and were deserving winners with superb performances across the whole team. Next Sunday (20th) sees the return leg against Chelmsford with time and place to be confirmed. See team page for full match report. 14 / 3 / 2011 Cups hopes dashed but Thirds win again 13 Mar: The Reserve team lost their League Cup semi-final at home against Byfleet Rayleigh Reserves. 1 - 1 at the end of ninety minutes, Beacon were a man down early on in extra time following Dan Finer's sending off for a foul outside the area. Byfleet found the net from the resultant free-kick and Beacon couldn't find a way back. The Third team made it five wins in their last six games with a narrow victory at home over Mundon Vics Reserves. The form side of Division 4 were the beneficiaries of two errors by the Mundon keeper and despite going down to ten men late on, Beacon held on to secure another three points. The Ladies came back from a goal down three times in their score draw against Redbridge at home. A superb team goal finished by Marie Hall and two strikes from Emma Page (pictured) setup a grandstand finish in which both teams had their chances but had to settle for a point. The Vets went to Walthamstow and collected a point from a 1 - 1 draw against Old Parmitarians. Seven points from their last three games has taken them to third in Division 1. The Firsts lost 3 - 0 away to Scotia Billericay in the quarter-final of the Dave Strachan Cup. See team pages for details. 13 / 3 / 2011 Ladies' Wai too good for Witham 6 Mar: This weekend produced a clean-sweep, with four of Beacon's adult teams securing wins. A stunning second-half strike from Beacon's Wai Fan (pictured left) sealed an important 2 - 0 victory over Witham Town in the Essex Women's Premier Division. Demi Cassie (pictured right) provided the lead with a superb goal in a win that gives Hill their first league victory since October. The Reserves continued their promotion chase with a 1 - 0 home win against fellow promotion contenders Stock United. The three points keeps them in third place, four points from the leaders of Mid-Essex Division 3. In Division 4 the Thirds saw off bottom team Battlesbridge Reserves by what turned out to be a comfortable margin. Two goals from Dave Pollock, his first for the club, helped Beacon build a commanding lead. Battlesbridge hit back with two strikes of their own before Hill retook control and closed the game out. The Veterans emerged 3 - 2 winners in their home encounter against Pavilion United. Their narrow win takes Beacon to fourth in Essex League Division 1 with games in hand. See team pages for more details. 6 / 3 / 2011 UCC find Beacon in unforgiving mood 19 Feb: With only three weeks passed since the First team's miraculous four-goal comeback against UCC, it seemed as though momentum might be with Beacon for their return trip to the same opposition. This proved to be the case as two more goals from Matt Surridge, making it six in two games against UCC and twenty-one for the season, and a debut strike from Steve Bennet gave the First team a satisfying 3 - 0 away win against the Premier Division's joint third team. With only six points separating ninth from second Beacon will be looking to build on this strong result and move up the table. The Third team were disappointed to come away from their league match against Springfield with nothing to show. Deserving more from a gritty and determined team performance, Beacon's efforts to come back from a first half deficit fell just short. See team pages for more. 20 / 2 / 2011 Reserves put nine past City 13 Feb: With only three adults games played this weekend's highlight was the Reserve team's thrashing of City Colts in their Mid-Essex Division 3 match. The Reserves (pictured) delivered their biggest win for years at home to second from bottom Colts. James Lewis re-opened his goals account for Beacon with four while Reece Blagden, Steve Shelley and Jon Curson also got on the scoresheet. The result takes them back to third in the table, just three points away from leaders Braintree United Reserves. The First team went to league leaders Scotia Billericay and came away with nothing but a scoreline that didn't truly reflect the story of the game. The Ladies were also on the receiving end of a tough defeat as they lost by four at Colchester Town. See team pages for more details. 14 / 2 / 2011 Thirds beat third to make it three wins in three 6 Feb: Pick of the adults' results last weekend are the Third team's away win against Durning and the Veterans' (pictured) home victory against Newbury Park. The Third team continued their good form, beating a Durning side third in the table. Mark Yabsley and Gavin Gleed both took their goal tallies to 6 for the season and the team claimed their fourth clean-sheet in an impressive performance which continues their push up MId-Essex Division Four. The Veterans' four goals past fourth-placed Newbury Park at Wickham Bishops were complimented by their own clean-sheet in a result that sees them move into fifth place in the Essex League Division One. The Reserves put an end to their losing streak with a 2 - 2 draw at home against Byfleet Rayleigh Reserves. The point sees them reclaim third spot in Mid-Essex Division Three. The Ladies were narrowly squeezed out of the Essex Premier Division Cup away to Saffron Waldon Town. See team pages for more. 7 / 2 / 2011 Ladies shackle top dogs as Firsts work a miracle 30 Jan: Beacon's adult teams made it one win and two draws from four games this weekend: Wickham Bishops saw the most literal game of two halves as the First team rose from being four down at half time to claim a remarkable draw against United Chelmsford Churches. Matt Surridge scored all four Beacon goals in a second half comeback that even had the home team striving for a winner in the closing minutes against a UCC team second in the division. The Ladies team travelled to Barking and returned with a point after their superb score draw with Barking Reserves who top the Essex Premier League. The sole Hill victors were the Third team who continued their good recent form at home against Battlesbridge Reserves. Goals from Mark Yabsley and Christos Ryan secured Beacon the three points. Despite taking an early lead through Barry Mays, the Reserves found themselves behind at the half-time away to White Hart United. Unable to recover, the loss means Beacon drop out of the top three in Division 3. See team pages. 30 / 1 / 2011 Ferrers flummoxed, Byfleet bambouzzled 22 Jan: Two wins and two losses for the men's teams this weekend: The First team played their first league game since October against mid-table Byfleet Rangers at Wickham Bishops and ran out 3 - 1 winners. The Reserves, having themselves only played once in the league in the past three months, travelled to Frenford Senior B to lose only their second league match this season. After conceding two in the first ten minutes, Beacon rallied to level by the break, only for Frenford to take the initiative once more and secure a 4 - 2 win. The result means Beacon missed out on the chance to close the gap at the top of Division 3 but remain second. The Third team chalked their first win in six as they beat Focus Ferrers Reserves. Despite the testing conditions Beacon took a commanding lead in the first half which saw them through to take an important three points. Christos Ryan made it ten goals for the season while Josh Griffiths scored his first senior goal. The Veterans' County Cup run came to an end at the hands of the team currently topping the Premier Division - Sporting Club Henderson. After an even first period, injuries took their toll on Rovers and Henderson ran out comfortable winners. Check the team pages for more details. 22 / 1 / 2011 Cups proove fickle as Reserves' Trophy run ends 18 Jan: The First team moved through to the quarter final of the Dave Strachan Cup after a convincing home win over Stags Head. Eoin King lead the scoring with two strike while Dave Shelley and debutant Connor Leport also found the net. Beacon face an away tie with Scotia Billericay in the last eight, scheduled to be played on Saturday 12th March. The Reserves saw the defence of their Essex County Junior Trophy come to an end in an epic encounter with Burnham Ramblers. Despite leveling twice after falling behind and having chances to go on and win the game, Beacon were edged out on penalties. The Third team went to Tillingham and came back with a well-earned league point. Leading after fifteen minutes through Stu Harwood's tenacious effort, Beacon dealt with the home side's many attacking threats well. Despite Tilligham's equaliser in the second half, Rovers stayed strong and continued to make chances in what was a very creditable performance against one of the division's top sides. The Ladies had a tougher time of it in their County Cup quarter-final on Sunday. At home against Eastern Region League side Hutton, Beacon were still in the game going into the break, but after their second half goals it was the away side who progressed into the last four of the competition. In another cup encounter, Beacon Hill's Under-10 Spartans qualified for the semi-finals of the Dengie Division League Cup after their draw with Danbury Juniors. This means the Spartans go through undefeated from the group stage with a game remaining. See team pages and the results link for more details. 18 / 1 / 2011 Reserves march on as Vets move up 9 Jan: After the extended lay-off in which only two adult games were played in six weeks, this weekend finally saw three of Beacon's men's teams back in action. The Reserves continued the defence of their County title by going through to the last 16 of the Saturday Trophy thanks to a 3 - 1 victory over Latchingdon. The win sets the Ressies against Burnham Ramblers next weekend for a place in the quarter-finals as they seek to follow the Ladies and the Veterans who are already through to the last eight of their County Cup competitions. The Veterans secured a valuable three points away to Witham CML. The "Class of 95" pair, Welham and Hunt, delivered the goals in a win that taks Beacon to fifth in the league. The Third team's valiant efforts went unrewarded as Durning came from a goal down to inflict a narrow defeat on Beacon's A team. Facing a Durning side they'd lost heavily to in November, and who had won seven out of eight in the league, Beacon deserved more from a game that they dominated for long periods. For match reports see the team pages. 9 / 1 / 2011 Football comes home to The Pit 16 Oct: Extensive works on grounds and facilities. Beacon Hill. Bringing back football to Great Totham. 1 / 1 / 2011 Veterans through to County quarter-finals 12 Dec: With few games being played across Essex, Beacon's Veterans went to Walthamstow and won a dramatic County Cup tie against Maidonians. Level at the end of normal time, Rovers ran out 6 - 3 winners over their fellow Division One side after extra time. The win puts the Vets into the last eight, with the draw taking place live on Southend Radio (www.southendradio.com then click on ‘News/Essex County FA Cup Draws') at 10:00am this Saturday. After four weeks without a match the Ladies took the field for a home game against FC Clacton on Sunday. Hill took the lead but could not hold on as Clacton scored twice in the second half to take the three points. See team pages for more details. 14 / 12 / 2010 Reserves overpower Bradwell to stay top 29 Nov: Beacon's Reserves ground out a victory against bottom of the table Bradwell United Reserves, with both Hill's goals coming from Steve Shelley as he continues his remarkable scoring run that now stands at 18 from 12 games. The result means they stay two points clear at the top of Division 3. In Division 4 the Third team lost to second place Silver End United Reserves. Despite injuries and being reduced to ten men Hill battled hard to create some chances with no reward. 29 / 11 / 2010 Cups, courses and competitions 1 Dec: November was a busy month for Beacon both on and off the pitch. The draw for the Quarter-Finals of the Essex County FA Women's Cup took place live on BBC Essex. Beacon Hill's Ladies made it through to the last eight after their recent win over Hawkwell Athletic. Rovers avoided both Colchester United and West Ham United and instead face either Hannakins Ladies or Hutton on the 16th of January. Beacon Hill have hosted two events recently. The first was an Essex County FA Coaches Association Event for coaches throughout the region. With the help of Beacon's youth teams, the course focused on "Pre-match Preparation". See the link below for a summary. The Essex County FA returned to the Wickham Bishops Sports Ground soon after for the County Finals of their annual Small School Sevens Competition. Ten under-11 teams took part with Great Waltham (pictured) winning a close final against Fordham All Saints. Waltham now go on to represent Essex in the Regional Finals of the National Competition. 26 / 11 / 2010 Cup weekend brings mixed fortunes 23 Nov: Four adult teams were involved in cup matches last weekend, with mixed results. The Reserve team continued their defence of the Essex County Junior Trophy with a convincing victory over Essex Arms. Amongst the goals Steve Shelley took his goal tally to sixteen for the season. The Ladies prevailed over Hawkwell Athletic in the Essex Women's County Cup. The First team took Alresford Colne Rangers Reserves to penalties in the Essex County Cup with the help of a Matt Surridge hat-trick, only to lose on penalties. The Veterans lost 3 - 1 to Essex Police in their League Cup. See team pages for more details. 23 / 11 / 2010 Three is Hill's magic number 16 Nov: Last weekend the Under 10 Trojans secured their place in the League Cup semi-finals with their 3 - 0 win against New Latchingdon Phoenix. The Under 10 Spartans also moved a step closer to their League Cup semis with a 3 - 3 draw against Broomfield Youth Lions. The Under 12 Girls returned to winning ways with their 3 - 1 victory over Benfleet Villa. The Under 16 Boys drew 3 - 3 with a Meadow Youth side that had won all of their previous games. Matt Rout, Callum Wharton and Kurtis Hughes (pictured) all got on the scoresheet for Beacon. 17 / 11 / 2010 Beacon's Ladies lose out to Hawkwell 14 Nov: The Ladies team narrowly missed out on league points this weekend as they lost to Hawkwell Athletic in their Essex Women's Premier Division match on Sunday. A first time strike from 20 yards by Jo Smeaton gave Hill an early lead, but Hawkwell replied with two goals coming from long balls. Justine Dallard's fourth goal of the season - a perfectly placed free-kick from 25 yards - made the game level at half-time. In increasingly difficult conditions after the break, Hawkwell took advantage of a ricochet with an opportune strike into the bottom corner from outside the box - the goal that proved to be the winner. There were no men's games played this weekend - the scheduled fixtures for the Reserves and Veterans were both called of. 15 / 11 / 2010 League Cup hopes dashed for Firsts and Thirds 7 Nov: Beacon's adult teams had a disappointing weekend overall that saw just one league point gained and included two cup exits and a league defeat. The only reward from the four matches played was the Ladies' draw at Saffron Walden Town. In a spicy encounter Beacon took the lead through Jo Smeaton's (in picture right) first-half strike before a late Walden equaliser brought about a frenzied final five minutes where both teams had chances to secure the win. Having lost only one game in in their last five the Veterans succumbed to two second-half goals in their Essex League match away to fellow mid-table side Pavilion United. It was the First and Third teams, however, who rued their losses most after both were knocked out of their league cup competitions at the quarter-final stage. The Firsts went three behind to visitors Great Baddow before Jon Yabsley's (in picture left) fifth goal of the season gave Beacon hope until Baddow scored their fourth. After a promising start the Thirds were outgunned at home by a Durning side that made the most of their dominance in the second-half to run out comfortable winners. See the link below and team pages for more details, match reports, league table links and more. 7 / 11 / 2010 U12 Boys and U11 Girls roll on with double 6 7 Nov: Following the half-term break Beacon's Youth teams returned to action this weekend with three wins a draw and one defeat. The Under 11 Girls went to Maldon and beat Saints 6 - 1 in a great performance that gave them their fifth win of the season and means they stay top of their league! The Under 12 Boys did brilliantly as they matched the girls' scoreline - winning by five goals at Galleywood Youth in the League Cup. The Under 10s continued their superb run with Spartans winning their third league game out of three and the Trojans earning a 2 - 2 draw. The Under 16 Boys joined the girls down on the prom but had a tough afternoon as Saints, shut out at Wickham Bishops three weeks before, fired home double figures. See team pages for more details including match reports. 