HockeyBhoy Activity
2025-26 Season - Volume 3, Chapter 32 The County Antrim Shield game midweek was a nice distraction to have, and nothing more than that: a nice distraction. However though, nothing can beat the actual bread and butter of a season and that's a league m...
2025-26 Season: Goals, goals, goals as Carrick take the Shield spoils - Volume 3, Chapter 31 We needed that break, we really did. After a punishing opening month, a week's break was welcomed by all. And with the league scores from Saturday going pret...
2025-26 Season: Catch us if you can - Volume 3, Chapter 30 I was still in a state of absolute disbelief a good hour after Glenn Buchanan's final whistle had shrilled. I felt like I was locked in a dream. We had faced a former Premiership side in The...
2025-26 Season: Point blunted in superb five star performance - Volume 3, Chapter 29 A new month but no change in the incessant run of fixtures for us. Once more, we're back in action just 72 hours after playing a hard away game. The latest game will...
2025-26 Season: End of the opening month, analysis - Volume 3, Chapter 28 That win at Clandeboye Park in Bangor wasn't just a win, it was a statement win to say that what you have seen so far from this newly promoted isn't a fluke but a team showing...
This story of course will be continuing soon… However, one of the stars of it so far has sadly been taken from us on Christmas Eve at the relatively young age of just 23: https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/ni-football-clubs-pay-...
2025-26 Season: - Volume 3, Chapter 27 We have had the time to reflect, watched the match video from the last game against Crusaders and compared what happened in that match against the last league match against Newington. Obviously, losing any game...
2025-26 Season: No use crying over spilt milk, it's just one game - Volume 3, Chapter 26 At the moment, it seems that the League Cup is like the albatross' revenge on the Ancient Mariner in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's famous poem. For those who don't k...
2025-26 Season: Cup curse strikes again This is indeed a weird opening month of the season to be fair. We are punching way above our weight and with one match left to play in August, are leading the standings. The establishment won't like what we are...
2025-26 Season: Ready for more midweek action That win against Newington was great because we are once more back leading the division, albeit probably temporarily since the sides below us all have one or two games in hand on us, but they have to win...
2025-26 Season: Back on top as Newington are brushed aside in late goal rush It had been quite the week with lots of things going on here, there and everywhere. Losing our first choice goalkeeper Ryan Dalzell has hurt us, and for three months mi...
Personally mate, I'd continue with the save. Been a cracking adventure so far, keep it going. Be awesome if you can get a top half finish for the Diamonds.
2025-26 Season: Contrasting emotions There was a sense of disappointment as we boarded the team bus after the game in Ballymena. Normally we would feel delighted taking a point from a former Premiership side but considering they played 82 minutes a m...
2025-26 Season: Johnny's back but we have to settle for a draw We're about to play our fifth league game out of 22 this weekend and it's been a right old grind to deal with as a newly promoted side. Thankfully after Saturday's match at Ballymena, we...
2025-26 Season: Build-Up to Ballymena I swear I must be losing my marbles…. I honestly thought that the rest of the league were playing on the Wednesday night in the latest stage of the season. Turns out it was just us and the Welders. Looks lik...
2025-2026 Season: Josh shines as honours are shared with the Welders This has been a brutal first month or so at the moment with very little rest between matches, and it's been a case of trying to get through them without being badly affected by fati...
Was wondering where the league table was….don't worry though! Solid beginnings to life in the top tier. Finish 10th and you'll be able to use that as a springboard. Anything higher is always a bonus. Airdrie are one of those names I recall from...
2025-26 Season: Weekend round-up and a look ahead to midweek It stung like a bee sting, and what makes it worse is that we could have gotten something out of that game I'm sure. But that opening 45 minutes, it crashed down like the Berlin Wall d...
2025-26 Season: Comeback falls short as Bangor win top two clash After going to the top of the Championship standings courtesy of a 2-0 win at The Dub against Ballyclare Comrades on Tuesday, we are back in action on the Saturday with a top of the tab...
2025-26 Season: An injury blow as we look ahead to the next challenge We were the only match to be played in midweek, and that win saw us ascend to the top spot in the Championship ahead of Bangot. That said…. Our next match is ironically a...
2025-26 Season: Two from two, not too shabby The games come thick and fast in this opening month, it feels like we are playing Saturday then midweek then Saturday again. That calls for a squad with depth which was something that we didn't have when I...
2025-26 Season: Building Up for Ballyclare's Visit Safe to say, the mood in that Ballinmallard United away dressing room was jubilant. Never mind the Steel and Sons Cup in the first season, and the Intermediate League Championship last, we have...
2025-26 Season: Nine goal thriller for openers So this is it, right? The start of a new season and our first in the Championship after last season's remarkable effort. We are aware that this is a step up in standard and if we can do well at home...
2025-26 Season: All ready to go, and time to unleash a surprise So it was pretty disappointing to lose the final pre-season outing, but who reads anything into these games really? They mean, and always will mean, absolutely nothing when the real stuf...
