The Link Magazine

Easter services: there will be a meditative service on Good Friday at 2pm, and on Easter Sunday our Family Service with Communion by extension.is at 10am.

Somersham church’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday April 23rd at 7.45pm in the church. All on the Church Electoral Roll are invited to attend.

We are very pleased that the Co-op Singers have agreed to put on another concert in Somersham Church on Saturday 28th April at 7.30pm. More details in separate ad.

Christian Aid envelopes will be distruibuted to Somersham residents with next month’s Link magazine. Volunteers will then collect the envelopes during Christian Aid Week May 13th – 20th. If you are willing to collect a few envelopes please contact Pat Woolhouse. The more volunteers, the fewer houses anyone has to call on!

We will be holding our Summer Fete & Flower Festival over the weekend of June 16th and 17th. The fete will be on the Saturday and the Flower Festival in the church over the whole weekend with lunches being served on both days. We are very grateful to Sally and John Caston for once again agreeing to let us use Church Meadow for the fete. If you can help in any way please contact Faith Jaggard, Pat Woolhouse or Christine Jarrold.

Flower Festival  16/17 June "Life of our Community".

Invitations have been sent to Somersham based organisations for them to take part. It is hoped we can show the full life of our village in flowers.

There will be a meeting for representatives of the organisations that have kindly agreed to take part in this event on Monday April 30th at 7.30pm in the church.

If your organisation has not yet replied to the invitation or your invitation did not arrive and you are interested in taking part, please contact:
Mrs. Faith Jaggard, 4 Brook Way  (tel. 833747) as soon as possible to assist with planning.

Somersham Gardening Club

There’s no meeting on Monday 9 April as this is Easter Monday. Our next meeting is on Monday 14 May when we visit………
DANECROFT COTTAGE GARDEN.
Non-members are welcome too!

Beanpole Festival, Northgate allotment, Ipswich.   
with Karen Kenny 
Sunday 29 April from about 10am.
You can buy your hazel poles and peasticks here!
Refreshments available

FRENCH CONNECTION
SOMERSHAM/CHALLAIN LA POTHERIE
VILLAGE LINK
**************

Our friends from our link village from the Loire Valley in France will be visiting us in Somersham in the spring. They have fixed the date as:

NEXT VISIT TO SOMERSHAM - 17th – 20th MAY 2007

We welcome new people to join with us on our exchanges. If you are interested in hosting a family or being involved in any way with the village link then please contact one of the following:

Gill Fordham: 831529; David Haughton: 831511;
Janet Hodge: 832296; Pat Woolhouse: 831080

"Wildlife in our Villages"  
Readers may be interested to know that one evening in late February, whilst driving down our drive after dark, in Flowton about 10.00 pm, I saw a woodcock among our budding daffodils. Woodcock normally live in woodland, so what it was doing in our daffodils, and at such a late hour, I do not know - but I am certain it was a  woodcock. Has anyone else seen one?
Graham

WILLISHAM CHURCH NOTES

Easter Services
The normal pattern of services changes
over the Easter weekend. Please refer to the list at the back of this issue of The Link for all relevant information.

Willisham Church Cook Book
Thanks to those who have submitted recipes. Unfortunately we have not yet received enough to make a book. We have, therefore, decided to postpone the Taste In , planned for the 20th April, and to re-arrange it later in the year, when we have sufficient recipes – so please keep them coming to 9 North Acres or via e-mail to ivan.gilson@btinternet.com

Willisham Church Fete – Saturday 14th July
Fetes don’t just happen, and to this end we are holding a fete Planning Meeting at 9 North Acres, Willisham at 10.00am on Saturday the 14th April. Please do come and help make this year’s fete an even bigger success. If you are unable to come on the 14th, but are able to help on the day, please contact Frances Gilson on 01473 658387.

Coffee Morning
Saturday the 26th May at 9 North Acres, Willisham, from 10.00am All proceeds to Willisham Church.