6 / 11 / 2010 Beacon overpower E2V then demolish Town 30 Oct: Two goals from Marie Hall (pictured scoring her second) helped Beacon's Ladies to an emphatic league win against Witham Town on Sunday. After a few weeks of frustrating cancellations and disappointing results, five goals scored and a clean sheet gave Beacon a welcome home win before they take trips to Saffron Walden and Hawkwell. E2V Technologies were the latest team to suffer at the hands of a Beacon Reserve team who continue to set the pace in Mid Essex Division 3. Steve Shelley maintained his superb form with a hat-trick that helped to ensure Beacon stay two points clear at the top of the league with their seventh win in nine games. The Veterans were held to a draw at home against Frenford Senior. Goals from Paul Welham and Mike Barry put Beacon in front but a late Frenford equalizer meant points were shared. After recent cup successes the First team returned to league action only to be beaten by a strong Byfleet Rayleigh side. In a tight encounter Marc de la Rue's third penalty strike in two games kept Beacon in contention until the closing stages. Following their five game unbeaten run the Third team suffered a heavy away defeat at the hands of Basildon Athletic. Beacon's Soccability players took part in their first league matches of the season at Southend on Saturday. The teams managed two wins, two draws and plenty of goals against teams from all over Essex. See team pages or the link below for more. 31 / 10 / 2010 Foxash Rue penalties as Reserves stay on top 23 Oct: On Saturday the First team made it through to Round Two of the County Cup at the expense of Foxash Social Reserves. Despite early pressure from Beacon, the Essex and Suffolk Border League team took the lead before two Marc de la Rue (pictured, left) penalties set Hill on their way to a comfortable win.. In a high scoring game against Maidonians, which included a career first hat-trick from Rob Hill, the Veterans brought back three points from their trip to Walthamstow ensuring Beacon continue to rise up the Division 1 table. The Reserves continued their excellent start to the season with a 2 - 0 win at home against Latchingdon. In a game Beacon dominated, it took a spectacular deflection off Steve Shelley (pictured, right) late in the second half to break the deadlock before the striker settled the match with a more knowing strike in the closing minutes. Beacon's sixth win in eight games keeps them two points clear at the top of Mid Essex Division 3 See the results page or team pages for more details and match reports. 24 / 10 / 2010 Boys as good as Saints. Girls fire 5 past Radars 17 Oct: With local bragging rights at stake Beacon Hill's Under 16 boys hosted a Maldon Saints team who had won three out of four in the league. In a dramatic game not reflected by the nil-nil scoreline, Beacon showed how they can play with a superb all-round team performance. With outstanding goalkeeping and defending plus tireless work in midfield Hill more than matched their opponents and came agonizingly close to winning the game in the final minutes (pictured). The Under 11 girls stay top of their league as they continued their excellent form with a 5 - 0 win at Woodham Radars. Both Under 10 teams joined in with the clean sheets as the Trojans played magnificently to win 3 – 0 at Tollesbury and the Spartans made it 3 out of 3 in the league, by beating Maldon 2 – 0 at Maldon. See team pages or the link below for more details and match reports. 17 / 10 / 2010 Men complete another clean sweep 16 Oct: Once again Beacon's Saturday teams produced an extraordinary set of results. Following the contrasting fortunes of the previous two weekends they returned to winning ways - all four teams running out victors on a day of goals for the men in black and white. Continuing their recent good form the Third team put in an excellent performance as they won emphatically at Crays Hill. A hat-trick from Christos Ryan and a goal for debutant Matt Davies sealed the win that puts the Division 4 new boys fourth in the table. The First team faced Division 4 leaders Durning in the Dave Strachan Cup. A one-sided contest that included four goals from top-scorer Matt Surridge, a hat-trick from Dave Shelley and Rob Hewer's first for the club meant they sailed into the next round. The Veterans hosted Runwell Hospital in the first round of the County Cup expecting a tough game. An eventful match saw Beacon progress by a comfortable margin. Of the four teams playing, the Reserves were the only team to concede in a closely contested affair at home against Frenford Senior B. Having taken the lead, Beacon were hauled back in the second half but with Toby Legg's brace and Steve Shelley's ninth goal of the season they secured the win that takes them top of Division 3. See the link below or team pages for more details and match reports. 16 / 10 / 2010 Soccability player qualifies as FA coach 14 Oct: One of our star Soccability players, Melissa, has made the big step up and qualified as a level 1 FA coach. She successfully completed the FA programme over two weekends in Colchester recently to gain her award. This Wednesday she worked with Beacon Hill to take her first session at Witham, keeping 12 of her colleagues focused on improving their football skills whilst briefing them on the “Four corners” approach. Melissa has been with us for three years now and has been instrumental in setting up a women’s team as part of the Essex FA Soccability league. A natural left footer who reads the game well, she has also extended her skills to include goalkeeping. 14 / 10 / 2010 Under 11 Girls undefeated and top of the league 10 Oct: On a weekend of tough results for the club one of Beacon's newest teams has gone to the top of their league at this early stage in the season. The Under 11 Girls team won 2 - 0 at home against Hutton in a result that lifted Beacon above the visitors and replace them as league leaders. With the game level at half-time, Beacon put in a great second half performance that brought them the three points. The Under 12 Girls played Corringham Cosmos at home. The visitors had won their previous two games by large margins so even though Beacon were beaten, their performance showed that they can compete against the best. The Under 16 Boys went on their travels in the Knockout Cup only to suffer a heavy defeat to Thaxted Rangers in a game affected by injuries. See the results link below or team pages for more details and match reports. 12 / 10 / 2010 From one Beacon Hill extreme to another 10 Oct: A week ago the adults earned 4 excellent wins from 5 games. This weekend's efforts were rewarded with just 1 point from the 15 available. Here's how it happened: The Third team were the only side to take anything from the weekend as they drew at Mundon Vics Reserves. After going behind early in the first half Beacon rallied, drew level through Gavin Gleed's fifth goal of the season, and were unlucky not to have won the game in the closing stages. The opening 45 minutes of the First team's game against Silver End United flattered to deceive as the visitors eventually overcame Beacon's three first-half strikes. Goals from David Heward, Marc de la Rue and Matt Surridge's eighth of the season were not enough to secure any points as Silver End replied with a tally that included two Beacon own-goals. After their excellent result against Sungate the week before, the Veterans were disappointed to lose out in a tight game at Frenford Senior. The Reserves suffered their first defeat of the season at Felsted Rovers. Steve Shelley's eighth goal of the season and Barry Mays's third were the only highlights in a heavy loss to the league's form side. In their game at home on Sunday the Ladies (pictured) took the lead through Justine Dallard's first-half penalty strike - her third from the spot in four games. Despite this, and some dogged defending from the entire Beacon team, the Ladies were undone by some clinical finishing and one spectacular effort from Barking Reserves. See team pages or the link below for more details and match reports. 10 / 10 / 2010 Trojans and Spartans go marching on in the cup 3 Oct: This weekend both Beacon's Under 10 teams beat local rivals to go through to the next round of the cup. The Trojans beat Tollesbury in a really close match while the Spartans had a big win over Maldon & Tiptree. The Under 11 girls went to Hawkwell Claret and came back with a point meaning Beacon's newest team are still unbeaten! The U16’s struggled with the conditions of the pitch and weather in a defeat to the unbeaten league leaders at Gallow’s ground. The Under 12 boys contested a closer game as they hosted Gallow United but despite their valiant effort, Beacon narrowly lost out. See team pages for full match reports. 3 / 10 / 2010 Perfect Saturday as men win four out of four 3 Oct: In a superb Saturday for Beacon's men, all four teams came away with maximum points. Most impressive was the First team's 2 - 1 win over reigning league champions Braintree and Bocking United. Two goals from in-form Matt Surridge means Beacon are now unbeaten in five and within two points of the top of the Mid Essex Premier Division. Steve Shelley's brace made it seven goals in five games for him and the fourth successive league win for the Reserves at Stock United. Their excellent start to the season sees them clear at the top of Mid Essex Division 3. The Third team continued their revival with their third consecutive win; a strong second-half performance delivered a 3 - 0 home victory over Rayleigh Reserves with Gavin Gleed and Mark Yabsley both getting on the score sheet. Goals from Mike Barry, Steve Screech and Steve Hennessey (2) meant the Veterans picked up their first league win of the season with a strong performance that spoiled Sungate's 100% record. On Sunday the Ladies team went to Redbridge seeking to complete a clean sweep for the adult teams. In a tough match the home side proved too strong and despite a goal from Emma Page (pictured) Beacon came back from north London empty handed. See team pages for full match reports. 3 / 10 / 2010 Away day makes for points pay day 25 Sept: Last weekend all Rovers' adult teams went on their travels and returned with points toward their league campaigns. Performance of the weekend has to be the Third team's impressive win over an in-form Silver End United Reserves side. Following last weekend's excellent cup victory, a rejuvenated Rovers team outplayed the home side with an opportune strike from the uni-bound Alex Mickelsen (pictured) and two well-taken goals from Gavin Gleed sealing the win. Continuing their strong start to the season, the Reserves maintained their place at the top of Division 3 with a 3 - 1 win at Byfleet Rayleigh Reserves. The First team missed out on three points and a chance to go second in the Premier Division as they allowed Springfield Rouge to battle back and take a share of the honours. Two goals from Matt Surridge, in reply to a first-half Rouge penalty, weren't enough to return a win from their trip to Boreham Rec. The Ladies traveled to Wickford to face Assandun Vikings and continued their unbeaten start to the season. Following their impressive win at Runwell the previous Sunday, Beacon secured a point against the team that finished second in Division 2 last year. Special mention must go to Alex Mickelsen (in picture left), Tom Stimson (in picture right) and Jamie Rogers who have all played their last games before starting university. Each have played through Beacon Hill's junior ranks and have been regulars in the senior sides for the past three seasons. Alex is one of the most capped players for the Third team since it began. Tom recently broke into the First team and won Young Player of the Season earlier this year. Jamie has been an influential player for all teams, having played an important role in both the First and Reserve teams last season. Beacon wishes them all the best for the coming term. For full match reports see the team pages. 25 / 9 / 2010 New Beacon youth teams already shining 26 Sept: It was a very good weekend for Beacon's junior teams, especially the new sides. With four wins from five games they made it a bumper weekend for the club as a whole, with the adults gaining two wins and two draws as well. The Under 12 girls (pictured) played their first ever league match and had a brilliant win against Benfleet Villa. Everyone in the team had a great game, with excellent defending, superb attacking and lots of goals! The Under 10 teams both had excellent starts to their cup campaigns with impressive victories away from home. The Trojans beat Latchingdon Pheonix and the Spartans won against Broomfield in close games. The Under 11 girls remain unbeaten, being awarded victory in their league match against Colchester Villa due to player numbers. However they still managed to enjoy a smaller game to make up for it. The Under 16 boys had a difficult home match against Focus Ferrers Tigers in game of two very different halves. Unfortunately Beacon's strong second period could not make up for their best-forgotten first half. See the team pages for full match reports. 24 / 9 / 2010 After falling behind three Hills rise to victory 18 Sept: Last weekend saw the adult teams win four out of five games, three of which were outstanding comebacks after going behind early-on. The First team allowed UCC to take the lead before strikes from Taylor, Heward and Surridge (pictured) saw Beacon through to the next round of the Divisional cup. A Steve Shelley hat-trick helped the Reserves to overturn Braintree United Reserves' first-half lead and secure a win that takes Beacon to the top of Division 3 after three games. The Third team spoiled Mundon Vics Reserves' 100% start to the season by replying to Vics' opening strike with three of their own, taking Beacon into the next round of their Divisional cup. The Ladies took a more straightforward approach as they beat Runwell Hospital 1 - 0 in the opening game of their Essex Premier Division campaign. A weekend clean-sweep was denied however as the Veterans were beaten at home by Met Police Chigwell. See team pages for full match reports. 18 / 9 / 2010 Baddow prove a test as Vets prove a point Sept 11: Beacon's virtual vidi-printer has a more familiar look this week following last weekend's goal-rush. In parallel fixtures, Beacon's First and Third teams took on Great Baddow's First and Reserve teams respectively at Wickham Bishops. Down to ten men in the closing stages, the Firsts had chances to secure the win late-on, but had to settle for a point at the close. The Third team struggled against a strong Baddow side. Being a goal down at half time, Beacon still had a fighting chance but after the break the away side's superiority told, to leave Hill comprehensively beaten. The Veterans traveled to Newbury Park for their first league game of the season. Beacon took the lead through Steve Screech, but the home side drew level with ten minutes to go. With neither team managing to find a winner, Hill had to be satisfied with returning from north London one point to the good. See team pages for full match reports. 