HOCKEY NEWS - The time has come once more for the start of the Eden Senior Hockey League, with hockey clubs up and down the Garden Route gearing up for their first games this weekend.

It's been eight months since the 2022 season came to an end, and hockey clubs have been biding their time in anticipation for the next season.

The ladies' side of Old Oaks Knysna Hockey Club relinquished their hold on the ladies league trophy in 2022, with their five-year-reign at the summit of Eden Hockey coming to an end only two matches away from a sixth consecutive title.

They ultimately finished third, while the men's team finished fourth having been unable to win the men's trophy, denying them their third straight title.

This while Plett Hockey Club made their debut in the Eden Senior Hockey League with both a men's and ladies side. The former managed a sixth-place finish and the ladies ended the season in seventh.

Plett will undoubtedly be aiming to have a far more successful season this year, their second campaign in the league. Both of the Old Oaks sides meanwhile will have their sights set on reclaiming the league title.

It is perhaps fate then that the two clubs' men's and ladies teams will face off on the Knysna High School hockey astro this Saturday, 6 May. 

The men's game will be played first, beginning at 14:30, while the ladies will spring into action at 16:00.

In fixtures elsewhere in the region, NMU George's men's and ladies teams will take on the teams from Wanderers on the York High School astro in George. 

Thereafter York themselves will begin their season with clashes against George Hockey Club at the York astro. Crusaders Hockey Club will have a bye this weekend, returning to action next weekend.

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