Found in Willisham Churchyard
An Ordnance Survey map. If you think this may belong to you, please ‘phone 01473 658387

Somersham Cycle Speedway
The new season is upon us and we have managed to obtain the services of 3 Kesgrave riders on secondary registrations, Andy Turnbull (who started his cycle speedway career at Somersham), his brother Simon and also Daniel Croft. Great Blakenham rider Scott McDowell is also expected to sign on a full transfer.

League wise we will be competing in Division 1 of the South-East Regional League as well as the Norfolk & Suffolk League. As usual there will be all sorts of other competitions taking place. The first meetings will have already taken place by the time you read this, including our 1st league match at Hethersett on March 18th. The first home match is 2 weeks later, against Great Blakenham starting at 11am.East London provide the opposition 2 weeks later, again starting at 11am.

That’s it for now

.
Somersham Parish Council

Forthcoming Parish Council Meetings
Date Venue

Wednesday 4th April 2007 7.30pm Village Hall (Annual Parish Meeting)
Wednesday 9th May 2007 7.30pm Committee Room, Village Hall (Annual Parish Council Meeting)
Wednesday 6th June 2007 7.30pm Playing Field Pavilion

Annual Parish Meeting
A final reminder that the Annual Parish Meeting takes place in the Village Hall on Wednesday 4th April commencing at 7.30pm. A speaker has been invited to give a short presentation on the value of an Emergency Plan to the community and how your life is safer now a plan is in place.
This is your meeting and your opportunity to raise any concerns or issues you may have. Light refreshments will be available and all are welcome.

Chapel Lane/Main Road/Hall Lane Junction
The parish council is seeking your views on any improvements you feel could make this junction less hazardous. Do you frequently use the junction; do you have any ideas on how it can be improved? Suffolk County Council has recently moved the give way lines forward slightly; do you think this has helped? If not, please tell us what you think could help. From time to time the parish council receives reports of near misses at this location so if you have any ideas of safety measures which could be introduced to help the situation we will be more than happy to take them up to with the county council.

Website
Somersham has a site in the One Suffolk website and the Clerk is looking for contributions or links to add to the site. The Somersham site is receiving an average of over 200 hits per month and we would like to expand the site, so if you are a member of a local organisation with or without its own website who would like to be added – or linked - to the Somersham site, please contact the Clerk. Access to the site can be gained by using the following link: http://www.onesuffolk.co.uk/SomershamPC

Donations
At its March meeting, the parish council approved the following donations for the 2006/7 financial year:
Link Newsletter £100
Headway £50
Victim Support £50
Suffolk Accident Rescue Service £75
French Connection £75
Mid Suffolk CAB £100
Optua £50
Suffolk Family Carers £50

In addition the parish council has donated £100 during the 2006/7 financial year to the Parochial Church Council and is considering a further request for help towards the costs of maintenance of the churchyard. Financial support has also been extended to the Community Association to help with the costs involved in cutting the grass on the playing field for the 2007 season.

Housing Needs Survey
Somersham has several excellent facilities which need to be sustained for future generations. One option is to build some affordable housing in Somersham to give more people the opportunity to get on the property ladder and stay in the village thereby ensuring the viability of local amenities. The first stage would be to assess the needs of the community by distributing a housing needs questionnaire. The parish council would welcome any views you may have on whether it should undertake a housing needs survey in the near future.

Janet Clarke
Clerk to the Council
Tel: 01473 830398 E-mail: janetinclaydon@aol.com

MAGICAL MUSICAL MOMENTS

The evening in aid of Offton & Willisham Village Hall comprised an interesting mini musical 'round the world' tour. The members of the village hall management committee played a big part in hosting this particular event. Not only by selling tickets, providing an excellent spread and arranging beautiful bouquets, but also by manning the bar and fixing additional lighting. Their work was rewarded by seeing every available seat taken and people having a good time.