13 / 9 / 2010 Trojans and Spartans victorious Sept 9: Beacon Hill's Under-10 teams were in action in pre-season friendlies at Wickham Bishops this week. The success of last year's Under-9 team (pictured) has allowed Beacon to expand so that two teams, named Beacon Hill Spartans and Beacon Hill Trojans, can play in the esteemed black and white stripes this season. On Sunday the Spartans showed tremendous mental strength and character as they came from two goals down to beat Danbury 3 - 2. The Trojans played some excellent passing football to go one up and then valiantly held on to secure the win against Valley Green Kestrels on Wednesday. Both results bode well for the coming season - well done to all the lads involved. 9 / 9 / 2010 Games: 6, Goals: 41 (forty-one) Sept 5: Beacon's extraordinary weekend results list reads some digits more commonly found in the third round at Flushing Meadows... The First team bounced back from last week's defeat in style - a Jay Cracknell hat-trick and two goals from both Jon Yabsley and Matt Surridge gave them a resounding victory over Springfield Rouge at Wickham Bishops. Two goals from Richard Nash and a brace of penalties from Will Carter helped the Reserves to overturn a 4 - 1 deficit at half-time to win at Epping. The Third team however failed to join in the goals-fest with a disappointing loss at home to league newcomers Basildon Athletic. On their first Saturday outing of the season the Veterans narrowly lost a friendly by the odd goal in thirteen at FOBS's playground. The Ladies were more modest in their goal-getting as they lost at home to Chelmsford City Reserves, but the Under-16s added to the goals tally with a high scoring draw at home against Wilvale Rangers. See team pages for full match reports. 5 / 9 / 2010 Rovers see meagre return from Mid Essex opening weekend Aug 28: The first weekend of the Mid Essex season proved to be a tough one as the men's teams lost their two games at home and were held to a scoreless draw away. The First team found Scotia Billericay too strong in their first Premier Division fixture of the season at Wickham Bishops. Beacon found themselves three down before some good build-up play resulted in Jay Cracknell giving the home side a glimmer of hope in the second half. A comeback was not to be however, and Scotia scored just before the final whistle to seal their win. The Reserves claimed their first point in Division 3 away to Braintree and Bocking Untied Reserves as they played out a nil-nil draw. Beacon, with five debutantes in the squad, came away feeling they might have taken more from a match they had dominated in parts. The Thirds were disappointed that their efforts against a strong Focus Ferrers side went unrewarded as they lost 2 - 1 at home in their first game in Division 4. A praiseworthy performance, that saw Beacon fight back from two goals down, included a sweet second-half finish from Christos Ryan and chances to level things in the final minutes of the game. See team pages for full match reports. 28 / 8 / 2010 Stage set for Mid Essex curtain up Aug 26: In the final two friendly matches before the Mid Essex season kicks off, Beacon's First team played out a draw while the Thirds ran out comfortable winners. In a game of few chances against Boreham at Wickham Bishops on Tuesday night the First team took the lead midway through the first half via Adam Sansom's long distance, curling free-kick. The visiting side soon responded with a long-range effort of their own, leveling the tie just before half-time. In the second half Beacon, despite their pressure, couldn't fashion a winner leaving the game settled at 1 - 1. Now all eyes turn to the first league match of the season at home against Scotia Billericay on Saturday. Gavin Gleed scored a first-half hat-trick as the Third team beat local side Mitre United at home on Wednesday. His penalty and two neat finishes gave Beacon a commanding lead before the visitors clawed one back before the break. In the second half, two good saves from keeper Tony Cassie ensured that the Thirds took victory and a strong performance into their first-ever game in Division 4 on Saturday, at home to Focus Ferrers Reserves. The Reserves also begin their league campaign on Saturday away to Braintree and Bocking United Reserves in a game that marks the long-awaited return of Beacon Hill's second team to Division 3. 25 / 8 / 2010 Beacon's Baa-Baa's snub V to win 5 - 3 Aug 22: There were pre-season goals a-plenty once more as a mixture of Beacon's players took on a similarly diverse St. Clere's team at Wickham Bishops on Saturday. Two goals from Steve Shelley and a fine solo effort from Toby Legg gave Hill a 3 - 2 lead going into half time. The visitors managed to draw level after the break only for Matt Surridge to grab a brace of excellently taken goals that left the Mid Essex sophomores convincingly beaten. This week sees the final pre-season games before the league program starts next Saturday. The First team take on Boreham at home on Tuesday night, while the Third team play neighbours Mitre United at home on Wednesday. 22 / 8 / 2010 Beacon continue build-up to the season Aug 20: Beacon's men continued their pre-season schedule this week with evening games for the First team and the Reserves plus there was a night under lights for the Veterans. The First team faced Bradwell at home on Tuesday in their first outing since the Charter Standard tournament in July. With Beacon looking a little rusty, Bradwell took control of the game and ran out 3 - 1 winners. On Wednesday, the Reserve team hosted Mundon Vics of Division 1 for their second pre-season fixture. After falling behind in the first half, Beacon recovered to win 2 - 1 thanks to a strike from Reece Blagden and a late own-goal (for more details see the match report on the Reserve team page). Next up for the Reserves is their first league game of their season in Division 3, away to Braintree United Reserves on Saturday 28th August. Thurstable School in Tiptree was the venue for the Veterans' first pre-season game against Tiptree Vets on Friday night. Beacon took control on the artificial surface with two goals in the first half that gave the impetus to secure a floodlit 3 - 1 win. 20 / 8 / 2010 First friendlies give goal flurry Aug 15: With only two weeks to go until the start of the Mid Essex season, Beacon's Reserve and Third teams took to the field for the first time since their strong combined performance in the FA Charter Standard tournament last month. Six goals were split evenly at Wickham Bishops as Beacon's Reserves drew with Silver End United Reserves. Late in the second half Hill were 3 - 1 up thanks to goals from the returning Jamie Blagden, debutant Dave Pollock and a 25-yard strike from Kev Watson. However, Silver End converted two penalties awarded to them in the final stages, leaving the scores level at full-time. At Feering the Third team game also saw its fair share of goals during a see-saw match that ended with the home side running out 3 - 2 winners. Beacon's Green brothers notching a goal each, and the performance of all Beacon's new players, were the highlights of a good showing overall. Mid-week sees the First team step up to play Bradwell at home on Tuesday, the Reserves host Mundon Vics on Wednesday while the Veterans go to Tiptree on Friday. 14 / 8 / 2010 Beacon Hill kick-off pre-season Aug 2: Last weekend the men's teams began their schedule of pre-season matches at the Essex FA Charter Standard Tournament held at Fairways Sports and Social Club in Harlow. For the first time Rovers fielded two teams in the eleven-aside competition won twice in the last three seasons by the First team. After slow starts both teams finished with three wins and a draw from their five, twenty-minute matches - Hill's second team narrowly missing out on a place in the semi-finals through goal difference. Highlights from the day included periods of flowing football from the First team, extremely promising results from the second team and strong performances by the players new to the club. More pre-season games are to follow later this month in preparation for the first league fixtures on the 28th August. 2 / 8 / 2010 Men's fixtures announced Aug 2: The Essex FA today published the first month of fixtures for the Mid Essex League, Divisional Cups and Essex Veterans League and also announced the ties for the opening rounds of the County Cup competitions. The First team face last year's Premier Division second-from-top and second-from-bottom teams in Scotia Billericay and Springfield Rouge respectively, as well as newly promoted Great Baddow. In the Premier Division Cup they were drawn away to UCC (18th Sept) in a repeat of last year's first round tie. Beacon Hill won that and two other meetings between the two last season. The County Cup draw has set them a home tie against Foxash Social Reserves of the Essex and Suffolk Border League Reserve Premier Division, scheduled for the 23rd October. Following promotion into Mid Essex Division Three the Reserve team meet Epping, Byfleet Rayleigh Reserves and Braintree and Bocking United Reserves in their opening fixtures. Both the Mid Essex and County Cup competitions have provided them first-round byes with the County Cup second round pitting the holders at home against Essex Arms on 20th November. The Third team face familiar opposition in the reserve teams of both Silver End and Great Baddow, plus ties against Focus Ferrers Reserves and newly formed Basildon Athletic as they make the step up into Mid Essex Division Four. In the Divisional Cup they travel to neighbours Mundon Vics Reserves on the 18th September. The Veterans begin their campaign in the Essex Veterans League Division 1 against two newly promoted sides; Met Police Chigwell and Newbury Park. In the County Cup Runwell Old Boys will visit Wickham Bishops on the 16th October. See the link below for a handy summary. 1 / 8 / 2010 Rovers uplifted by promotion news Last season's success has lead Beacon Hill's adult teams to face new challenges in 2010 / 2011. Most notably, the Reserves gain promotion to Division 3 of the Mid Essex League and the Thirds rise to Division 4, while the First team maintain their status in the League's Premier Division and the Ladies step up to the top Essex tier. The Reserves' (pictured) achievement moves them up with last season's rivals White Hart and Felsted Rovers, accompanied by St.Clere's Reserves, who last year battled it out with the Thirds in Division 5. Braintree and Bocking, Frenford Senior B and Byfleet Rangers will be familiar opponents, having met all three in Division 4 back in 2008 / 2009. Beacon will be confident of a strong showing in Division 3 this term after completing a double over White Hart in the league and defeating the now Division 1 side Writtle Manor and Premier Division new boys St. Clere's as they went on to triumph in the County Trophy last season. The Thirds meanwhile, accompany Silver End United into Division 4, setting a new standard for Beacon Hill's tertiary adult side. Beacon will recognise Tillingham Hotspur and Durning from 2008 / 2009 and most notably Great Baddow Reserves - having met in the Division 5 League Cup final of 2009 and in this year's Burnham Charity Cup final. Trips out to new faces Basildon Athletic and Rayleigh Boys Reserves will break new ground but after their excellent end-of-season performances and the inclusion of some fresh faces, particularly new graduates from the academy, Beacon's A team will be looking forward facing their toughest challenge with confidence. After a frustrating campaign last time out, the First team will be looking to tap into the undoubted potential of their squad and make a strong challenge in the Premier Division this season which marks their 12th consecutive year in the Mid Essex top flight. Fresh opportunities arrive due to the promotions of Great Baddow and the aforementioned St. Clere's, as Beacon look to turn their closely contested narrow defeats from last season into positive results. The Ladies have also been given a fresh challenge as they enter the newly formed Premier Division of the Essex County Women's League. Having beaten the three teams promoted with them and won against top flight opposition last season, the Ladies will offer a stern test to the likes of Witham Town and Southend United in the coming year. 30 / 6 / 2010 Stimson and Page see double as Carter tops honours Jun 5: Five Lakes Country Club was the auspicious venue for Beacon Hill's 2010 end of season dinner and the night did not disappoint. Among the recipients of the season's awards were first team players David Heward and Jon Yabsley. Adam Ratcliffe's fine debut season and James Lewis' goal tally earned them the Reserve team gongs. Another debutant, John Scott, received third team honours while Amy Tuscher deservedly added to her trophy cabinet. Emma Page and Tom Stimson had to step up twice as they both took home a brace of trophies. Stimson walked away with Young Player of the Year and Third Team Players' Player after a superb season that ended with regular appearances for the First Team. The biggest applause however was reserved for the recipient of the Joe Cousins Clubman of the Year Award. Club Secretary and Reserve Team Manager Steve Carter (pictured) was rightly given a huge ovation for his efforts this season, which included guiding the Reserves as they won the prestigious Essex County Junior Trophy. Check out the winners' photos on the 'season awards' page: 8 / 6 / 2010 Ladies retain European trophy During this year's end of season tour, Beacon Hill's Ladies team won the Holland Stores F & SC ODP Toernooi competition in Amsterdam for the second year in succession. Opponents included a tricky Niemand side and TZVW from Bremstraat, but it was a last minute winner against a strong Nat maar gelukkig team that effectively secured the trophy. Gerrit Hinderink, the Toernooicommissie (tournament organiser) praised their performance after the game as he said, "Resst mij U allen een gezellig en hopelijk zonnig ODP toernooi te wensen". Representatives from the men's teams joined the ladies in The Netherlands' capital with an eclectic mix of players. For the first time in Beacon's tour history, the men entered two tournaments - an eleven aside competition on arrival and a six aside the following day. With only one loss from nine games over the weekend, the men (augmented by some superb ladies players) left a positive mark on the "Venice of the North" once more. 7 / 6 / 2010 Sport Relief donations update In March Beacon Hill turned out in support of Sport Relief. All the club's teams took the field wearing the red Sport Relief armbands to help raise money for the event. Players, coaches and supporters combined to donate £219.29 and help raise awareness of the issues Sport Relief tackles. For an update on how the money raised has been spent, other campaigns and future events see the Comic Relief (the organisers of Sport Relief) update via the link in the news item. 6 / 6 / 2010 End of Season Youth Day 2010 Jun 5: Saturday saw players, parents and coaches from all the club's age groups gather at the Wickham Bishops Sports Ground to take part in the End of Season Youth Day. The day focused on the six-a-side tournament (won by teams playing as Brazil - a portent of things to come?), the penalty competition arranged by the under-15s and the presentation of awards for the season (pictured). The day ended on a smashing note with the mess that was the egg-throwing competition. It was a great day and thanks must go to Nick Smith for organising the event and everyone else who contributed to the day. 5 / 6 / 2010 MAGNIFICENT BEACON HILL RESERVES WIN COUNTY TROPHY! Going into this, the final of the Essex County Saturday Junior Trophy, the statistics made grim reading for any Rovers fan. Since the semi-final the Reserves had won only one game in ten to find their Division Four promotion chase faltering. In contrast St. Clere's came to the final having won their last five games, a run which had seen them rise to the top of Division One. Neither did history hold any reassurance - only once since the club was established in 1921 had a team made it this far, losing in the final of the Essex Junior Cup 60 years ago. Yet far from being a one-sided encounter, the match was enthralling. After an early setback Beacon's defence regrouped and came to dominate the St. Clere's forward line - Kev Lee in particular was simply superb. Hill's midfield, inspired by the outstanding Adam Ratcliffe, harried, hustled and harangued incessantly and Beacon's forwards chased everything and closed down continually. When Ratcliffe's first goal floated in, belief seemed to set in. When, with five minutes to go in extra time, his second hit the net delirium took over players and fans alike. To St. Clere's it was a knock-out blow to which they had no answer. There was a moment of disbelief when the final whistle blew, but soon it dawned: This Beacon Hill side can forever say they were the first in its 89 year history to become CHAMPIONS OF THE COUNTY. for a full match report see: http://www.essexfa.com/News/2010/04/BeaconHillRoversReserves2-1StCleres%28aet%29%28SaturdayJuniorTrophy%29.htm to see and / or buy photos of the night: http://www.thpsportimaging.co.uk/?Action=_VC&id=50988850&ppwd=essex 14 / 5 / 2010 U15's finish season with 111 goals! May 10: A great season draws to a close with 111 goals scored by the U15's in 25 matches. In the final match the U15's won 4-0 with Callum scoring his 10th hat-trick this season! A fantastic team performance this year which probably earns them 3rd place in the league depending on the matches next weekend. 