Yorkshire Prem Champions 08/09 (c) Huddersfield Examiner

Saturday both the Huddersfield 1st and 2nd elevens were promoted and in the case of the 1st XI their victory in Yorkshire Prem put them into the Northern League for the first time in the clubs 109 year history!

This was a historic weekend for the club and will provide a great platform as the champions move into North-East 2 next season as the Huddersfield Dragons Men’s 1st XI.

The 1st XI put in some memorable performances over the course of the season including hammering Doncaster 16 nil! The best result by a Huddersfield team since probably the 1950’s

The 2nd XI had a couple of blips at the start of the season, but that all that did was to drive the team to fight all the way  to the end of the season and gain promotion. Anyone who saw their game against Wakefield recently will testify to just how determined that team became by the end of the season. In the end like the 1st XI they only needed 1 point coming into the weekend and with Acomb conceding the fixture on Sunday (thanks Dicko!) the 2’s were up into Div 2!

The 3rd XI have had a solid season in a very competitive division and it was only a couple of weeks ago that the chance of Hudds having three teams promoted in a season was finally put to rest with a loss at Leeds Uni. To put into context how competitive Div 4 was this season our 3XI scored 81 goals and came 5th!

The 4th XI took it to the wire to survive in Div 5 and with Ben Rhydding conceding the win on Sunday for bringing an ineligible player and Bradford losing to York we’ve squeaked in for another season.

The 5th XI was unfortunately relegated on Sunday after a highly competitive but occasionally disjointed season. It has to be hard to be relegated despite only scoring an average of one goal a game less than your opposition. Plus points to be gained are some young lads coming through who will undoubtedly become excellent hockey players and will go a long way up the club.

The 6th XI will be joined by the 5’s in Div 8 for 2009/10 as they avoided relegation in their last weekend on goal difference from Rotherham which is especially fair as they scored more goals and won more games. Like the 5’s there are some great prospects to come from the 6th XI with some young men who will be on Oli and Rob’s radars before you know it!

Last but very much not least are the 7th XI who have had a great season in the newly formed development league with truly competitive hockey which will be a great stepping stone for our juniors from age-group hockey to the men’s divisions, everyone should be proud of these young players and the positive hockey they have played all season.

Here’s to 2009/10!