Community, Parish Council & Village
Winter bird walk – Saturday 8th FebruaryWeather permitting, Steve Hallam will lead a winter bird walk in and near Hillhouse Wood, offering a chance to see resident woodland and meadow species and some winter visitors. Stout footwear and warm clothing are advised, as well as a flask of hot drink.
If you want to join Steve then meet him at the Old Church at 09:30.
Bergholt Heath YFC – Results 12th JanuaryBergholt Heath took on Great Bradfords on what was a rather sticky Bergholt pitch following on from the U11s match against Cornard earlier. The hosts were the brighter in the first half with some very slick passing creating a number of scoring chances for Ollie and James in particular, but found the Bradfords keeper in exceptional form. When Bradfords did attack, the Bergholt defence were able to restrict their opportunities to a minimum, the best coming when Freddie upended the attacker on the edge of the area. However, the freekick was sent over the bar. HT 0-0.
The second half started the better for the visitors when early on both Thomas L and a Bradfords attacker went tumbling together in the box. After a few seconds thought, the referee awarded a penalty to Bradfords whose striker smashed the ball into the roof of the net giving Daniel no chance. This gave Bradfords a lift and they went further in the lead when the striker broke through the Bergholt defence and coolly slotted the ball past Daniel. To their credit Bergholt did not give up and despite being on the end of some robust challenges continued to press, but once again the Bradfords keeper stood in their way making one fine save in particular when faced with Theo in a one-on-one situation.
Despite all her best efforts, the Bradfords keeper was only beaten when Oliver beat her with a piledriver from just inside the box. However it wasn’t enough for Bergholt and the visitors came out winners 2-1.
The Under 11s manager, Pete Sanderson, was not available to lead his team and see his son Matthew put in a ‘man of the match’ display that saw them overcome a valiant Cornard team 2-0 with goals from Jack Tomlin and Freddie Scott-Yates.
The Under 15s started the defence of the cup they won as under 14’s back in May with a short away trip to Stanway to take on fellow A league side Stanway Rovers.
Already without striker James Holden who has a knee injury that will keep him out until around the end of January, Bergholt were dealt a blow in the warm up with key midfielder Cairan pulled his abductor muscle ruling him out of the game and possibly for a further couple of weeks.
Despite this, Bergholt started the game brightly although the pitch was making their usual short passing game difficult against a team with a much more direct style. The first goal of the game went to the home team when a long ball forward looked like it was going to carry to the ‘keeper but held up slightly in the mud to allow the striker to get there first and coolly finish with Connor stranded. Bergholt huffed and puffed and had a few half chances to equalise, plus one clear chance that the home ‘keeper saved well, but went in at half time trailing 1-0.
The second half started with Bergholt applying more pressure and with a little more composure in front of goal they would have equalised. Against the run of play Stanway scored a second goal when Aaron miss-controlled and lost the ball to the striker who run directly into the area before turning back to finish well. Bergholt were shell shocked by this and for a few minutes it looked like the home team were going to walk away with the game. However a change of positions with Sam moving into midfield, James dropping back into central defence with Jamie moving to the right side, seemed to bring new life to Bergholt and they regained the initiative. Again chances came but were not taken. However with 10 minutes remaining Max got free on the right and drove into the penalty area, only to be upended as he went past the ‘keeper. Penalty. Ollie stepped up to send the ‘keeper the wrong way to bring Bergholt back into the Match.
Another switch of formation to 3 at the back saw Bergholt dominate the remainder of the game and they duly managed to equalise with just 2 minutes left when Mickey, now playing as left wing back, was put through to finish well into the bottom right hand corner of the goal. There was still time left for Stanway to launch another attack down their right but Connor in the Bergholt goal came out commandingly to claim the cross – and the striker too (who had to go off injured) – to send the match into extra time.
The first half of extra time was generally a one way affair with Bergholt piling on the pressure against a team who were now playing with 10 men, as their striker who was injured at the end of normal time had tried but could not continue and Stanway did not have any substitutes available. Jamie hit the post from a corner and the Stanway defence somehow managed to stop the ball crossing the all-important line on more than one occasion. The second half of extra time saw the striker come back on in a deeper role and, although not moving well, this helped Stanway balance the play up and it took Connor to make another save to keep the score level at 2-2 at the end of extra time.