12 / 5 / 2010 End of season celebrations at Beacon May 28: Saturday June 5th sees the club celebrating another successful season. During the day there will be a tournament and lunch barbecue at Wickham Bishops Sports Field for the youth teams. Awards will follow, including the Weston Cup to recent winners the Under-9's (see pic). See the article 'End of Season Youth Day' in the events section for details. Volunteers are needed to help run the day and donations to the tombola would also be very much appreciated. In the evening the adults will go to Five Lakes Country Club where the awards will include the Reserves' remarkable County Cup win. 11 / 5 / 2010 Carter unstoppable as all men's teams win final league games May 15: The Reserves claimed an emphatic victory at home against Marconi Athletic that secured them third place in Mid-Essex Division 4. Not satisfied with guiding the team through its excellent season, manager Steve Carter sent team-mates and spectators into raptures as he topped his season off with a predatory strike in the closing minutes. The Third team managed a narrow away win against Dunmow. Finishing in fourth place, they end the season level on points with the second and third place teams in Mid-Essex Division 5. With the Veterans awarded victory in their match against Benfleet and the First team winning their final game last Thursday, the final round of matches for the men's teams reads: WWWW. See team pages for full match reports. 11 / 5 / 2010 First team end season on last-minute high May 14: The First team scored two goals in the final minute of their season to snatch a dramatic victory from Harold Wood on Thursday evening. The stunning finale delivered by Adam Sansom and Dave Heward capped a great team performance that may prove decisive in Beacon's bid to stay in the Premier Division. See the Firsts' team page for the full match report. Despite taking the lead the Veterans lost heavily to Herongate Athletic at home on Thursday. Their final game is away to Benfleet this weekend. On Tuesday the Reserves' league match against Focus Ferrers was canceled as their opponents failed to show. Beacon's final league game of the season is against the Division's bottom team Marconi Athletic at home on Saturday. A win would secure fourth in the table, with a possibility of third depending on other results. The third team, already having secured fourth place, go to Dunmow in their final league match of the season. Also with fourth spot assured, the ladies return to action on Sunday as they play at home against FC Clacton in their final league game of the season. 9 / 5 / 2010 Thirds secure fourth spot as Firsts edge to safety May 8: The Third team managed a comfortable victory at home against Marks Farm. This made it three wins on the trot for Beacon - a run that has secured them fourth place in Division 5 and a chance of promotion. The First team took three points from their double header against Focus Ferrers. After losing the first match Beacon came back to win the second. With one game left to play Rovers are now guaranteed to finish above the bottom two in the Premier Division. The Reserves' poor league form continued with an away defeat to fellow promotion hopefuls Durning. However, with two games remaining, a top-four finish is still possible. See team pages for full match reports. Also see the link below 'world cup predictions' - download the entry form and get forecasting... 8 / 5 / 2010 Beacon presented with FA Community Club award On Saturday 24th April Beacon Hill Rovers were officially presented with the FA Charter Standard Community Club award. The presentation was made before Colchester United's home game against Tranmere Rovers. Representatives from Beacon Hill received the FA Charter plaque on the pitch before the match and a group of players and coaches then got to watch the Championship match. It ended one-all at the Weston Homes Community Stadium - Colchester fans left unhappy as the draw signaled the end of their play-off chances, but Beacon Hill Chairman Steve Ewers was more upbeat, "It's been a great day and it shows the progress the club has made over the past five years," he said, achieving the award shows that Beacon Hill offers excellent opportunities for a wide range of players in the community." After winning the national FA Charter Standard Club of the Year in 2008, the next target was to achieve the highest FA accreditation; the Community Club award. In making this standard Beacon joins a relatively small number of clubs in the region, and still they stand out in that they offer both adult and youth football - an important factor in the genuine sense of community felt at the club. picture: Ed Smith, Steve Ewers and Tom Ewers receive the FA Charter Standard Community Club award from Essex FA's Duncan Charlick. 29 / 4 / 2010 Crozier Breaks Duck as Thirds Stroll to Victory May 3: Jordan Crozier scored his first ever goal for the club in his 5 seasons with the adult sides accumulating over 150 appearances. He scored for the Thirds in an empathic 4-0 victory over E2V. It is understood to be the longest any player has gone without scoring for Beacon Hill. The relief of the goal for Crozier could be seen by all spectators & players alike. There was however one disappointed team mate whose wallet was a lot lighter come the end of the weekend. He also will be hoping he doesn’t go as long without a goal coming to the end of his Thirds season now. Elsewhere the reserves & firsts walked away disappointed with narrow defeats. Reserves losing 1-0 to fellow promotion chasers Great Baddow. The Firsts losing 3-2 to Southminster. The Vets suffered a heavy defeat at home to Great Berry Rangers. See team pages for full match reports. 28 / 4 / 2010 Reserves prepare for County Final - Weds 28th April KO:7.45pm Billericay Town FC This Wednesday the Reserves play in the final of the Essex FA County Junior Trophy Competition. It's the first time a Beacon Hill side has ever reached the final of an Essex-wide tournament. Between 100 and 150 clubs enter the competition, most of whom play at a higher standard than the Reserves. And yet the team are not looking to rest on their achievement but are aiming higher still. "This is a showpiece final for the County and we will do our best to put on a good performance, and hopefully cause another upset." said team Manager Steve Carter. They have already beaten three teams of a higher status and as expected they face their stiffest opposition in the final. Their opponents are St. Clere's, who hail from Stanford-le-Hope. They are currently unbeaten in Mid Essex League Division 1 while the Reserves are fourth in Division 4. The team are looking for as much support as possible from the whole club. So let's get behind them and be part of a memorable night in Beacon Hill Rovers' history. WEDNESDAY 28th APRIL AT BILLERICAY TOWN FC (KICK OFF 7:45PM) 26 / 4 / 2010 Reserves and Thirds keep promotion hopes alive Apr 25: The men's Third team produced an excellent team performance that deservedly earned them three points from their home game against Burnham Ramblers Reserves on Saturday. The win means Beacon are still in the tight race for promotion out of Mid-Essex Division 5. The Ladies also claimed victory with a two-goal win over C&K Basildon Reserves. With one game left in their season Beacon are assured of fourth place in Essex County League Division 2. The Reserves played out a score draw away to second-placed Felsted Rovers. As a result chance still remains for a top-three finish in Mid-Essex Division 4 leading up to their County Trophy Final on Wednesday night. Following a busy mid-week the First team suffered a heavy defeat away to Braintree and Bocking United. See team pages for match reports. 25 / 4 / 2010 First FA Soccability season ends at Maldon Our Witham and Chelmsford based teams took part in this final tournament day on the new Plume astro. Player of the season was keeper Len Boone and top scorer with 16 goals was Dean. See the soccability section for details. 24 / 4 / 2010 Firsts climb table while Reserves slip on the prom Apr 23: The First team earned three valuable points on Tuesday in a dramatic win at fellow Premier Division strugglers Springfield Rouge. Two late goals secured the victory that takes Beacon out of the bottom three with games still in hand. They then found themselves on the receiving end of a narrow loss as they fell on penalties away to Ramsden in a cup match on Thursday. On Wednesday the Reserves let a half-time three goal lead slip - and in the end had to fight to hold on to a point away to Mundon Vics Reserves. No win in eight league games has given the team a mountain to climb if they are to secure promotion out of Division 4. The next three games, each against promotion rivals, will be decisive. See team pages for full match reports. 23 / 4 / 2010 A winless weekend for Beacon's adults Apr 18: With all three men's teams losing on Saturday, and the ladies' defeat on Sunday, Beacon's senior teams failed to secure a point between them in the weekend's round of league fixtures. The First team lost away to Silver End while the Thirds lost at home to Silver End's Reserves. The Reserves found the net twice but it wasn't enough to avoid defeat at the hands of Burnham Ramblers at home. Despite netting a forty-yard wonder-goal, the Ladies couldn't match their previous week's efforts against Assandun who left Wickham Bishops with all three points. See team pages for full match reports. 18 / 4 / 2010 Ladies raid Vikings Apr 14: After finding themselves two-nil down at half time the Ladies produced a magnificent comeback and brought three points home from their trip to second-placed Assandun Vikings. The men's teams had a tough weekend. The First team narrowly lost against league leaders Braintree and Bocking United, the Reserves were beaten at Great Baddow Reserves and the Thirds lost to Dunmow. The the bad run continued into the week as the First team suffered a home defeat to Byfleet Rangers on Tuesday night. See team pages for match reports. 14 / 4 / 2010 County Trophy Final date announced The Essex FA have announced that the Junior Trophy Final between Beacon Hill Rovers Reserves and St. Clere’s has been re-scheduled to be played on: Wednesday 28 April 2010, kick-off 7.45pm New Lodge, Billericay Town FC 9 / 4 / 2010 FIXTURES: April 10 / 11 On Saturday the First team's impressive league form will be put to the test at home against league leaders Braintree and Bocking United. After two defeats at the hands of Tillingham this week the Reserves, lying fourth in the league, go to Great Baddow Reserves, who are fifth. Beacon will be looking for their first win in five to get their promotion chase back on track. With things tight at the top of Division 5 the Thirds play second from bottom Dunmow at home. On Sunday the Ladies travel to Assandun Vikings in the first of two successive fixtures against the team placed second in the league. 8 / 4 / 2010 Firing on all (6) cylinders Mar 29: BHR's U15s got back into their winning ways last weekend with an emphatic win over Woodham Radar Rockets. The win keeps them at the top of the league although Stock Utd have 2 games in hand. See the team page for the full match report. Plenty of goals were also seen in the Under-11s' draw with Writtle Minors in an action packed match. Meanwhile the Under-9s suffered a heavy defeat to Valley Green Eagles. 29 / 3 / 2010 Three Beacon heads better than Waltham's one Mar 28: The First team stunned Little Waltham on Saturday with two late headed goals following Dan Gardner's earlier equaliser. This win takes Beacon out of the Premier Division's bottom two with over half their league fixtures still to be played. The Reserves couldn't ward off a determined Runwell Hospital side and had to settle for a draw in their Division 4 match. All eyes now turn to Wednesday night and their County Trophy showdown with St.Clere's at Billericay Town FC. The Thirds were left dazed after two own goals in quick succession handed St.Clere's Reserves the initiative in their Division 5 match. Beacon rallied admirably to claw one back but the runaway league leaders ran away winners. The veterans lost a tight game away to Writtle in the Essex Veterans Premier Division while the Ladies lost out to Hutton in their friendly fixture. See team pages for more details. 27 / 3 / 2010 Firsts give Town a hard time Mar 23: The First team went to Braintree Town on Monday night for a Tolleshunt D’Arcy Cup match that in the end said much about the spirit of Beacon Hill when against the odds. In a tight match Braintree netted late in the game to secure their place in the next round. See team page for full match report. The First team must now regroup for Saturday's home league game with third placed Little Waltham as they seek to move off the foot of the Premier Division table. The Reserves will want maintain pressure on teams above as they go to mid-table Runwell Hospital. The Third team face a stern test as they host league leaders St.Clere's Reserves. The Vets go to Writtle seeking their first win and the Ladies play a friendly against Hutton at home on Sunday. 23 / 3 / 2010 Rovers take the field for Sport Relief Last weekend Beacon Hill turned out in support of Sport Relief. All the club's teams took the field wearing the red Sport Relief armbands to help raise money for the event. Players, coaches and supporters combined to donate £219.29 and help raise awareness of the issues Sport Relief tackles. This year Sport Relief has been a phenomenal success. Nationally, over £30 million has been raised so far. Smithy became a legend but Moyles made it real. And we made a difference. To read more about the difference made by Sport Relief money, see what went on over the weekend, and donate, visit: http://www.sportrelief.com/ picture - Beacon Hill's eleven team captains line up to support Sport Relief. 23 / 3 / 2010 Under 7s shine Mar 22: The Under 7s stole the show last weekend as they won 1 - 0 in a brilliant match. Every player played really well as they managed to keep a clean sheet and score a great goal (see picture). The other youth teams had a tough day on Sunday. The Under 9s lost to Notley Youth. The Under 11s lost in the final minutes of their game against Gallow United after leading through a great 25-yard strike. The Under 15s also lost on their travels to Valley Green Bombers but remain top of the league. 