In the 70th running of the annual event, the Torbay weather once again played its part in ensuring a very successful Easter Festival, writes Mike Carter.
A very competitive weekend of hockey played out in sunshine saw the Buffaloes (Smethwick Hockey Club) coming out on top – both in being the only side to remain unbeaten, and retaining the Bill Stickells Cup for highest scoring team, with 42 goals.
The Midwives from Surrey were distant runners up, with 31 goals. The Oddfellows were awarded the Redcliffe Cup for Fair Play.
The only blight on the weekend was the failure by Festival Founder Members , the Old Gobblers from East Devon, to honour their last four fixtures – an unprecedented event.
This meant that their programmed opponents were deprived of a game, all having laid out significant sums of money to attend the Festival.
With all participants expressing their expectation to return next Easter, the Festival Committee’s main aim will be to attract new entries, taking this year’s total from 11 up to a maximum of 24 (capacity of the four available pitches).
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