Stanway took the first kick and scored, as did Ben for Bergholt. Stanway scored their second penalty, as did Luke. The home team missed their third with the ball going wide of the post, with Jamie scoring to put Bergholt into the lead. Stanway scored their fourth but then Mickey had his kick easily saved by the home ‘keeper. Connor then saved Stanway’s fifth attempt to allow Sam the chance to win the match for Bergholt with the final kick. Unfortunately he put his shot over the bar to take the shoot out into sudden death. The sixth taker for Stanway also put his shot over the bar and Max walked up to put his shot off the inside of the post and into the net to win the cup tie for Bergholt!
Final score AET: 2-2. Bergholt Heath won 4-3 on penalties
Bergholt Heath ‘man of the match’: after a draining couple of hours it was decided to award the whole team for an heroic effort to pull the result out of the bag, rather than an individual.
The West Bergholt Gardeners Association report that they ended 2013 with interesting talks by Sally Hepher on the Woodland Trust and Barry Kaumann-Wright on his former occupation of Wildlife Crime Officer with Essex Police.
Sally Hepher’s talk illustrated the value of the Woodland Trust in creating new woodland, restoring old woods and in particular protecting ancient woodlands from the pressure of todays road, rail and housing developments. It was becoming increasingly important to retain woodland to save endangered species and their habitats for future generations.The talk was well appreciated by the Members and it is more than likely that she will be asked to return to give a further talk on one of her varied interests.
Barry Kaufmann-Wright described the ongoing work aimed to protect our wildlife population from both man and machine. He talked of the protective works which had been carried out to save several species. He referred in particular to his knowledge of both newts and badgers, the former still threatened by new developments and the latter from man and illegal baiting. In all an interesting as well as an educative talk.
So we embark upon a new year, full of sunshine(?) and gardening promise. It is hoped that the program for the next six months will encourage people to come along to one of our meetings and participate in our outings – you may well like to join the Association.
We welcome new members and anyone that may be interested in either joining the Club or participating in our summer outing should telephone 01206 241256 or email at [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].
Tom Souter (Publicity)
Community Speed WatchWith 56 Community Speed Watch groups in Essex undertaking 45 speed check sessions in December (3 of them in the West Bergholt/Eight Ash Green Area), Essex Police have reported statistics as follows:
Last Sunday a regular police speed check was also carried out in the village and they stopped one driver for speeding (40ish) who was also twice over the legal drink drive limit.
Definitely a case of no news being good news. The regular Crime Report issued by the Neighbourhood Watch Liaison Officer, covering ‘beats’ in and around Colchester over the Christmas/New Year period, ran to 41 pages (roughly 250 incidents) covering events such as Assault, Criminal Damage, Burglary, Theft etc… Fortunately not one took place in West Bergholt!
A hardy band of carol singers were outside the Coop store from 18.00 to 19.30. They entertained shoppers and Coop staff with a range of popular carols. Thanks to the generosity of the shoppers, and the singers, the sum of £52 was raised for Action for Children. The hot drinks and mince pies enjoyed after the singing were most welcome.
The service by candlelight provided a very special Christmas celebration atmosphere with a mix of traditional carols and readings. Many of the congregation were also able to enjoy a chat with coffee and mince pies in the hall after the service.
Building on the events held in the summer this proved to be a popular morning for families. Twenty-four children, together with accompanying adults, enjoyed a range of Christmas crafts including make your own Nativity Scenes, Snow scene domes and flying reindeer complete with sleighs! There was also time to enjoy a chat and the drinks and cakes proved popular also. Encouraged by the response we will be looking to provide further Coffee and Craft mornings in the Easter school holidays – look out for our publicity nearer the time.
Thanks to all who supported and worked to make possible the above events, and best wishes for the New Year.
Bergholt Heath YFC – Results 15th DecemberThe Under 9’s are on their mid-season break until January.
A tough fixture lay ahead for the boys today. They battled really hard in the first half with some excellent tussles going on all over the pitch.
We could have taken the lead , when Ty raced onto a clearance by Jo. With the defender breathing down his neck and the keeper racing out to him Ty was under some pressure and took the wrong option at the vital moment. We went in to half time one down when we conceded to a well converted corner by their excellent striker.
Still all to play for in the second half though. Matt equalised after 10 minutes with a superb free kick from the right side of the box high into the opposite corner. For the next 5 minutes things were looking OK and there was a feeling we could get something out the game.
But then a defensive error let Falcons retake the lead. From here it started going downhill especially at the back. There were some good periods of play by the boys near the end but Feering ran out deserved winners.
Final score: Bergholt Heath 1 – 5 Feering Falcons Blues.
Bit of a disappointing end before the extended Christmas break. Hopefully the boys will come bouncing back in the new year.