23 / 3 / 2010 Mixed results in league campaigns Mar 22: The Third team brought three points back from Halstead last Saturday, securing a narrow win over Marks Farm late in the game. This takes them up to third in the tight race for promotion in Mid-Essex Division 5. The First team had to settle for a draw away to UCC. The point however meant they gained ground on Southminster and Manford Way immediately above them in the Mid-Essex Premier Division. Durning move ahead of Beacon's Reserves in Mid-Essex Division 4 as they took three points from game at Wickham Bishops. Next week's game at Runwell is a chance to keep the pressure on their promotion rivals. The Ladies suffered a heavy defeat away to league leaders Redbridge. With key fixtures against Hawkwell and Assandun coming up, next week's friendly against Hutton offers a chance to regroup. See team pages for full match reports. 22 / 3 / 2010 Club bands together for Sport Relief: 19th - 21st March 2010 This weekend Beacon Hill Rovers Football Club will be supporting Sport Relief, helping to raise awareness of the national event and raise money for poor and vulnerable people both at home and across the world's poorest countries. The eleven Beacon Hill teams will all be wearing red Sport Relief armbands as they play this week. This means over one hundred and fifty youth and adult players will be turning out to play for the cause over the course of the weekend. Donations will be taken before, during and after matches so players, supporters, coaches and managers can come together as a club and make a difference.... "So be a part of it...Rise to the challenge for Sport Relief!" http://www.bbc.co.uk/sportrelief/ http://www.sportrelief.com/ In support of Sport Relief, an initiative of Comic Relief, registered charity 326568 (England/ Wales); SC039730 (Scotland) 17 / 3 / 2010 Reserves on course as Ladies bounce back Mar 15: The reserves continue to press for promotion, winning comfortably at Springfield on Saturday. Lying third in the league with games in hand, they face fourth-place Durning next week in an vital match for both teams. The ladies put last week's cup disappointment behind them with an emphatic home win over mid-table Runwell & Rayleigh. With six league games remaining their promotion chase hots-up next weekend with a trip to second-place Redbridge. The First team played out a scoreless draw against Silver End United which saw them gain ground on teams above. They travel to UCC next weekend in a vital league encounter. Meanwhile the Thirds' promotion chase took a stumble away to rivals Battlesbridge. In a spirited display Beacon took the lead before the home side's pressure told and earned them a narrow victory. 15 / 3 / 2010 Stock rise as Under 15s tumble Mar 15: Beacon were left bitterly disappointed on Sunday as they lost their League Cup semi-final tie against Stock United Boys. After winning the first leg away at Stock, Beacon saw their advantage slip away at home in the return leg and narrowly lost 4 - 3 on aggregate. But they'll be looking to bounce back and maintain their lead at the top of the league as they travel to Valley Green Bombers next weekend. In their league match the Under 9s held a strong Braintree Town Blues side to a goalless draw at Wickham Bishops. 14 / 3 / 2010 Writtle Rattled as Beacon's Reserves make history! Mar 8: On Saturday the Reserve team achieved a first in the club's 89 year history as they progressed through to the final of the Essex County FA Junior Trophy. They booked their place with a superb semi-final win at Writtle Manor - a goal late in the second-half from Adam Ratcliffe sealing a well deserved victory. Their run to the final has included some great displays and they now look to carry that form to the final where they face St. Clere's at Billericay Town FC on Wednesday 31st March. See the reserves' team page for the full match report. 8 / 3 / 2010 U9's make it through to league cup final, U15's are one step away! Mar 8: BHR U9's went to Dunmow Rhodes Tigers having drawn 1 - 1 at Wickham Bishops in the first leg of this semi-final three weeks ago. Lying joint top of the league with only one loss this season, home side Dunmow looked favourites. Yet Beacon's fine cup form continued and they earned a narrow victory that puts them through to the final of the league cup where they will face Tiptree Jobserve Panthers. BHR U15's are well positioned for the second leg of their semi-final next weekend after a 3-1 win away at Stock in the opening leg. See the match report on the U15's team page for details. BHR U11's suffered a narrow 3 - 4 league defeat at home against Barnston Youth. 7 / 3 / 2010 Hard lines for Firsts and Ladies as cup fortunes fade Mar 8: The First team suffered a bitter defeat in extra-time at the hands of Silver End United in their Divisional Cup semi-final. Beacon took the lead in normal time before Silver End came back and then won through to deny Hill a place in the final. Despite making chances early-on (see picture) the Ladies found Division 1 leaders C&K Basildon to be too strong in their League Cup quarter-final. Beacon's spirited performance merited a closer scoreline however, and suggests that they're more than capable of competing at this level. In league matches, the Third team got back to winning ways as they convincingly beat Maldon St. Mary down by the prom. The Veterans shared the points with fellow strugglers Old Parmitarians, drawing 3 - 3 at home. Check team pages for full match reports. 6 / 3 / 2010 More Soccability 'keepers get Beacon Hill coaching On Saturday Pete Hammond gave a second specialist goalkeeping coaching session for Soccability players, this time on the astro at Colchester Leisure Centre. Fourteen aspiring ‘keepers from Clacton, Colchester and Witham, including two female players, enjoyed an intensive programme covering handling, positioning and movement. This coaching delivered by Beacon Hill Rovers in conjunction with NHS North Essex is all part of extending our role in the community, bringing football to as wide an audience as possible. 5 / 3 / 2010 The cup ties, take two 3 Mar: After the frustration of last weekend's cancelled games, some hasty re-arranging sees them, and more, scheduled for this weekend. The first team are away to Silver End United in the semi-final of the PREMIER DIVISION CUP. United lie third in the Division, but they face a Beacon side who's cup record is formidable this season. Kick off 1:30pm. The reserves travel to Writtle Manor in the ESSEX JUNIOR TROPHY. Writtle are riding high in Division 2, but Beacon have taken some notable scalps en route to the semi-final and are avidly seeking to make the County Trophy final for the first time in their history. Kick-off is at 2pm. On Sunday the ladies play C&K Basildon at home in the quarter-final of the county-wide LEAGUE CUP. Basildon are top of Division 1 but after beating top-tier opponents in the last round Beacon are looking to cause another upset. Kick off is at 1:30pm. The Under-15's go to Stock United Boys in the first leg of the LEAGUE CUP semi-final. Stock sailed through the group stage but Beacon are on a fine run of form that's taken them to the top of the league. The Under-9's go to Dunmow Rhodes Tigers in the second leg of their LEAGUE CUP semi-final. After a 1 - 1 draw at Wickham Bishops in the first leg, and with both teams doing well in the league, this should be a cracking contest. League duties return for some: on Saturday the thirds play Maldon St.Mary away; the vets meet Old Parmiterians at home; and on Sunday, the Under-11's host Barnston Youth. To complete the fixtures, the Under-7's will also being playing - at Hedinghams United. 3 / 3 / 2010 The weekend's only game ends in disappointment for Beacon 29 Feb: The weather continues to wreak havoc on the fixture list. With a weekend scheduled to be packed with plum cup ties, only the third team managed to take the field for their Division 5 Cup semi-final. Beacon Hill Rovers 'A' 4 - 4 (aet) E2V Technologies Reserves E2V won on penalties (4 - 2) A memorable match to say the least: an epic encounter which saw both teams give it everything. E2V were on course to win the contest in normal time, but the home side scored a dramatic equaliser just before the ninety minutes were up to make it 3 - 3. Beacon went on to score a fourth in extra-time, but then it was E2V's turn to level the game with only a few minutes remaining. In the penalty shoot-out that followed, last season's runners-up were left bitterly disappointed as E2V netted their every spot-kick and booked their place in the final. 28 / 2 / 2010 No joy at home, no games away 22 Feb: On yet another weather-beaten weekend only our home matches were played last Saturday, with both the first and third team games, at Braintree and Dunmow respectively, called off. The reserves' winning run came to an end at the hands of promotion rivals Felsted Rovers. While Beacon had a penalty saved and some clear chances towards the end (see pic), Felsted proved too strong and took three valuable points north. In their league match the veterans suffered a similar fate against Benfleet who emerged convincing winners at Wickham Bishops. 22 / 2 / 2010 Firsts valiant in defeat as reserves keep firing 15 Feb: The first team saw their run in the County Cup come to an end as they lost a hard-fought game at Frenford Seniors Reserves. The reserves made it seven wins in a row as they netted five and kept a clean sheet at Crays Hill United. The thirds let a two goal lead slip away as they drew 3 - 3 at home with Old Chelmsfordians 'A'. See team pages for match reports. 15 / 2 / 2010 U15's march on! Another League victory for the U15's on Sunday in a solid team performance against a much improved Sporting 77 team - see match report for details! 14 / 2 / 2010 Big weekend as teams vie for cup success 23 Feb: BONUS BALL ANNOUNCEMENT: With only two numbers left "it could (still) be you" winning big this Easter. See the link "Click here to see more winners" on the right to enter. --- THE FIRST AND RESERVE TEAM GAMES HAVE BEEN CALLED OFF --- In their semi-final, the third team host E2V Technologies Reserves in the DIVISION 5 CUP. Beacon edged their last meeting 3 - 2 back in October, but E2V have won two of their last three games and won't be a pushover. Kick-off is at 1:30pm. Sunday also provides two important cup fixtures. The ladies play C&K Basildon in the quarter-final of the LEAGUE CUP at home. Basildon are top of Division 1 but after beating top-tier opponents in the last round Beacon are looking to cause another upset. Kick off is at 1:30pm. Finally, a further LEAGUE CUP semi-final is scheduled for Sunday morning as the Under-9's go to Dunmow Rhodes Tigers in this second-leg tie. After a 1 - 1 draw at Wickham Bishops in the first leg, and with both teams doing well in the league, this should be a cracking contest. 10 / 2 / 2010 Reserves' Semi Final Opponents Announced Beacon Hill Reserves have been drawn against Writtle Manor in the Semi Final of the Essex Junior Trophy. The tie will be played at Writtle Manor on Saturday 27th February. Writtle Manor are currently strong title contenders for Mid Essex Division 2 and will be a big test for Beacon Hill Reserves. The other tie sees Forest Glade host St. Clere's, both from Mid Essex Division 1. 9 / 2 / 2010 Ladies and reserves continue cup progress February 6th: The ladies and the reserves both broke new ground as they progressed further than ever before in their respective Essex County cup competitions. The men netted four as they overcame Burnham Ramblers in the quarter final of the Essex Junior Trophy while the ladies made it through to the quarters of the Essex County Women's League Cup with their superb away win against Chelmsford Reserves. The first team play their quarter final of the Essex County Cup this Saturday (13th Feb), travelling to Frenford Seniors Reserves. They and the thirds are also in league cup semi-finals later this month, making it a busy period for the adults' teams in the knock-out competitions. The thirds continued to struggle for form as they succumbed to UCC Reserves in the league. See team pages for full match reports. 8 / 2 / 2010 U15's increase lead at the top Rovers increased their lead over second placed Silver End with a 2-1 victory - see match report for details! 7 / 2 / 2010 First team through to County Cup quarter-finals The first team maintained their impressive cup form as they booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Essex County Cup for the first time in the club's history - see team page for full match report. The veterans drew their league match 3 - 3 away to S C Henderson. 3 / 2 / 2010 6 goals for Nick and a sending off in Southend! There was a seven goal thriller as well, all part of our Southend Soccability tournament this weekend! Eleven games were played down at the Playfootball.com centre in Southend and 13 of our Beacon Hill coached Witham based players took part representing both the Witham and Chelmsford teams. See the Soccability team news and match reports for more details. 30 / 1 / 2010 New Beacon Hill Under 11’s Girls Football Team Beacon Hill Rovers previously had a girls' team that ran for the last five years. This season has seen six of them come through to start playing for the ladies team, so we thought it was a good time to start a fresh girls team this season! We ran our first training session on Saturday 23rd January; we had ten players turn up which was a great turn out for the first session. The session was coached by Merf (Head Development Coach/First Team Manager), Rachel (Under 11 Girls Coach/Manager/ Ladies Player), Laura (Trainee Coach and ex Under 16 girls player), Marnie (Coach / Ladies Player) and Nick (Coach/Manager Under 15s Boys), all of whom were very impressed with how the session went, with a lot of enthusiasm and fun had by all – including the coaches! On the coaching front we are especially keen for the girls to be coached by female coaches and Beacon Hill has no shortage there as we have six female coaches to help the girls through the rest of this season and into the next season where the team will be entered into the Under 12’s Girls Essex League. Training Times – Under 11 (Year 6’s) girls football training will take place from now until end of may (date TBC) from 11-12 on Saturday mornings. Friendly Matches / League Next Season Towards the end of the season (May) we will look to try and set up a couple of friendly matches to start preparing the girls for entering the Under 12’s Girls Essex League in September. If you fancy joining the team please turn up to training at our ground at Wickham Bishops, ready to start at 11 o’clock on Saturday. 25 / 1 / 2010 U15's Go Top! After a close match on Sunday the U15's team have gone top of the league table. A great team achievement! 24 / 1 / 2010 Reserves shine, thirds dampened as weather plays havoc again 23rd January 2010 In another weekend of fixtures severely disrupted by the weather, many matches were again called-off. However, Bramston Sports Ground managed to escape the worst of the conditions and hosted two top-of-the-table men's matches. The RESERVES came from two goals down and grabbed a dramatic injury-time winner in their match against White Hart United. James Lewis' hat-trick helped to take Rovers top of the division at their opponents' expense. After taking a two-goal lead themselves against Shelley Royals Reserves, the THIRDS conceded twice in the second half and had to settle for a share of the points with their promotion rivals. See team pages for full match reports. 24 / 1 / 2010 Season restarts with more cup progress January 16th 2010 After more than a month since any matches, the reserves deserve praise for making it through to the quarter-finals of the prestigious Essex Junior Trophy with a 2 - 1 win against Lexden Allstars. This win maintains the club's impressive advance in cup competitions this season. The third's six-match unbeaten run in the league came to an end at the hands of promotion rivals St.Clere's. Despite this, Beacon Hill's A team remain second in the division. See team pages for full match reports. 19 / 1 / 2010 HALF-TIME TALK: Mid-Season at Beacon Hill The Christmas and New Year break is upon us; the perfect time to review the season so far and look ahead at what's to come: SOCCABILITY - Community Coach, Peter Mickelsen Our work with learning disabled footballers has taken off in 2009. Pete, Merf, Stu, Steve Ewers and Nick Smith have all delivered coaching sessions. We have even run our first goalkeeping course with Pete Hammond. Over 50 adult players, men and women, have benefited from Beacon Hill Rovers coaching input delivered in Witham, Colchester and even Clacton! 