Meanwhile, giant cheques have been presented to the beneficiaries of this sequence of MMM: £100 to Frances Gilson for The Link, £450 to Ian Dickson for the Fabric Fund of Offton Church, £504 to representatives of Macmillan Cancer Support and a most pleasing £660 to Colin & Silke Pinson-Roxburgh towards the renovation of the village hall. The latter record result was achieved by the generosity of several individuals. Thank you all and well done!

Magical Musical Moments

In addition to providing truly Magical Musical evenings, these concerts also raise money for local charities and organisations. On Sunday the 25th February the 2006 recipients of these donations, gathered in Offton Church for the official presentation of cheques.
The organisations concerned were: Macmillan Cancer Support. Offton Church, Offton and Willisham Village Hall and The Link Newsletter.
The presentations were made by Maartje Rondeboom, after which Paul Chapman paid tribute to her (and her band of helpers) for providing Offton and the surrounding villages with such a varied programme of concerts, combining an evening of superb music with an opportunity of raising money for local causes.

MMM from a Performer's Perspective

Nightingale Quintet at Offton Church, Saturday 24th February 2007

Concerts in Offton church are always warm and friendly affairs, and Saturday’s Nightingale Quintet concert was no exception. For this newly formed group of local players, it was an ideal venue to launch their woodwind quintet into the Suffolk arts calendar.

Offton church is a very intimate space with an excellently clean acoustic. Because of the friendly ambience, it's not at all daunting playing to a packed church of around 100 people, even with the nearest audience members within a couple of feet of the flute and oboe. The good acoustic helped the ensemble considerably, as it was very easy to hear each other.

Offering a wide variety of music, from Ragtime to Hungarian Dances, and Granados to Mozart, seemed to go down well with the enthusiastic audience, as did the sets of readings which interspersed groups of musical items. We hope that the event achieved its charitable as well as entertainment aims.

John Helleur
PS If you are interested in our ensemble, please visit nightingalewinds.org.uk

Nothing But Elbow Grease When You Want Shining Brass.

Preparing for a MMM event in St Mary's Offton always involves brass polishing, and what an effort thát is! There were occasions that Mrs Eva Coppinger from Little Blakenham did this on her own - which takes a good part of a week. Luckily, for the latter concert she was joined by a nice little gang: Sue Bolton ( who actually has helped many times), Sam Copping, Leita Minns, and Audrey Pinson-Roxburgh. It was a superb sight after they had gone. Very well done girls, you can come anytime!

Link Committee Meeting

The next Link committee meeting will be held at Gunn’s Farm on Friday, 20th April at 8 pm. As usual we welcome any of our readers to join us or to send comments, suggestions or criticisms to the secretary before the meeting.

Email : Margaret@gunns.prodigynet.co.uk or ring 658330

FLOWER & CLEANING ROTA

Somersham
April 8, 15 C. Jarrold + all help for Easter on Saturday 7th
22, 29 A. Osborn
Cleaning: Team A

Flowton
April 8, 15 Mrs Crick + all help for Easter
22 Mrs Carter
29, May 6 Mrs Fawcus
Cleaning: Mr & Mrs G. Dunnett

Offton
April 8, 15 Mrs Sam Copping
22, 29 Mrs Alison Rumsey
Cleaning: Mrs Alison Rumsey

Willisham
April 8, 15 Mrs Fisher + all help for Easter
22, 29 Miss Taylor

Somersham Baptist Church

The Easter event is the very core of Christianity, it defines our beliefs. The site outside of Jerusalem that Jesus was led to was place of punishment. The crime Jesus was convicted of is hard to identify initially, because his accusers used another charge to get a Roman conviction carrying the death penalty. That charge was subversion, tax evasion and rebellion against Rome (claiming to be King of the Jews).
But he was found guilty to of a religious crime by his enemies, he identified himself with God as his Son, the religious leaders interpreted this as a claim to be God. So he was condemned for blasphemy.
On another level the disciples picked up Christ’s teaching and understood that there upon the cross Jesus was acting as sacrifice for sin, God loading him with his followers’ guilt and punishing him instead of them. Jesus understood that people were guilty sinners before a holy God, and only the sacrifice of God’s own Son could clear them of guilt.
Because Jesus was so significant a victim there was a remarkable resolution, three days after his death and burial he rose from the tomb. Victorious over death, the penalty fully paid his disciple lived and died telling of the gift of forgiveness given through faith in Jesus.

