Backed up by an army of volunteers, 43 in all, and two teams of 12 players Havering Hockey Club hit the record books over the weekend of Saturday, December 6, by playing the longest indoor game of hockey ever, breaking the Guinness record by 18 minutes - from 26hours 20minutes to 26hours 38 minutes.

The support group ensured that all the rules were adhered to. A social night the week before at our local Ember Inn, The Harrow, saw the boys win a £500 sponsorship for the effort from manager Sarah Jeffries, to name the opposition name "Team Harrow", with funds going to Lifeline Appeal at Queens Hospital, Romford. George Rees and Kim Hiett went to the Fatlin and Firkin, in Hornchurch, also that night and received another £350 from generous donators.

Another social event is to be planned in the new year to celebrate the enormous effort when the final amounts raised will be announced - something in the region of £3,000. Beside the support at the Hornchurch Sports Centre, the Havering club still had commitments on elsewhere in which they were involved before the official push-back at 5pm. Most were either away at Harlstone Magpies with a five hour round trip or in East London finishing their game with only just enough time to navigate the A13 traffic back to the club. It was a fantastic effort all round from the people that helped map out the pitch beforehand to the guys and girls that gave their time as observers, people who kindly cooked and brought the food and drink for players, to the umpires and numerous others. Club Secretary Bev Horne also stayed at pitchside with the team throughout just to make sure the event ran smoothly. At the end of the event, family's Hinton, Garnell, Defroand, again, along with many others stepped in like a well organised army and had the venue clean and tidy within an hour and a half :-)

President Pat Johnson said she was "staggered" by the response the club had received from the juniors right through to the vice presidents. Mike Trett represented the umpires and Brentwood by officiating at the start of the record attempt. Players from all over, particularly Romford, added their support.

Star moments all over, including Stuart Garnell who stayed on the indoor floor longest. Along with the usual, bruises and bumps acquired during the event Chris Dunn played through with badly bruised ribs and Roger Hiett with a badly mashed up toe. Mike Caruana Smith had the backing of sponsorship from his Malta club as well. Sadly, Leroy Phillips had to fly back home to South Africa following the death of his grandmother but was in contact by phone throughout with encouragement. The oldest player was Nuxes, the youngest Alex Defroand at 17.

What an effort. Even after all that Nuxes was still smiling. Ali Lewis, whose "stupid idea" it was in the first place, said "never again". But Alex Defroand's sister Emily immediately said the girls would challenge the record next year. Mum Gill smiled gently and hid in a corner. One wife, Mrs Blondie, stayed up all night sitting and knitting her blanket in the sports centre - until of course the roar as the record was broken. But the boys had to keep playing because they were waiting for MP Andrew Rosindell to officially mark the finish. Then it was back to the bar. What an effort, what a year and what a record.

And for the record the Teams (and don't forget to cheer!!):
Team Havering: Steve Ashlin, Chris Dunn (capt), Roger Hiett, Mike Hinton, Paul Johnson, Nick Lampin, Alastair Lewis, Marc Lloyd, David Ribchester, Ricky Sales, Jonathan Wigham, Tom Woodman.

Team Harrow, Hornchurch: Jack Barlow, Jim Bennett, Michael Caruana Smith, Ryan Clarke, Alex Defroand, Paul Dover (capt), Stuart Garnell, Adam Lumbers, Nick Males, Nuxes, Dan Rees, Lewis Smith.

The final score was: Team Havering 275 - Team Harrow 382

See it official on the Guiness World Record Website