MOM went to Harvey for another fine display.
Bergholt were again without a key player for this match, with Ollie Sanderson missing. However Sam Clark was back at the centre of defence. The match started evenly some play mainly in the centre of the pitch, however it was the visitors who took the lead when their striker was left unmarked at the far post to hit home after around 8 minutes. Bergholt were struggling to get their passing game going and generally the final pass option seemed to be the wrong one, and were tending to stand off the visiting players a bit too much, allowing them time to pick their own passes. With 10 minutes to go before half time Bergholt equalised when James Hirst powered his way through from the left of midfield to life his shot over the advancing ‘keeper and into the far corner for his first goal of the season. HT 1-1.
The second half started more brightly for Bergholt and they began to get on top, with most of the early play taking place in the visitors half. Against the run of play, it was Heybridge who took the lead again: a long ball over the top sent the striker away towards the area with the Bergholt central defender pressurising him away from a direct run through on goal. However as they jostled each other for the ball, the Bergholt ‘keeper decided to come out and try to claim the loose ball and collided with the defender – leaving the striker to place the ball into the empty net.
Bergholt did not deserve to be behind and immediately took the game to Heybridge. Within 5 minutes they equalised again when Luke got on the end of a lose bouncing ball on the edge of the area and managed to lob the ‘keeper first time with a right foot shot, the ball dropping into the back of the net. A superb instinctive finish. Within a minute Bergholt almost took the lead when a misplaced clearance was picked up by Max who burst between the defenders and lifted the ball deftly over the ‘keeper – only this time the ball dropped agonisingly over the bar rather than into the net.
The remainder of the game was an open affair with both teams going for the win – which was finally taken by the visitors when their striker neatly turned Harry just outside the area and hit a first time shot into the roof of the net before Connor had time to really set himself in goal.
Final score: Bergholt Heath 2 – 3 Heybridge Swifts
Bergholt Heath man of the match: Max Booth – another all action midfield display
Wishing all players, parents and supporters of Bergholt Heath YFC a very Merry Christmas
Speed Watch NewsThroughout the Colchester area Community Speed Watch Checks resulted in:
The West Bergholt Speed Watch team undertook the 10th highest number of speed checks out of the 60 teams and will have contributed much to those numbers.
Mick Green of Essex Police’s Casualty Reduction section, further reported to the Speed watch groups:
BRAKE week was a great success and I can’t thank you enough for all your effort during the week despite the rain! 53 groups were visited, if you were not one of them then I can only apologise I understand that demand was greater than the officers available, but on that note our new Community Engagement Sergeant Graham Freeman will be tasking his Community Officers with arranging more CSW visits in the new year.
The Casualty Reduction section are trialling a new speed detection laser that records the offence which is then processed in the back office the offender then receives the details in the post. This device is capable of detecting hundreds of offences per hour and is now being used to great effect.
December’s activity is largely around drink and drug driving offences as we move towards the Christmas period, if you know of a regular drink driver or pick up any information we would love to hear from you, information will of course be treated in the strictest confidence.
Adam Pipe the Casualty Reduction Section manager continues to forward information via Twitter if you want to receive these tweets then log on and connect with him.
The Essex Watch Liaison Officer has reported on crimes committed between 9th to 15th December including one local crime, and offers a range of ‘Festive Security Tips’.
This “Burglary in a building other than a dwelling” took place between late afternoon on 6th & early morning on 9th December. Suspects unknown have gained entry to secure class room by forcing the door, no search made, property removed from within.
Festive Security TipsWith Christmas and New Year just around the corner, you are probably in the process of buying presents and stocking up on supplies for the festive season. However, at this time of year rich pickings can be found.
We want you to be able to relax and enjoy the festive season, so here are some useful tips to ensure that you don’t become a victim to an opportunist thief.
If you’re going away, we always recommend asking a trusted neighbour to pop in to your home every now and then to turn the lights on and off, draw the curtains, collect the mail and make the house look occupied. It goes without saying, make sure everything is properly locked up before you leave and the burglar alarm – if you have one – is set. We advise cancelling your newspapers, magazines and milk deliveries. We also recommend that you don’t advertise the fact you are away from your home on Social Networking sites – thieves use Social Media too!
You don’t have to be a member of a Neighbourhood Watch scheme to be a good neighbour, and even if you don’t have much contact with your neighbours, Christmas could be the perfect time to break the ice, have a friendly chat and get to know them a bit better.