Easter also determines our behaviour. It should be no surprise that a faith with a cross at the centre should be an uncomfortable faith; Christ’s was a selfless act of love and obedience, the drama played out in the Garden of Gethsemane bears witness to the cost of involved. So Christians have a hard act to follow, selfless loving, living for God and others and practical obedience to the commands of Jesus. It is a behaviour challenging and changing faith. Jesus always invited people to count the cost of following him, as well as that cost of not doing so.

This Easter it will be well worth another visit to the cross and tomb, you will be well rewarded by a faith that is both relevant and robust.

Please join us for our Easter Celebration at 11.30am 8th April.

We also have an evening Fair Trade Dinner Party followed by a presentation on slavery, past and present on Sunday April 15th at 7.00pm. Please reserve a place by contacting Carolyn Newcombe 01473 831940, Brian Ward 01473 740565, or Jean Mayhew 01473 658100.

Regular Sunday Morning Programme (You are welcome to join us for all or part of the morning).
10.00-10.30 Prayer Meeting (Communion 1st Sunday)
10.45-11.15 Bible Study
11.30-12.00 Worship
12.00-12.30 Sermon

Other Meetings
Children and Young People (During term time); Wednesday Club 6.30-7.30pm for primary school children, 14+ Friday’s 8.00-9.30pm Year 9 upwards.
Meetings for Ladies;
Women’s Fellowship Friday 13th April 2.30pm. Contact Mark if you need transport.
Friends and Neighbours 7.45pm 16th April Italian Night.

All events are held at the Baptist Chapel, Chapel Lane, Somersham IP84 QE, and Transport is always available.
Contacts: Mark Newcombe (Pastor) 01473 831940. Mobile 07930 543583. mark.newcombe@btinternet.com
Edwin Mayhew 01473 658100

F.O.S.S.

On Friday 23rd February we had a very enjoyable pyjama party/disco at the village hall with nearly all the children and the helpers suitably attired! Some committee members were a bit concerned about the secretary of the committee in their pink flannelette nightie! We certainly hope that HE doesn’t wear this too regularly, but at least he gave us all a good laugh! All the teddies were very well behaved too!

At the time of writing this article in early March, we had already sold over 60 tickets for the Archive Film Evening and we had not really advertised the event! Please remember, if you would like to come to see the Archive Films, tickets or further information can be obtained from Leita Minns on (01473) 658352 and Jenny King on (01473) 830623. Admission charges will be £5.00 for Adults and £2.50 for Children and will include food. Teas, coffees and cold drinks will be available and there will also be a raffle. This event was sold out last year and you will therefore have to ensure that you have your tickets before the evening. No tickets will be sold on the door. People are already looking forward to seeing some of their friends from the past, as well as the films! Why not come and join them for a lovely evening?

At our next meeting we will be making arrangements for preparing all the food for the Film Evening including lots of homemade cakes. Then we will continue to progress our plans for our 1970’s fete on Saturday 30th June. Some people have very kindly agreed to come along and support us again. We will provide further details in the next Link magazine of all the different attractions and sideshows etc.

Please remember that we continue to collect old mobile telephones, chargers and ink cartridges from printers and copiers. If you also visit some of the large supermarkets, please always accept the vouchers that they give for items of equipment etc. – we would very much appreciate them.

Happy Easter to everyone.