2009 saw the launch of the Essex FA Soccability League; two league days have been held so far with a further four scheduled before the end of the season. This gives a much needed formal structure for disability football in Essex and we are delighted to be involved at the start of this major national initiative. THE THIRD TEAM - Manager, Rob Hill With the Christmas break upon us it's time to rest up those niggles, recharge the batteries and get ready for a tough second half of the season. Second in the league and in the Divisional Cup semi-final isn't a bad return so far - better than Mark Hughes anyway!! With a couple of new faces and a new formation, the thirds have raised the bar dramatically this season. At this stage the thirds have already won more games than in the whole of last season and have found a more purposeful way about their play. It can only benefit the club if the thirds can gain promotion along with the reserves. The nearer we can get to the first team the better for everyone. The number of former youth team players holding down a place in the thirds shows what a great job the club's coaches are doing. At this level of football attitude and desire are the key factors and we are making great inroads in this direction. The challenge for the rest of the season is to build consistency, be challenging for promotion at the end of the season and make it to another cup final. With some players missing parts of the rest of the season it is vital that those coming in are on the right page from the start and continue the great work so far. We must be 100% focused for the rest of the season otherwise we will be letting ourselves down - but we have grown up this season and we will not let this happen!!! THE RESERVES - Manager, Steve Carter We have reached the area semi final of the County Junior Trophy, and have a great opportunity of reaching the area final, and who knows from there….. It’s a long time since Hill’s Reserves were last at this stage of this county wide competition, anyone remember Bradwell United away and Kevin Scamp’s penalty ? - Thought not. It went in by the way, to put us ahead but we eventually lost to a team several divisions higher. Amazingly we are “only” 2nd in the League having won 8 of our nine league games so far, and having already beaten the side in 1st place. Confidence, unsurprisingly, is high, but we need to keep feet on the ground as there is fierce competition at the top of the division and we have some big games coming up in 2010. However the opportunity to win a league title after so very many years is there, can we grasp it ? Time will tell obviously or will it ? Philosophise on that. Personally time has never told me anything, in fact I cant recall ever having a conversation with time. Perhaps I should but I’m not a great conversationalist, so I’ll probably give it a miss. A miss ? – ahh I remember a few of them – should I name names ??? Maybe not I’ll save them for another day. Saves? Don’t get me started. Am I rambling? That reminds me, Ramblers away – what a great performance, 3-0 with two goals disallowed and the bar rattled a couple of times, against a team that had knocked us out of the League Cup just a week before. Great stuff. Promotion is the least we should expect from this season, with the league title the goal – Goals, Ive seen a few, but then again too few to mention. A 45 yarder straight from kick off just down the road at Steeple Bumpstead springs to mind, the late winner at Grays from just outside the box, the first goal against Tillingham, the last goal for Tillingham, the goal that wasn’t at Burnham. Bring them on, let there be many more. So enjoy your Christmas and New Year celebrations, guys. Lets keep the hard work going next year and see where it takes us. THE LADIES - Stuart Harwood, Manager Hill’s Ladies have had a very good first half of the season; this has followed on from a good end to last season. So far we have only suffered two defeats; one in the league and one in the County Cup against the team that won Division 1 last season with a 100% record and are now competing in the East Region league. So far from the under 16’s girls team of last season, five players have seamlessly stepped up into the adult team, with all of them making significant contributions to the success of the team so far this season. The team currently sit third in the league table, having already beaten the team in first and coming back from two down to draw 2-2 with the team in second, plus we are in the last sixteen of the cup. The team has the best defence record in the Division and we are also not reliant on one person for the goals, as nine different scorers have contributed to our eighteen goal tally. Currently squad numbers are very good and so far everyone, barring the ever-present Nina between the sticks, has taken their turn on the bench. This will need to continue if we are to achieve the goal of getting promoted to Division 1, which should be a realistic aim. THE FIRST TEAM - Stuart Harwood, Lineman The first half term report is very much a Jekyll and Hyde one, between the league and cups. Hill's opening three games of the season were all 2-1 reverses before we finally got some points on the board, coming back from 0-2 down to win 3-2 against fellow strugglers Southminster. This was unfortunately followed by two heavy defeats in the league. Since these two defeats Hill first team have been on a bit of a roll, with six victories on the bounce. Unfortunately for our league position only one of these has been in the league. We go into the New Year sitting one place off the bottom of the league but are all confident that with the current momentum the team has we should be able to ease away from any relegation worries. Also the team can hopefully look forward to a few exciting cup runs, as they are currently in the Regional semi-final of the County Cup, semi-final of the Divisional Shield and the third round of the Strachan Cup. So with a bit of lucky the newly installed Trophy Cabinets may have something to go in them by the end of the season! THE UNDER-15s - Nick Smith, Manager We have said so many times in the past that this team is a passing team, and this season, with a little more grit and effort they’ve become a great passing, winning team! Looking back to last season, when we lost most of our games, they foundations were there. We had good players in every position but just lacked the cutting edge to capitalise on our chances. So what’s changed? Well some new players, in fact two new players (Jack and Freddie) because we need to remember that we had three new players last season in James, Kurtis and Callum, and although two could not play league matches they were with us for friendlies. With those new players the team has gained confidence in the knowledge that we have goal scorer in Callum who will take every opportunity his team mates can create – they don’t all go in, but 20 have already this season! That has given everyone else a target to chase with Brett determined to catch him up! Our “bench” has also got stronger this season. In several of our games we were missing key strong players, Steve, or Matt or Jack maybe, and in previous seasons this would have been disastrous, but now we have strong players throughout the team now, either players like Adam and Tom who’ve developed and improved this season or like James and Thomas who can play in several different positions in defence. The other thing we’ve got this season I think is commitment. Ask someone to play in attack and hound their defence, our in our midfield and close down quickly and support defence and attack and they will, giving it their all – just watch Thomas George Jack or Ed! The result of all this effort commitment and a good dose of skill is that we are in the semi finals of the League Cup and 4th in the league with games in hand that could see us rise to 2nd! Well Done! I’m looking forward to the next half season, and along with the other U15 coaches Steve and Kev wish you all a Happy New Year. 21 / 12 / 2009 --- Adults' End of Season Tour --- !!!BOOK YOUR FLIGHT NOW!!! AMSTERDAM 2010 ------ AMSTERDAM 2010 ------ AMSTERDAM 2010 Saturday 29th to Bank Holiday Monday 31st May 2010 To go Dutch do two things: 1) Book your Easyjet flights - BOOK NOW TO GET THE BEST DEAL 2) Pay your deposit to your team manger For details of flights and prices click the link under 'events @ bhrfc'. 18 / 12 / 2009 Essex FA Soccability Review Honours for 2009 James, who trains with our Beacon Hill group at Witham, has been named Essex player of the year and our coach, Peter Mickelsen named as volunteer of the year. Click on the headline and link to read the whole story. 17 / 12 / 2009 RESULTS - 12 / 13 December: Three Teams into Semi-Finals... ***Following the defeat of Valley Green by Writtle, the Under-15's are in the League Cup semi's*** ***The firsts and reserves sailed through to semi-finals in the County Cup*** Tiptree Jobserve were held 0 - 0 by the Under-9's while the Under-15's had a score-draw snatched away in the last minute of their 2 - 3 defeat at Boreham. The men's teams all emerged 4 - 2 victors; the firsts won their sixth match running, the reserves made it ten wins this season and the thirds continued their impressive league run. Likewise the ladies netted four, but they also managed to keep a clean sheet in their convincing home win against Little Oakley. IN FOCUS THIS WEEK - THE MEN'S FIRST TEAM: Beacon Hill Rovers 4 Weeley Athletic Reserves 2 Another week another cup game! Hill’s 1st team were turning out for their fifth cup match in six games, having won the previous four plus the league game played in that period. Confidence was high for the visit of Border league side Weeley, even with their manager on his annual trip to India. The confidence showed from the outset with some lovely free flowing one touch football from one side of the pitch to the other, at some points even being too elaborate. Hill took a deserved lead midway through the half when Kev Miles notched for the first time for the 1st team, cutting in from the left wing he beat the keeper at his near post. Miles was also involved in the second goal as he went over an outstretched leg in the box after he had put the ball past the defender. Matt Surridge stepped up are scored the penalty taking his tally into double figures for the season. The score was taken to three-nil at half time with the last kick of the half - Adam Sansom scoring direct from a twenty yard free kick. The half time chat fixed on remaining concentrated and focused, even if the odd decision seemed hard to understand. Hill did have opportunities to extend their lead but none were taken. Even the unlucky dismissal of their skipper didn’t affect Hill's dominance, until with ten minutes to go Weeley were award a free kick on the edge of the box. Like Hill’s third, a goal was scored direct from the kick but this time it was because the wall decided to jump over the shot. Things then got a little bit interesting when Weeley got their second with a couple of minutes to go. There was time for a sixth goal but it went to Hill, Surridge releasing Dave Heward who ran unchallenged for thirty yards into the box before lifting the ball over the oncoming keeper. Hill are now in the regional Semi-Final of the County Cup for the first in many-a-year. See team pages for all teams' full match reports. 13 / 12 / 2009 FIXTURES - 19 / 20 December ---ALL MATCHES OFF--- These are the final round of matches before the Christmas and New Year break. Notice of any games postponed will be posted below. SAT: Firsts AWAY to Silver End United - MATCH POSTPONED. Thirds AWAY to second from bottom Dunmow. League - MATCH POSTPONED. Vets AWAY to fourth placed Writtle. League - MATCH POSTPONED SUN: Ladies AWAY to Chelmsford City Reserves from Division 1. League Cup - MATCH POSTPONED The under-9, under-11 and under-15 matches are all POSTPONED. 12 / 12 / 2009 Schools out at Beacon Hill Recently Beacon Hill Rovers F.C. hosted two Essex County Schools F.A. Under-11 competitions – the Malcolm Moffatt Trophy (boys) and Cup (girls). Not long ago awarded the prestigious F.A. National Charter Standard Community Club status, Beacon Hill continued to support grass roots football in the community, holding the event for the second successive year; the club also supplied a number of players from their own Under-11 side. Twenty teams from across the region competed in the two 7-a-side tournaments for the Outer Essex Section title and for the chance to go on and represent the county in the English Schools F.A. Regional Finals. Local teams such as Howbridge Junior in Witham, had the chance to play against schools from further afield, including Woodside Primary from Thurrock and Mildene Primary in Colchester. The footballing skills on show were very impressive and teamwork was particularly noticeable as players showed how they could pass and move with ease. After forty five matches played throughout the afternoon, Stanford-le-hope Primary and Hereward Primary boys' teams, and Felsted Primary and Woodside girls' sides, will now go to the Arsenal Dome in February and face the top two teams from the Essex London Boroughs Section. The atmosphere at the event, made by over three hundred pupils, coaches, officials and supporters, was superb and made for the model of a competitive, yet fun afternoon. Matches were played true to the spirit of the game, teams mingled and such was the keenness of the competitors that 'unofficial' games were being played on every spare patch of grass. Excellent organisation by the Essex County Schools F.A., and work by match officials and Beacon Hill Rovers alike provided for a day of sport at its best. 3 / 12 / 2009 Firsts win in extra time amid weekend of washouts Of the weekend's nine scheduled matches, only the men's first team game against Byfleet Rangers in the Strachan Cup escaped the waterlogging. Cup holders Byfleet took the lead on 15 minutes and Hill remained on the back foot for most of the half; the score only remained 0-1 due to an excellent save from stand-in 'keeper, Dave Shelley. In the second half Hill began to get into the game and drew level when Micky Carabine finished with a powerful header at the near post. 5 minutes into extra time Anthony Canty capped a fine display when his free kick beat the Byfleet 'keeper and put Hill through to the next round. See full match report on team page. 2 / 12 / 2009 Beacon Hill earn top FA status After becoming one of the first clubs in Essex to be awarded the FA Charter Standard for both Youth and Adult teams, this season Beacon Hill Rovers FC became an FA Charter Standard Community Club – the highest level of Charter Standard accreditation. Community Club status is the pinnacle of the Football Association’s club development pathway and recognizes those clubs that have a high quality, multi-team set-up with excellent social, training and playing opportunities for all irrespective of age, gender, religion and ability. Clubs must also provide qualified coaches, first-aiders and child protection officers and demonstrate a genuine commitment to work with partners within their community. Yet again Beacon Hill is at the forefront of grass roots football development, and whilst not the biggest of organisations we unequivocally embody what a community club is all about. In particular the breadth of footballing opportunities offered to all is outstanding. I don’t think that there are many clubs in Essex, if not the country, that have such a diverse membership catering for all abilities. Less than four hundred clubs nationwide have been awarded the Charter Standard Community Club status, including only a handful in Essex. Considering that there are many thousands of FA affiliated clubs, becoming a Chartered Standard Club in itself was a fabulous achievement, to become one of the select few to receive the Community Club award is truly outstanding. It is a testament to the tremendous commitment, passion and talent devoted to the club by its many and varied members. With many larger clubs coveting the award, we can be justifiably proud of yet another milestone in the distinguished history of Beacon Hill Rovers FC. Steve Ewers, Nov 2009 Chairman To find out more go to: http://www.thefa.com/GetIntoFootball/CharterStandard.aspx http://www.thefa.com/GetIntoFootball/CharterStandard/Club/FACommunityClubs.aspx 2 / 12 / 2009 RESULTS - 28/29 Movember www.movember.com The reserves won comfortably at Marconi Athletic and go two points clear at the top of Division 4. Despite Chris Oz's Mo, the third team snatched a last-gasp winner to beat Old Chelmsfordians at KEGS. They remain second in Division 5. Two late goals from Dunmow meant the Vets lost 3 - 1 at home. ---Check out the match reports on the team pages--- The U9s lost 2-3 against Danbury Juniors. 