The men’s 1st went into the season with a promising summer of good hockey. They had maintained the players from the previous year and secured a GK to go with it giving the team a much-needed sense of stability from the back.

Before the season had started Burton were put onto the back foot losing one of our key strikers for the first 3 games due to a training injury.

Burton looked to start the season brightly with 3 youngsters who have come through the club from burtons academy finally getting the chance to shine in men’s 1st team hockey. The youngsters brought a new sense of passion and innovation to the team proving to the older players why they deserved their chance in the ones. The team got off to a flyer scoring 16 goals in the first 3 games. 3 games 9 points.

However, we found ourselves traveling away to a cold, wet and horrible Loughborough Town in which the boys narrowly lost out on 3 points with a 3-2 loss.

After a knock to the team’s confidence Burton then took a thumping at home to Harborne.

Stern words from the coach and captain lifted the team’s spirits as they looked to bounce back.

The following week the 1st Xi travelled away to a cold and wet Leek for a 16:00 push back. Scoring 9 goals we looked to be back on track.

Burton then hosted Coventry and North Warwick and after a suspect tackle that left one of our juniors on the bench for 65 minutes the team decided it was time to put them back in their place as the final score finished 4-2.

The final few games before Christmas looked to be a tough task and it was indeed. Playing the top teams in the league Burton took no further points before Christmas leaving them in 5th place and in with half a chance of top 3 spot. The final game of the first half of the season was the first week back after Christmas away to Olton in which the final score was another loss of 5-1.

With the half way point up, the team knew that this was the point to turn the tide. Welcoming former 1st Team captain back after some much-needed paternity leave giving the lads some much needed quality assurance at the back alongside some much need words of wisdom and calmness on the pitch.

From the next 7 games Burton took home 19 points out of 21 and scoring a total of 30 goals and conceding only 10.

However, the season hasn’t finished there as we were now looking at a top 4 finish. Going away to Telford is always a thriller for this Burton side, losing at narrowly this time last year Burton looked to get revenge and push even further up the table by taking some points of a top team. The game went on and Burton were well and truly robbed of 3 points. Captain Liam Goode has his possibly best ever goal disallowed by the umpires in the dying stages of the game which would have levelled the score to 5-5. However, the due to the decision of the umpires the score remained at 5-4 devastating the boys from what would have been an amazing result.

With COVID-19 well and truly settling into business in the UK it looked like the following week would be our final game. The team hosted Streetly who were in the spot above them who we were slowly but surely catching up. Burton put in a very convincing performance and won the game 4-2 showing how strong we can be against a top of the table side. Unfortunately, the season ended there with the team finishing in 5th place and no more games to be played.

Overall, the season was a massive success, the youngsters proving themselves throughout the season.

The men’s 1st Xi scored a whopping 82 goals throughout the season with 5 players in the top 20 top goal scorers. The team are looking to continue this success in the next season if possible and look to push for promotion again. There is a long summer ahead but we will be working hard alongside the club to keep fit and healthy and look after ourselves.