SOMERSHAM CARPET BOWLS CLUB

Following straight on from the last Link report our first match of the month saw us pitched into the Chairman’s Plate against near neighbours Bramford – who are in the top three of Division One. Contested over two legs the tie saw us playing the first leg at home, and resulted in a very encouraging outcome of 2 games each so it was all to play for on the return visit to Bramford. Everyone seemed fired up for a good away leg, and we didn’t let ourselves down as it was 2 games to Somersham, 1 to Bramford and 1 drawn game. This ‘shock’ result saw Somersham edge through to the next round on the narrowest of margins. It means now having to travel a bit further than our usual locality, and a trip to Brockley near Bury St. Edmunds beckons for the next round.

Back into League match fray, we travelled the near distance up the road as Whatfield were our next opponents. A great evening was enjoyed by all, although unfortunately for us the result was a very good win for the home team. Whatfield taking all the points and thoroughly deserving their win proving to be the better team on the night and taking full advantage of their own mats.
Our next venue was - by invitation - a visit to Nacton to play a friendly match with their Club. Not all clubs choose to participate in league competition, preferring to just play friendlies - Nacton being such a club. It was a great evenings entertainment enjoyed by all although Nacton had the competitive edge and we were beaten fair and square by 3 games to 1, and by 15 shots. The match was rounded off at the end by a very good selection of supper refreshments, and a cup of tea. We are looking forward to playing host to Nacton in the return leg during the Summer when we hope to return the favours, and obtain the win.

With the last match of the month we welcomed Harkstead to our mats. After a practice on the Club Night before, Somersham were on form to win three of the four games and hopefully this result - a very mixed bag of results - will set us up for some good matches during March to see out the end of the Winter League.

As this report is written we now look forward to an imminent encounter in the next round of the Chairman’s Plate against Brockley who promise to be stiff opposition - so for the outcome it will be a case of watch this space in the next edition of the Link.

27 - 45 8 - 2 Won H
Winter League - February Results : -

Team Shots Points
Whatfield 54 - 35 0 - 8 Lost Away
Harkstead 27 - 45 8 - 2 Won Home

OFFTON & WILLISHAM VILLAGE HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Offton church was packed out for the latest Magical Musical Moments Concert on the 25th February. We were entertained by The Nightingale Quintet and it was a most enjoyable evening both musically and socially.
Your committee are grateful to Maartje Rondeboom for giving us the opportunity to organise the event and for £660.00 from the proceeds handed over for Village Hall funds.

Our next fund raising event will be

A Quiz
in the Village Hall
on Friday 20th April 2007
at 7.30p.m.
Tables of 6 or less. £2.50 per person
Bring your own food and drink. Tea and Coffee provided

To book a table please phone 658547 or 657431

And finally,

You are invited to attend our Annual General Meeting at the Village Hall on Thursday 19th April 2007 at 8 p.m.

“Oh to be in England now that April’s there.”

It is easy to understand Robert Browning’s thoughts when he wrote those words from abroad so long ago. In so many ways April must surely rank as being one of the nicest months of the year, and this is so apparent in a beautiful rural area such as this one in which we live. Everything is coming to life again after the dark and dormant winter period. Spring is all around us, and how lovely it is. How fitting that the supreme event of the Church’s calendar – Easter – should occur at this lovely time of year.

Over the years I have thought a lot about Easter. My conclusions, such as they are, fall into the same category as do those of several other things about which I have also thought.

The first motor vehicle I ever possessed was an old Ford van. It was fairly basic, and when looking inside the bonnet I think I knew what each component was, and had some idea of how it worked or, not infrequently, why it did not work. Nowadays, in a modern car, I have no idea what many of the various parts are inside the engine compartment, and I have even less idea how they work. But work they generally do.
Nor can I really understand how a jumbo jet gets off the ground, or how a television really works, or a video recorder, or a pocket calculator, or a mobile telephone….. the list is endless. Despite some knowledge of the laws of physics, these things are to me little short of miracles.