2025-26 Season: Billy's Testimonial rounds off the preparations It was a quick turnaround for the sixth and final pre-season trip; which was William Hassan's Testimonial match in Coagh. The main thing was to come out of the match, which I was su...
Welcome back Tongey lad. Let's hope this turns into one of your legendary long-running journeyman saves that never seems to end.Solid start as usual.
Good to see the wins have started to appear and improve that win percentage too. You're in touch here, time to kick onwards and break into the top five: I take it's one automatic and one from play-offs?Keep going chief.
2025-26 Season: Honours even at Banbridge as season draws closer We have just a couple of friendlies to play before the first weekend of August and the new Championship season starts. One of those friendlies is at Crystal Park, Banbridge, where we ha...
Decent league recovery after that opening day humbling, shame they seem to have underestimated Vale. Chastening loss in the Carabao too, but I would to think that getting back into the second tier is the bigger priority.
2025-2026 Season: Build up to Banbridge Winning that friendly match against Celtic B was a good feeling, especially when I had changed the line up so dramatically from the friendly against Linfield Rangers a number of days previously. Sometimes when...
Good start here.Remember “studying” in Bolton in the early to mid nineties, and spending my Saturday afternoons down at the old Burnden Park which had the Normid Superstore next to the away terracing. Be interesting to see how this career pans out.
2025-26 Season; Jenkins joy as young Bhoys are beaten Thursday came, and as I looked out of my window at The Dub: the rain was lashing down. And this is supposed to be summer, right? Well as Kyle (McDowell) kindly reminded me for the umpteenth time,...
Really good save this mate, hopefully you can break into the top four and get a gem of a signing to replace the departing Terland. Let me guess though, your budget is smaller than those above you?
2025-26 Season: Build Up for the Hoopy visitors As we walked off the pitch at New Midgley Park, I immediately started to think towards Thursday's home friendly against Celtic B. This would definitely see something very close, if not the exact, t...
2025-26 Season: Third friendly ends in a draw We went into our third friendly still sweating on the decision of the experienced left winger/striker. Was he going to pick one of the Intermediate League sides over a Championship one? The more time pass...
2025-26 Season: One in, and one out i was very pleased indeed with the win against Monaghan Town, but I made sure at half time that the Lads knew that I don't like it when we start slower than a bloody tortoise. I politely reminded them that if they...
2025-26 Season: The Comeback Kings So after the “bounce” game with the reserves, it was time to get down to the serious matter of proper pre-season matches. As usual, I chose the majority of the opponents with the last one being a representative test...
2025-26 Season: And we're off and running… The first week was concluded with our first of six warm up games before the season begins on 2 August in earnest. As always I chose to go with the behind closed doors “bounce” match at The Dub. No spectators...
Squeaked into the knockout stages on the final day of group games, then take apart Argentina. Could the tide start to turn your way now? One can only but hope…
2025-26 Season: New kids on the block… We knew we had to strengthen the first team squad, and start to make use of the increased wage budget that “Ebeneezer" Green has provided us with. All in all, we made five incoming transfers ahead of the fi...
2025-26 Season: A good manager's work is never done… So we are now in the real business of getting prepared for a new season. One of the main changes in season three is the amount of competitions we will be in. Last season we were in five compet...
So enjoying this story, it's a remarkable effort and concept. Look forward to more….
Thanks mate, hope you liked the mini sub-plots as well. This is one save that I'm really enjoying doing, prefer a LLaMa save over starting with a bigger and more successful side to be fair.
2024-2025 Season: Plans are afoot That break in Dubai was just that was needed, even if it was just for a week. Doing as little as possible and switching off from anything football related. Sometimes you have to de-stress don't you? Anyway once...
2024-2025 Season: The Season That Was…. In this post, we recap what happened in the season just completed at home and elsewhere in some of Europe's leagues. Plus a round up of the European Club Competitions. Northern Ireland: The question was co...
2024-2025 Season: Exits galore One of the final tasks at the end of the season is to decide who to retain and who to release. It's called in ice hockey circles, exit interviews where you sit down with each player in the squad individually and t...
2024-2025 Season: Rounding off the rest of the season With us playing Friday night, Saturday would be usually be a day off to see how the rest of the final regular season fixtures unfolded on BBC Radio Ulster. Yet that wasn't how I wanted to finish o...
2024-2025 Season: Honours even on trophy lift night With just pride left to play for, we could go into Friday night's game under The Dub's floodlights with the handbrake well and truly off. A season which had begun with a 6-2 win over Seagoe in the S...
Certainly is @Dan - nice to see you back in here.
2024-2025 Season: The Final Countdown With apologies to Joey Tempest and the rest of the hard rock band Europe… So we go into the final week of games on a bit of a roll, we last tasted a league loss in November when Coagh United defeated us 2-0...