WEEKEND HOCKEY MATCH AT BRIGG REC BRINGS BACK MEMORIES

We enjoyed watching part of what turned out to be a high-scoring men's hockey match on the all-weather pitch at Brigg Recreation Ground over the weekend.
Brigg 4ths were beaten 5-2 by Grimsby 2nds in the Yorkshire and North East Men's Division 2 Wold in an afternoon game on Saturday (March 26, 2022).
As league hockey is played on a regional basis, this can be classed as a Lincolnshire local derby!
Brigg's players are pictured here in their green shirts on the 'Blue Astro' surface.
It set us thinking about memorable matches between Brigg and Grimsby decades ago, when we were still turning out for the local club.
In the late 1980s and long before Brigg had an all-weather pitch, the club's 4ths were due to play Grimsby (3rds or 4ths?) on grass at the Rec.
However, final preparations were being made for the town's communal Bonfire Night celebrations later in the day, so this Saturday fixture was switched to a grass pitch at Sir John Nelthorpe Lower School (also off Wrawby Road).
It was the only time in a lengthy career we played in a club match at the school venue.
Grimsby won but the Brigg team was just happy to get a game when it seemed the fixture might have to be cancelled due to the Rec being ruled out.
In the mid-1980s, Grimsby and Brigg contested a Sunday friendly on a grass pitch which was at/near Waltham's former RAF airfield, close to the east coast.
It was bitterly cold with snow on the pitch and Brigg had to defend for much of the match to secure a rather surprising 1-0 win, given the playing strengths of the teams involved.
Brigg's Sunday side at the time played most weeks and was a mix of players drawn from all four teams.
On this occasion there were far more than usual drawn from 'the lower ranks' - a fitting term in view of the venue's history!
When we retired from club hockey in 2004, all the Brigg men's teams were competing in various divisions of the Yorkshire League on all-weather surfaces.
Most of the club's 'home' fixtures were at Quibell Park, Scunthorpe.
In the era of grass hockey, Brigg played many fixtures against teams from mid-Lincolnshire and even the south of the county, as far as Long Sutton.
The subsequent switch to the Yorkshire League reduced the travelling time for many away fixtures, as the motorway network and the A1 could be used.
Brigg players driving to away games in the 1980s and 1990s did not have 'sat nav' or smartphones with access to Google Maps.
Team captains had access to a book of directions and passed on details of how to find that afternoon's venue.
If any cars from Brigg got lost in towns or cities, the drivers pulled in to the side of the road and asked passing pedestrians for guidance!