Partly, I suppose, to excuse my ignorance, I decided years ago that I did not really need to be able to explain all these –and many other things –to be able to appreciate them or to make use of them. Life would lose some of its fascination if I could explain all its workings. The Loch Ness monster, for example, would lose so much of its appeal should it ever be conclusively proved that it did, or did not, exist. Easter too can fall into this category in my simple mind. No, I cannot explain it, nor even understand it, but to my mind it exists, and it happened. Life is to me far easier and more interesting if one accepts and admits one’s ignorance. Not for me the deep theological or evolutionary arguments. It all gets too confusing and, incidentally, causes too many disputes amongst intelligent people.

Meanwhile, I am more than content to get on with enjoying April, and every other time of the year. I will leave the difficult bits to those who profess to understand them. Surely it is better to leave that to the “experts” and for me to attempt to put my little corner of the world into order and to try to make life better for those with whom I come into contact.

One’s time, surely, is the greatest gift one can give anybody.
Happy Easter!
Nick Carter

Farewell to Steve
A celebration of the life of Steve Hollands (who died on Feb. 22nd) was held on February 28th at Ipswich Crematorium and taken by the Reverend Mark Newcombe. The chapel was packed with his friends and donations were made to the Hospice.

Christian Aid Week will be May 13th-20th
If you would like to help collect in your parish please contact your churchwardens soon. Thank you

Flowton Church News

Good Friday, April 6th, there will be workshop in Flowton Church for children and accompanying adults. You are invited to arrive at around 10.00am to start the story PROMPTLY at 10.15am.

It will include the story of a Very Sad Day and how that led to a Very Happy Day, making a cross of flowers, building the Easter Garden, making clay figures for the garden, and enjoying hot cross buns. We will finish between 11.30am and 12 noon.
Contact Mary Carter on 01473 658522 if you require more details.

Wednesday April 25th Annual Parish Meeting at 7.30pm in Flowton Church Vestry

Thank you
A very big thank you to everyone who kindly contributed to the children’s charity, NCH, during the month of January. The collection raised the wonderful total of £101.10. Thank you also to Mr Hale for his continuing help.
Sue Hitchcock

Flowton Friends met again on the first Wednesday of March enjoying coffee and a good chat. Disappointingly this month they were not joined by any dogs or babies - but better luck in April perhaps! Drop in on the first Wednesday, anytime between 10-11.30 ish.

Offton Church News

Holy Week.
On  Monday April 2nd there will be a Meditative Service in Offton Church at 7.30 pm
On Easter Sunday there will be an Evensong Service at 6.30pm

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting is on Wednesday April 18th at 7pm in Offton Church when everyone is welcome to come.  It is at this meeting the churchwardens are elected for the coming year.  Also the annual church report and accounts are presented 

Sunday May 6th
Sunday 6 May sees the annual festival of talents return to St Mary's Church, Offton.
There is no charge and the service includes a wide variety of performances - music, recitations and poetry - participants range in age and ability but there is always good entertainment polished off with a glass of wine!
 Ted Sampson's Offton Song will no doubt have some new verses to add a slice of fun, so please do join in for a celebration of local talent.
If you would like to take part and can sing, act, talk or even mime - please contact Scott Dolling 07733 306946

Offton Fete June 9th
It is not too early to think about baking some cakes and putting them in the freezer for this year’s Offton Fete on 9th June.
Several regular helpers will be away this year, so please, if you feel you can help in any way, by running a game or stall, collecting bric a brac, baking or donating plants then ring Peta Whiting on 01449 677766 .
Thank you, all your efforts will help to maintain our beautiful church.

Festival of Talents

Songs, poetry, tales, music

All performed free of charge by local people.

Sunday 6 May,
St Mary’s Church – Offton 4pm

Supporting the Hospice - Helen is running again!