Burglars wander around looking for chances. The best opportunity for the police to catch them in the act is for you to spot them before they break in. Wherever you live, remain vigilant and if you see anything suspicious, call 999 immediately. You can also call 101 to contact your police in a non-emergency situation.
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust has also produced a guide on how to keep safe during the Festive season, which can be viewed and downloaded here:
As promised in September, Coffee & Craft is back for families in West Bergholt. Organized by the Methodist Church and running in their church hall between 10:30 – 12:00 on Monday 23rd December what better way to kick off the holidays with coffee & cake whilst the kids get to try a range of festive crafts. Catering predominantly for 0 – 11 year olds it is also great value at just £2.50 per family!
For more information please contact Rev Ruth Ridge on 242183.
The latest Neighbourhood Crime Report issued by Essex Police identifies one crime in the West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green area over the past fortnight (and none in the prior fortnight).
Burglary in a dwelling
Suspects unknown have gained entry to second floor flat by means unknown, tidy search made and items removed from within.
Bergholt Heath YFC – Results 8th DecemberThe Under 9’s are on their mid-season break until January.
The morning did not get off to the best start with both Ben and Richard phoning in sick. It got even worse when Harvey turned up feeling unwell and then took a knock in the warm up for good measures.
This meant we had 8 and a half players to face Feering who we had succumbed to earlier in the season. Thankfully this was as bad as it got as the boys put in a terrific show. The passing and teamwork was far better today.
Straight from kick off we took the game to Falcons and numerous chances were had and missed in the first half. Ty got through twice one-on-one with the keeper but showed too much at the crucial moment. Tom had a chance as did Fred and Alex. One of the better ones came from Matt who whose shot passed the keeper but was kept out by the crossbar.
Finally the deadlock was broken when after a corner, Tom put home from 10 yards. At the other end Nathan, Jonah and Jack kept the attackers at bay. Poor Harv was getting colder as time passed.
The second half was even better with the boys switching play about to move up field. The second came from a brilliant surging run by Jack whose ball in found Ty to knock it into the net. Tom got his second with a short range stab in to make it 3-0.
It was at this point we had to go down to 8 as Harv had to come off ill. Tyler took his place between the sticks. A man down but still the guys attacked and Tom finished his hat trick from another corner. There was just time for Matt to knock in a fantastic shot into the top left corner after missing several chances to make the final score 5-0.
Well done boys a great effort considering the shortage of players.
MOM went to Tom not for his hat trick; but for going the whole of the second half without his laces coming undone.
It was a hard fought draw today, but our boys could easily have taken all 3 points had we had better luck and finishing.
We got a perfect start when James headed on to Ben and he shrugged off a couple of defenders to get to the ball first and slot it under the keeper to put us in front. Cornard drew level from a corner when their captain had a free header and powered it in. They were dangerous from set pieces and after this we did get to grips with their movement and kept them at bay, but from open play Cornard didn’t create a clear chance in the first half. We had a few efforts on goal, but hit them straight at the keeper or snatched at the shot and miscued it. About 10 minutes before the break, Max put James through and his early shot was saved well by the keeper as he tipped it around the post. Ollie took the corner and Jake made sure he won the header and scored from close in. It was good to be in the lead at half time and feel confident, but we knew Cornard would be determined to turn it around in the second half.
They did attack with more purpose, but our defence (minus Sam Clark this week), were working well and reducing them to long wayward shots. The only time they really worried us was from set pieces, with Connor tipping one shot onto the crossbar. It was quite end-to-end and we got into some good positions in and around their area without finding the final shot. Owen tried to find James, but could have had a shot himself and Jake failed to hit the target when 1-on-1 with the keeper. As we were having the better of the possession I felt we could see the game out and maybe extend our lead, but a little lapse in concentration and miss control gifted possession to Cornard’s best player midway in our half. He ran on and made space to fire right into the corner to level the scores. We battled on though; and James, Ollie, Max and Luke all had shots that were again straight at the keeper and in the last 10 minutes we really pegged Cornard back in their half.
With around 5 minutes to go a ball into the Cornard area was clearly handled by one of their defenders, but the referee (who made some poor decisions for both sides) waved play on. This spurred us on some more and we were all over them, eventually the chance came and Jake got clear and fired straight at the keeper again. So it finished 2-2 which is a decent result away to last year’s champions, but after that last 15 minutes where we worked so hard it was a bit disappointing not to win. It is one of those games where me might look back and think, if only we had taken one of those chances.
Bergholt Heath ‘man of the match’: Jamie Bowden – held the makeshift defence together with a determined display.