On the 25th November the BLS Hockey team boarded a train for London ready to face their first Law Firm opposition of the season in the form of Travers Smith Braithwaite. A certain amount of trepidation and uncertainty could be felt amongst the BLS team for most it was due to the fact they had only trained once together but for a certain Welsh team member it was to be the farthest journey from the motherland she had ever made, a nerve racking experience!!!

The journey to London was thankfully swift and on arrival at Paddington the team set off to the Travers Smith Braithwaite offices. Once at the offices the players were given a short tour which was followed by a presentation illustrating in detail the firms high standing in numerous market areas.

After the presentation was completed the players bundled into cabs and made the slow journey through the central London rush hour traffic to the Hockey pitch. Unfortunately work commitments had depleted the Travers side so three BLS players defected across to the opposition.

The first half proved a very close affair with the BLS team gelling well. Some skillful play down the wings by Helen Clews, Fiona Davis and Francis Ratcliffe had the TSB side on the back foot resulting in first half goals by the teams esteemed captain Ralph Gillam and Tom "Chipper" Davies. Strong defensive work by Jim Parker and Coltette Marshall and some amazing goalkeeping that David Seaman would have been proud of by Anna Crew restricted Travers to only one in reply. The BLS trio of defectors (Lucy Colman, Hanna De Figueriredo and Rina Hill) consistently threatened to break through and turn the game in TSB’s favour and it was mainly their efforts which kept the game so tight. The second half saw Travers force their way back into the game but in the end the weaving runs and quick interchange passing of Messrs. Hollaway and Davies meant there was only going to be one winner, each player getting one a piece. The game was played in a good spirit (excluding Tom Davies erratic chip shots directed at the oppositions heads) and at a fast pace (too fast unfortunately for Chris Perkins who managed to hobble through the match after pulling a muscle in the third second). It was an impressive performance by all the BLS players, which can only bode well for next terms intra mural league.

After the match the two teams retired to a local pub to drink away the aches and pains of the past hour. This was a good opportunity to ask the trainees questions about the firm and what its like to work as a city lawyer.

Eventually the players reluctantly left their pints and headed back towards Paddington, alcohol was procured on the way to make the journey home drift by more quickly. The pictures below illustrate the effect of this purchase on the way back. (Jim!!!).

Many thanks must go to Travers Smith Braithwaite for their generous sponsorship of the event.

Paul "I will hit the ball one day" Tebbit

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