Our daughter Helen is running in the London marathon again this year, on 22nd of April. She will try to better her time of 2hr.56min.52 secs that she did last year.
She is sponsoring the St Elizabeth Hospice again so if any one would like to sponsor her please contact Elaine Martin 01473 658708.

Services during April in our eight linked parishes.
Please contact a Churchwarden if you think that there is a mistake in the listing.

1st April Palm Sunday

2nd April Monday in Holy Week

6th April Good Friday

8th April Easter Day

15th April Second Sunday of Easter

22nd April Third Sunday of Easter

29th April Fourth Sunday of Easter

6th May Fifth Sunday of Easter

Somersham Football Club

With apologies to our young footballers for omitting their report last month – so 2 for this copy. MC

Somersham Youths v Shotley Rangers Sat. December 30th 2006
Christmas came and went (blew away) the rain ceased and the sun shone to reveal a fantastic winter’s morning, the perfect setting for Somersham Youths first 11-a-side match. The lads gathered from near and far while a crowd of 80 to 100 surrounded the pitch unaware of what an exciting game of football was just about to unfold.

Shotley started well with some fine passing and good movement all over the pitch, manager Daniel had them firing from both barrels but it was Somersham who came closest to breaking the deadlock as Harry Halls’ runs from the left resulted in him swinging some great balls into the mixer where Samuel Lucock and Andrew Rutter both came close.

Shotley took the lead in the second third after a neat through ball and a rare defensive error cost us, 1-0.

Not to be downhearted, Somersham’s boys pressed hard for a goal only to be caught short at the back, a ball lobbed high over the head of our keeper (Rhys Lucock) hit the post rebounded for an easy tap in, 2-0.

The last third saw th home team unpack their tents and camp in the Shotley goalmouth, Harry, Samuel and Andrew were all denied by Shotley’s fantastic young keeper.

A breakthrough came when Rhys fired his trademark inch-perfect corner on to the head of Zak Whitton, 2-1.
The last 3 minutes were again all Somersham, but with Gordon Banks in the opposition goal it was not to be. Final score 2-1 to the Rangers. We cannot mention any special player as each and every one played with Passion, Belief, and above all a SMILE.
Well done to Shotley, the tea ladies, the parents, the crowd who cheered both teams and to Quinny, who despite having several pints the night before, still managed to put up the goal posts.
Steve and Martin

Woodbridge Under 10’s v Somersham Under 10’s
Sunday February 4th 2007

We are very pleased to report that interest in Somersham’s Under 10’s setup has grown in recent weeks with players coming from near and far, adding ability and enthusiasm to training sessions that often exceed 25 youngsters.

The chance to take on an established Woodbridge side gave Somersham the opportunity to see where they were and in some ways where they were not.

Somersham took a strong squad of 16 players to Woodbridge, this enabled al players to participate in the two seven-a-side matches.
Game 1. Squad: -Thomas Hiskey, Rhys Cotterell, Jack Barnes, Reece Lucock, Joe Baldry, Tom Sheern and Samuel Lucock.
This game was end-to-end for the entire 30 minutes.

Woodbridge adopted a passing strategy form kick-off and were unlucky not to score early on and surely would have but for some good work in the Somersham goal by Reece Lucock.

Somersham were unable to get their passing game going but they broke in numbers time after time and they too were unlucky not to score, final score 0-0

Game 2. Squad: -Andrew Rutter, Brandon Payne, William Horwood, Daz Bland, Robert Turpin, Sam Allard, Joe Baldry and Jack Cessford.
This game was to be the first time that these players had ever played together, and all can be proud of their efforts.

After an even first half in which Sam Allard excelled at the back, Woodbridge took the lead early on with a scrambled goal, Somersham immediately replied with a Brandon Payne thunderbolt from at least 3 miles out.

The last 10 minutes were all Woodbridge who secures the win with a fine strike close to the end. Final score 2-1.
Special mention goes to Robert Turpin for volunteering to go in goal and pulling off some outstanding saves.
Martin and Steve.