30 / 11 / 2009 RESULTS - 21st / 22nd Nov The first team enjoyed an emphatic 5 - 1 home win against Southminster Reserves in the County Cup. A hat-trick from James Lewis helped the reserves win with the same score away to Steeple Bumpstead Reserves in their cup tie. The thirds won comfortably at home to Boreham Reserves 4 - 2 in the league to complete a perfect afternoon of victories for the men's sides. U15's lost 4 - 5 to Writtle Minors in a close League Cup match. U9's beat Rayne Youth 2-1 at home. 22 / 11 / 2009 Goalkeeper coaching for Soccability players Beacon Hill Rovers continue to extend their support to Soccability players by now providing specialist goalkeeper training at the Shrub End Astro in Colchester. On Saturday 21st November ten players from Clacton, Colchester, Witham and Chelmsford enjoyed a coaching session delivered by Pete Hammond supported by Pete Mickelsen. This was the first time that one Soccability coaching session has been set aside for just goalkeeping. Pete was able to go through the basics of foot movement, handling the ball and positional awareness for those players who aspire to that key role of ‘keeper in their team. The players worked in mini soccer goals before going on to a full size set up and it was clear that some of the early lessons were soon being learnt. The morning was a great success and the programme will be continued into 2010. 21 / 11 / 2009 RESULTS - 14th / 15th Nov In the midst of a storm the thirds drew 0 - 0 away to Burnham Ramblers Res. The ladies lost in the league for the first time this season 4 - 2 at home vs C&K Basildon Res. The U15's beat Stock United Youth 4-3 in the League, reaching 50 goals so far this season! The U11's beat Writtle Minors 3-2 in the league. The U9's held Rayne Youth in a 1-1 draw. 13 / 11 / 2009 Beacon Hill Rovers in India Beacon Hill Rovers Football Club has been linked with a children’s home in Tamil Nadu, southern India for a number of years. Last year the club's charity of the year was the organisation that runs the home, “Families For Children”. Following this a kit was donated to the older boys football team and funds were raised to provide other kit and equipment. Beacon Hill's Player Development Officer, Merfyn Roberts, presented the kit on a recent visit and spent some time coaching the team and watching them play. You can find further information on the work of the charity at http://www.familiesforchildren.ca/ or by googling 'Families For Children Podanur India'. 10 / 11 / 2009 2009/10 Essex Soccability League and BHRFC Saturday 31st October was the first league fixture day and players coached by Beacon Hill Rovers were involved in no less than eight of the fourteen teams competing! Beacon Hill Rovers do some coaching in Colchester but work mainly locally on BHR Soccability with our adopted Witham team training at the Bramston astro on Wednesday evenings. From our Witham based squad, for this weekend’s fixtures, we provided the players for the majority of the Chelmsford team and some of the Clacton team! Witham based players taking part at the weekend were James, Nick, Nigel, Dean, Adam, Len, Rob, Adam, Lawrie, Sam, Mikey, Matt and Rodney. Teams from all over the county took part. The league has been established for this first season with two divisions, a premiership and a championship each consisting of seven teams playing 5 a side matches. Premiership Colchester United Community Sports A Rochford DF A Colchester A Basildon Soccability A Witham Southend Scorchers Clacton A Championship Colchester United Community Sports B EPCP Basildon Soccability B Chelmsford Rochford DF B Colchester B Clacton B The first round of matches was a learning experience for all the teams. Results were unpredictable with the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition an unknown quantity. Our Witham and Chelmsford teams won three, drew one and lost eight. Top scorer was Dean with three, Sam, Adam and Nick also got on the score sheet with one each. We also hit the woodwork on a number of occasions, made plenty of chances and tended to play better against the better teams! Both our keepers Len and Nigel had good days keeping the scores respectable. It was an enjoyable start to the league programme and has given us some good pointers for areas to work on in our coaching sessions on Wednesdays. The next league day is eagerly awaited! The next fixtures will be held at Shrub End, Colchester on Saturday November 28th Kick Off 1pm. 1 / 11 / 2009 Essex Soccability League announces dates for 2009/10 Beacon Hill Rovers FC provide coaching and support to a Learning Disability team for local adults and we are delighted to be part of the new Essex Soccability league which will be run this season for the first time in the County. The team has entered the new league following on from playing a number of friendly matches organised last season. Beacon Hill Coaches work with up to twenty learning disability clients every week developing their football skills. We train on Wednesdays at the Witham astro pitch. Great progress has been made since the project commenced almost two years ago. The players are extremely enthusiastic about the start of the league programme and can't wait for the first match on Saturday 31st October. The format is 5 a side and a number of matches will be played at one location on each of the six league days set aside for the season. The schedule is set out below. Matches start at 1pm with teams arriving by 12 midday, if you can get to any of these fixtures and give us your support, Beacon Hill Rovers would be delighted to see you there. 2009/10 Fixtures: 31st October 2009 Barstable School Basildon 28th November 2009 Shrub End Colchester 30th January 2010 Playfootball.com Southend 27th February 2010 Chelmer Park Chelmsford 27th March 2010 Southend Utd FC 24th April 2010 Rochford 25 / 10 / 2009 MID ESSEX LEAGUE CUP QUARTER FINAL DRAWS After their hard-fought win against UCC in the first round, the first team have another tricky encounter, having been drawn away to Harold Wood Athletic. After benefiting from being given a bye in the first round, the third team, current leaders of Division 5 and last year's beaten finalists, have been handed a tricky tie away to unbeaten Wickham Royals Reserves. Both these quarter final matches are scheduled to be played on Saturday 31st October. 6 / 10 / 2009 FA Skills Coach works with Beacon Hill youngsters The under 7s and under 9s were treated to a special session of coaching by one of the FA's new Skills Coaches recently. Paul Barry came along to the Hill and worked with our youngsters on a range of skills covering movement, passing, control, defence and attack. Almost 40 of Rovers' keen young players had a fantastic time, enjoying every minute of it, they put in 110% on another hot Autumn day and benefited tremendously from the player focussed approach adopted by Paul. Beacon Hill Rovers coaches were very grateful for Paul's input which was of the highest standard; they also took part in a full evaluation of the session to help the progress of the FA skills programme. Paul also enjoyed his visit to the Hill and said "I was impressed with the set-up of your club last week, and the overall attitude of the coaches. It was really first class and goes to show what a great job you all do with your players." 28 / 9 / 2009 Essex County FA Coach of the Year 2008-09 Beacon Hill Rovers’ Community Coach, Peter Mickelsen has been awarded the Essex County FA’s prestigious “Coach of the Year 2008-09”. This accolade celebrates Peter’s achievements and identifies him as a coach of the highest quality. Like many grassroots coaches he started as a soccer parent and was soon volunteering to run the team. He took that team from under-7s through to last year when they were under-16s. This team was Beacon Hill’s first venture into Youth Football and Peter was a key person in the development of the club from a two team Mid-Essex club of less than 30 members into a genuine community based club catering for over 200 members from under-6s to veterans, girls and ladies teams and Learning Disabilities players. Without Peter’s commitment such successes would have remained a dream and last year’s FA National Charter Standard Club of the Year Award to Beacon Hill was a fantastic celebration of 10 years hard work. Whilst many soccer parents stop coaching when their child’s team finishes, Peter has continued his involvement with the Club and expanded his role as the Club’s Community Coach. One of Peter’s outstanding achievements has been in developing football for Learning Disabilities Adults working alongside colleagues from the Primary Care Teams and Health Authority. In addition his work with local schools has brought football to a wider group and been instrumental in Beacon Hill’s continuing growth in Youth Football. Peter’s enthusiasm and generosity has set high standards and his commitment to the local community allows all at Beacon Hill to share in this celebration of his achievements. 21 / 9 / 2009 Rovers' latest youth The next group of young players started their footballing careers today up at the "Hill", Beacon Hill Rovers' home ground. It was the turn of our new under 7s team to make their debut in the Blackwater and Dengie League. The squad has been training together now since the end of 2008 after players from Great Totham Primary and other local schools got together as part of the FA 3 Lions programme operated by BHRFC. Coaches from Beacon Hill have been working with the players and they were well prepared and ready for their big day. Manager Aaron Kemp, supported by Matt Low, Dan Repson and Elliot Stafford were delighted with all the players who showed just what they can do in the famous black and white stripes. The visitors for this first game were Burnham Ramblers and they contributed well to an excellent match enjoyed by a large crowd of enthusiastic parents and friends. Lets hope this is the start of long and enjoyable careers for these players. They all played well today in a great spirit and can't wait for the next game! 13 / 9 / 2009 Thirds Defeated in Cup Final Sometimes a mismatch produces a memorable story as well as an end result. Beacon Hill had earned their place in this final with valiant, albeit slender victories, but now stood to face their greatest test. Great Baddow had overwhelmed all before them on their way to the final and scored over one hundred and thirty goals in total this season. Whether Hill would suffer the same fate as the Spartan three hundred at Thermopylae or prevail against all odds like Sitting Bull's warriors at Little Bighorn was the ninety minutes' traffic of their stage at the home of Maldon Town FC. The first quarter of an hour did indeed resemble an onslaught of epic proportions. Baddow hit the bar and forced desperate clearances as they sent forward wave after wave of attack. Beacon Hill were reeling and the nerves of the team, the majority of whom were playing in their first adult cup final, were sorely tested. Yet their goal was not breached, the defence held firm with Rob Hill making some fine challenges, the superb Sean Downing covering in the centre, and both full backs, Alex Mickelsen and Chris Yabsley pitching with robust tackles and confident clearing. After those initial first fifteen minutes however, Hill found their shape that had proved so successful in previous rounds. Concomitantly, a quick succession of tackles in the middle of the park from Rob Smith, Chris Osborne and David Park lifted the team and signalled that they were not going to be brushed aside without a fight. Hill kept their composure and waited for Baddow to make a mistake. With consistent, intelligent pressing Beacon forced the error that allowed Rob Smith to deliver an inch-perfect pass that picked out Tom Stimson in space on the right. The irrepressible seventeen year-old then went on to net a superb finish that stunned the Baddow team and sent the sizeable Beacon Hill support into raptures. Hill's midfield then continued to work tirelessly up to the break, and with some superb defending the team soaked up Baddow's subsequent salvos to take their one goal advantage into half-time and give Dan Gardner a chance to offer his erudite counsel. Immediately after the restart, a break down Baddow's left wing ended in a deflection that ballooned over Beacon's keeper to draw level. Less than ten minutes later Baddow added a second when more work down their left, and a subsequently missed clearance, immediately preceded the ball being buried into the bottom corner of Hill's net. Impressively, after the initial shock of this double blow, Hill heads did not go down; they kept their shape and did not fold. Conversely, for the next ten minutes Rovers put together their brightest period of the game. A speculative long range effort from David Park tested the keeper's hands. Stimson cut inside and crossed to Rob Smith who skillfully rolled his marker only to see Baddow's keeper turn his low, goal-bound shot just wide. The influential Christos Ryan delivered telling passes, showed his skills on the wing and held the ball up as Beacon's main target. Steve Shelley, working ceaselessly as a lone striker against the strongest defence in the league, broke into the box only to be curtailed by a superb lunging challenge. Chris Osborne, with clever passes and constant harrying, joined in to set up the best move of the period. After some great build up play, a carbon-copy of Beacon's first goal looked imminent but as Stimson shot, an incoming Baddow defender made a fine last ditch block. Baddow's tempers were becoming frayed and, at this point with their tails up, it looked as though Hill might well fight their way back. Then came the most telling blow. After some pressure of their own which produced a collection of superb saves from Beacon's capital keeper Steve Turner, Baddow were fortuitously gifted their third and decisive goal after a goalmouth scramble from a corner. Even after this, Rovers continued to battle as weary legs made way for substitutes. Jordan Crozier showed his tougher side in taming Baddow's threat down the left and delivered some good balls late-on. Aaron Kemp made positive, darting runs and Jon Smith proved a welcome replacement for his brother Rob, who had taken a knock. Mark Yabsley and Will Sargeant were unfortunate not to get on the pitch, yet their positive input on the night and throughout the season was evidently highly valued. By the final whistle an exhausted Hill justifiably left the pitch with their heads held high, having given it everything in their quest to overturn their lofty opponents. So no extraordinary tale akin to bringing down Custer's Cavalry or the Persian hordes, but something to remember nonetheless. They pushed a very good Baddow team right to the end and were not too far away from taking more from the game. The runaway leaders in the division might not have expected such a close match, but Beacon Hill Rovers 'A', in their first season in the Mid Essex League demonstrated determination, tenacity and resolve added to periods of attractive football. While this Great Baddow team will almost certainly go on to pit their wits against Division 4 opponents next season, this young Beacon Hill side must surely grow from the experience and look forward to building on this superb cup campaign. Manager Rob Smith said after the match, 'That was a fantastic performance by the lads tonight - I'm really proud of them. A couple of pieces of bad luck cost us, but we showed a lot of character and if we can take that through to the end of the season it will cap a fantastic year for us.' Captain Rob Hill added, 'It was great to see such fantastic support from the whole club, their encouragement made a huge difference to the team and made it a special night.' Beacon Hill Rovers 'A' Team: Steve Turner; Chris Yabsley (Jordan Crozier 65), Sean Downing, Rob Hill, Alex Mickelsen; Tom Stimson (Aaron Kemp 75), Chris Osborne, David Park, Rob Smith (Jon Smith 85), Christos Ryan; Steve Shelley. Subs not used: Will Sargeant, Mark Yabsley. Assistant Manager: Dan Gardner. 15 / 4 / 2009 FA’s Respect Campaign: BHR and Ray Winstone! Beacon Hill Rovers coaching staff and players have appeared as part of the FA’s latest part of their Respect Campaign with expert contributions to the “Soccer Parent” Guide alongside Sir Trevor Brooking and Stuart Pearce. Simply click on the link www.thefa.com/respectparentguide/ to view the introductory 2minute film clip starring Ray Winstone and then go on to view the Parent Guide. 15 / 4 / 2009 Cup Final Dates Beacon Hill's Third Team will play in their first ever Cup Final on Tuesday 31 March @ Maldon Town FC. The game will kick off at 7.30pm. The Reserves booked their place in the Cup final with a victory against Felsted. They play on Thursday 16 April. Again at Maldon Town FC, kicking off at 7.30 Your support at both would be greatly welcomed. 31 / 3 / 2009 Beacon Hill Rover Thirds Reach League Cup Final Beacon Hill Thirds have reached the League Cup Final after Tillingham Hotspur 2-1. Hill will meet Great Baddow in the final at Maldon Town. The date of the final yet to be confirmed. Congratulation to the team. Please see Match Report (written by Dave Park) below: After two hard-fought encounters in previous rounds that had earned them their semi-final place, Beacon Hill Rovers 'A' found themselves mixing it with the league high-flyers Great Baddow Reserves, White Hart United and Tillingham Hotspur Reserves in the semi-final draw of the Mid-Essex Division 5 cup. The 'A's found themselves met by the team who, in November's league fixture, had put nine past them for no return. It was evident from the off that Rovers had learned their lessons from the previous encounter. They stifled Tillingham's main attacking threats by allowing very little through the middle, pressing across the park and then breaking quickly through Christos Ryan, Steve Shelley and Tom Stimson. A sharp stop by Rovers' keeper, from a shot emanating from a break down Tillingham's right, portended the opening goal. Tilligham overloaded their left and Chris Yabsley, who marshalled this threat tirelessly throughout, was left stranded - the resulting low cross skimmed from the shin of captain Rob Hill as he attempted to cover, leaving his keeper stranded to put Tillingham in the lead, but the underdogs' heads did not go down. Instead, a fortitude appeared that seemed to galvanise the Mid-Essex newcomers. Some late tackles were ridden, notably those on youngsters Alex Mickelesen and Stimson. Despite this Rovers maintained their composure. With centre backs Hill and Sean Downing dominating, and the midfield triumvirate of David Park, Rob Smith and Chris Osbourne standing firm. Shelley & Stimson combined neatly to hoodwink a bemused Tillingham back line, allowing striker Shelley to equalise after thirty minutes with the deftest of headers into the bottom corner. The home side went in at half-time confident they could take the match. The second half began much as the first had ended, with neither team able to break the other down. Then a swift break down Beacon Hill's right, following some stern battling in the midfield, saw substitute Lee Osbourne centre for Shelley to score his ninth goal of the season with twenty minutes remaining. Celebrations were far from conservative after this strike, with all thoughts of catching Shelley's chicken pox forgotten. With an average age of 23ish, Rovers' young side then showed experience beyond their years as they remained disciplined, compact and resolute. Confusion had its moment however when one passage of play ended up seeing the ball squirm through a pile of players in the Beacon Hill box, ricochet from the post and fall invitingly into the grateful arms of keeper Steve Turner. Rovers' keeper distinguished himself again soon later with an agile tip over from a dipping free kick. Beacon Hill withstood some late pressure, but inspired by some fully commited challenges, from Smith in particular, and helped by substitutions made from a strong bench, Rovers ensured that Tillingham were increasingly kept to long range efforts as the game wore on. This was a team victory in every sense, everyone stepped up and contributed superbly to a memorable and some would even say remarkable victory. Beacon Hill go into the final at Park Drive fully deserving of their place and buoyed by an inspirational performance. When asked after the match if he thought this result possible before the game, Rovers' boss Rob Smith said "I really believed so, when we play to our strengths, which we did today, we can compete with any team in the division." 15 / 2 / 2009 Semi Final Dates For those unaware the Firsts, Reserves & Third teams have all reached their League Cup Semi Finals in their respective league. All games will be played on Saturday 14 February kicking off at 1.30pm. Please see below who the teams have drawn & where they will be playing: Firsts: Home Silver End Reserves: Away Felsted Rovers Thirds: Home Tillingham Hotspur With both the firsts & Thirds being drawn at home it would be great to get as many of you down their to support both teams as they push to reach final. 14 / 2 / 2009 The latest BHRFC Three Lions under 6s meet the FA On 31st January 20 more local youngsters were presented with certificates and gifts by the FA for taking part in an eight week Three Lions coaching programme run by Beacon Hill Rovers. The under 6 age group players come from the local villages; the majority through the coaching that BHRFC provide in Great Totham Primary School. It is hoped that this group will continue over the coming months and form into an under 7s team next season. This next group of young players continues the Beacon Hill Rovers strategy to bring on young players to, not only strengthen the club for the future, but to reinforce our links with the local community. Already this approach is paying dividends as the club now runs five senior sides with many current players having come up through the youth development programme. 31 / 1 / 2009 BHRFC Support 2009 Essex Soccability festival at Southend On Saturday afternoon, January 31st 2009, ten teams from across Essex competed in the Essex Soccability festival. BHRFC coaches work with teams based in Colchester and Witham who took part in the day. The weather was bright and sunny as the players enjoyed the top class astro facilities at Playfootball.net at Chase High School, Southend. A premiership and championship league were set up with fast pace games of 15 mins duration played. Both our teams did well, with Colchester getting to the semi finals. It was a great day out and thanks go to Hosts Leigh Ramblers and the Essex FA for organisation. More tournaments will follow in 2009. BHRFC provide coaching to players with learning disabilities at Witham astro on Wednesday and at Colchester Leisure Centre on Tuesday. This is part of our football in the community programme and is in partnership with North East Essex NHS. 31 / 1 / 2009 Essex Chronicle Sports Award Did you spot the picture of Beacon Hill Rovers in the Essex Chronicle this week? Page 38 has the finalists in the Team of The Year 2008 competition… the photo was taken at training a few weeks ago, actually it must have quit a few weeks back as there is no snow, ice or flooding! In the paper on page 41 is a voting slip… if you’d like to vote for Beacon Hill Rovers as your team of the year, selected from the 4 finalists, then you’ll need to get your vote in by February 13th. Vote now (and don’t forget to tell your friends, family neighbours etc about our Club and maybe they’d like to vote for us too!) 26 / 1 / 2009 Beacon Hill given Essex Sport award AFTER being named FA National Charter Standard club of the year, Beacon Hill Rovers have been honoured further by picking up the Community Club of the year award at the Essex Sports awards. The club has several teams at senior and junior level and even caters for those with learning disabilities. Chairman Steve Ewers, told the Chronicle: "The sportessex award is absolutely fantastic. It has been a very strange close season and start to the new season with all these awards but it's great to have the recognition. "It's all about maintaining standards and giving everybody the chance to be able to play and coach football." http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/searching/Beacon-Hill-given-Essex-Sport-award/article-487303-detail/article.html 16 / 12 / 2008 BHRFC host their first FA Finals Day Beacon Hill Rovers FC in partnership with the Essex FA hosted the Essex County Schools Football Association Malcolm Moffat Trophy on Thursday 27th November 2008 at their Wickham Bishops Sports Ground. The day was a tremendous success with 19 teams competing from primary schools all across Essex. The tournament was for under 11s playing mini soccer and despite some poor weather in previous days the five pitches were in excellent shape for the event. On the day the sun shone and the winners were, from the boys, Layer de la Haye (Colchester) & Ursuline Prep (Brentwood) and from the girls, St Thomas (Brentwood) & Heycroft (Southend). These teams now go forward to the play offs at the Arsenal Dome in February 2009. The competition has a long history with Paul Ince from Goodmayes Primary School being a past winner! 27 / 11 / 2008 Local football club named by the FA at Wembley as the best in the country! Beacon Hill Rovers FC near Maldon in Essex has been awarded the accolade of National Charter Standard Club of 2008 by the Football Association. Earlier this year Beacon Hill Rovers FC became the Essex FA Charter Standard Club of the year and this subsequent national award is a tremendous achievement for this club. This weekend at Wembley, on the pitch before the England World cup qualifying match against Kazakhstan, Beacon Hill Rovers FC were presented with their award by Sir Trevor Brooking. The club were invited as guests of the FA for the day in recognition of their achievements, which was recorded in the official match day programme. They joined a capacity crowd of 90,000 in the stadium to see the England victory. In September three of the under ten players of Beacon Hill were invited to Wembley to parade the FA Respect banner on the pitch before the England U21 international against Portugal. They enjoyed a fantastic day out with their families, meeting players and officials and looking around Wembley on match day. Formed over 80 years ago the club has in the past decade taken on a very proactive role in the community, establishing youth football for both boys and girls whilst running senior teams for men and women, including keeping the older players in shape with veteran’s football. In recent times the club has extended its role to encompass learning disability football, in addition to building on its work in coaching in local schools. The club has been working closely with the FA on high quality player focussed coaching and was a significant contributor to an FA training DVD released last year. Chairman Steve Ewers said this award is in recognition of the significant effort and expertise of all those volunteers supporting our club who in recent years have raised the standards of coaching and support to all wanting to play football in our local community, whatever their ability. Note: Beacon Hill Rovers FC was formed in 1921 and play at the Wickham Bishops Sports Ground. They run teams in The Mid Essex League, The Essex County Ladies Alliance, Essex County Girls Alliance, Essex Veteran’s League, The Blackwater and Dengie Youth League and hope soon to be founder members of a potential new Essex Disability Football League. Coaches are FA qualified to levels 1,2 and 3. There are 3700 FA Charter Standard Clubs in England For further information contact Peter Mickelsen, Community Coach on 01621 893025 or e mail pcmickelsen@aol.com 10 / 10 / 2008 Disability Football Festival in Essex Our LD team took part in their first ever 5 a side competition on Saturday at Maldon Town FC. They were one of 12 teams on the day in an event organised jointly by the Essex FA and the Rochford Disability Football Academy. The team comprised Mikey, Nick, Nigel, Len and James (see photo). They have been training together now for about four months. Some of our other players were “lent” to a Chelmsford team to ensure they all got a game! The tournament was a good learning experience for us. Coming up against a range of teams we competed well. We scored some good goals and showed a lot of commitment. Up to twenty players have been attending our coaching sessions run on a Wednesday evening at Bramston astro in Witham. They are making excellent progress and enjoying the experience. It is hoped that a league may soon be established across Essex to enable more teams and players to take part. 6 / 9 / 2008 National Charter Standard Club award. The club was delighted to learn that we had been awarded the County Charter Standard at the end of last season. At the presentation of the award in July we were even more surprised that not only had we won the County award but also the Regional award. Imagine our reaction to learn that in addition to this we achieved the incredible heights of National Charter Standard Club of the year. To put this into some kind of perspective we are the best at what we do compared to all other non league football clubs in England! That is providing the opportunity to play football in a safe, enjoyable environment with the highest standard of coaching and administration. This reflects the links and relationships the club has developed over the last few years with local schools, our learning disabilities team and the manor in which all our teams are an integral part of our club. It truly recognises the effort made by all those involved. 6 / 9 / 2008 Adult Friendlies Announced Sat 9 August - 1st team at Marconi for ECFA 11 aside Comp. Sat 16 August - nothing. Sat 23 August - Reserves v Silver End Res at home. Weds 27 August - BHR X1 v Red Lion Sports at home. Sat 30 August - 1st team at Braintee Utd - Braintree Cup Final - MR to confirm. Sat 30 August - Reserves v Feering Utd at home. Sat 30 August - "A" team v Feering Utd Res at home. Weds 10 Sept - 1st team v Southminster / Maldon Town Res - Tiptree Cup Final - at home. 17 / 8 / 2008 This website scoops County award Beacon Hill's website has just been announced as this year's Essex County FA Club Website of the Year, adding to the club's growing list of regional and national honours*. See the full story by clicking "Related link" at the bottom of this news item. But the website is still developing. And YOU can help make it better. To keep it relevant and useful it needs up-to-date content. Report on a game you've recently seen, whether Premier, Ryman or Mid-Essex League. Pen an article on an aspect of the club. Write a short news piece. Or share a new idea. Then email it to contact@beaconhillfc.co.uk. *2006 - FA Charter Standard Club Award 2008 - Essex FA Charter Standard Club of the Year 2008 - FA National Charter Standard Club of the Year 2009 - Essex FA Coach of the Year 2010 - FA Charter Standard Community Club Award 1 / 1 / 2008 Sir Trevor Brooking visits club. September 2005 saw the culmination of several years of hard work when the new football ground and changing facilities were opened by Sir Trevor Brooking. A packed crowd braved the downpour, which paused for the opening, and cheered as the ribbon was cut. Since then bacon rolls and hot drinks have become a regular fixture for home games - very welcome on cold days! 17 / 9 / 2006

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Essex County FA Club Website of the Year 2011