Following the Government announcements on Monday, there are now signs of what will be allowed during the next return to play. Whilst the headlines are promising there is not yet clarity on the detailed implications for hockey or the nature of what will be allowed in what tier from December 2.
England Hockey have been working with Sport England, DCMS and the other team sports and were able to demonstrate that outdoor team sports can be played safely and with extremely low Covid-19 transmission risks. Indeed, both government scientists and politicians have admitted this in statements in recent weeks. The good work hockey clubs have done in putting in place safe environments, following the guidance and reporting cases has been invaluable in providing evidence to government.
EH are now very optimistic that hockey will be able to be played before Christmas in line with Tier 5 of the  Return To Play (RTP) guidance, as they were able to prior to the second lockdown. However, as was the case then, restrictions specific to certain areas may well still impact on what is possible.
As soon as guidance on the new tiered alert levels becomes available and the implications can be considered England Hockey will issue updated guidance. They hope this will be by this weekend. 

​Havant twice came from behind to record their first National League 1 South victory of the 2020/21 season.
At the sixth attempt, they defeated Oxford Hawks 5-3 away but remain bottom by virtue of an inferior goal difference to Old Cranleighans.
Havant began well with James Speke having a shot blocked on the line by St Cross Symondians cricketer Ed Ellis. Then a couple of half chances were not converted and Oxford countered, winning a penalty corner on their first visit into the Havant circle.
Jack Biggs finished well to give Oxford a ninth minute lead, but the visitors were level four minutes later when Jamie Rawlings converted from a penalty corner.
In a see-saw encounter, Oxford were back in front two minutes later from another Biggs flick.
Soon after the quarter break in the 26th minute, Havant pulled level with Maciej Janiszewski (pictured above by The News) finishing off a slick move down the right after Miguel Rodrigues linked well with Harry Croft-Baker.
Havant started the second half as they had the first and, in the 37th minute, Rodrigues fired them into the lead for the first time with an upright reverse shot after Tahsin Chowdhury had edged a ball towards goal.
The scores were level again just before the hour mark when Freddie Smith levelled for OxfordA.
As the hosts briefly took control, Maciej Pacanowski made some good saves to keep Havant in the game with George Harrison and Croft-Baker helping him to clear the threat.
The seventh goal came via a penalty stroke with a defender blocking a shot with his foot and Janiszewski scoring in the 62nd minute.
Bradley Lock and Eryk Bembenek linked well after Matthew Boote had fed the ball forward to create the chance.
With five minutes left, Croft-Baker pushed forward and beat two defenders at the top of the circle to set up Lock to net his first National League goal.
Having now claimed their first win, the second national lockdown will see Havant inactive until Saturday December 5 at the earliest.   Old Cranleighans and Team Bath Buccaneers - the two teams just above Havant in the table - were due to be their next two opponents.

​Winchester found themselves two goals down inside the opening five minutes against unbeaten South League Premier Division leaders Guildford – but found positives to take from the game despite the eventual 6-0 scoreline.
Jonny Haynes and hot shot Ross Ferguson got the Guildford ball rolling with those two early strikes, but Winchester didn’t appear phased by the quality of opposition and enjoyed a good share of possession in the visitors’ half, with Kieran Molloy (pictured below) setting the tone with a high energy performance, raising those around him to not allow Guildford to settle on the ball. 

Much of the danger to the visitors came through Winchester's right flank with 15-year-old Joe Jenkinson emerging as a real prospect from right back.
After Winchester's first real goal attempt, well saved at the post by Ben Gaze, the Guildford keeper, the visitors went 3-0 up with yet another clever piece of skill under pressure, a well-directed reverse deflection to set Ferguson up. 
Moments later, they thought they had gone 4-0 up, as a ball bounced off the post at a penalty corner and was scrambled home by a phalanx of alert Guildford players but was disallowed for an infringement. 
They're fourth did come just before the break as a Guildford midfielder was quickest to the ball in the "D" as Winchester tried to clear their lines and Haynes passed the ball into the corner of the net for his second.
Things eventually improved for Winchester after the break, although not straight away with Guildford adding a fifth direct from a Sam Plater penalty corner and then a sixth from open play by Matt Fitter.
Thereafter Winchester then had two great opportunities to narrow the goal gap, firstly Ben Hibberd was thwarted at close range by a great save by Gaze and Todd Clark just failed to touch the ball-in.
Guildford had a further goal ruled out, but for the last 30 minutes of the game, Winchester gave a good, competitive account of themselves and played some of their best hockey of the season, with possession being maintained at a much-improved level. It also gave the significant under 18 element of the squad an excellent hockey experience, one in which they stepped up to the mark. 

Charlie Cooper and Tom Salmon scored twice each as Bournemouth beat third placed Staines 4-1 to go into the pandemic lockdown top of South Hockey League Premier Division 2 West.
After six matches, five of which they have won, Bournemouth enjoy a three-point lead over Southgate, who have played a game less.
Bournemouth started at a face pace at Worpole Road, the strong forward press creating three circle entries in the opening phase, the pressure eventually being rewarded when Will  Davies forced a short corner and Tom Salmon fired home the resulting drag flick.
The goal gave Bournemouth confidence and it wasn’t long before their lead was doubled – a Staines foot on the goal line denying the Lions a second.  Charlie Cooper (pictured above) calmly converted the resulting penalty stroke.
By half-time Bournemouth had established an unassailable 3-0 lead – the Staines goalkeeper blocking Salmon’s initial short corner shot, but beaten by his follow-up finish off the rebound.
Predictably, Staines changed tact and pressed Bournemouth after the break, but the visitors held firm at the back until 20 minutes into the period when Saj Rana rifled a shot from a narrow angle past Jez Baker.
It proved only a consolation goal as Bournemouth quickly regrouped with Cooper putting the result beyond doubt with his second goal and the Lions’ fourth before the end.

Fareham twice took the lead against Ashmoor - but had to be content with a share of the spoils after a fast and frenetic West Conference affair ended 2-2.
The slippery Henry Cort surface was perfect for a fast and furious game, punctuated by yellow cards, with the result in doubt until the final play when Fareham were unable to cash in on a penalty corner.
Fareham lit the fuse with a first minute goal – James Seager, back in midfield despite long standing Achilles problems, bursting out of defence before feeding Alex Boxall, whose low ball into the Ashmoor goalmouth was deflected home by George Davey, showing off his new close cut hair 'style'. 
The lead didn’t last long.   Playing with pace and transferring the ball effectively, Ashmoor – denied by one fine short corner save by Rory Kemp – equalized ten minutes later through Morgan Stokes.
The fast and frenetic action predictably led to some over-zealous challenges – stronger umpiring from the outset might have prevented negative reactions from both sets of players, which compounded and escalated issues.
Fareham, down to nine men at one point, had Shane Vincent and Niall Stott binned – the Scotsman was also green carded twice, culminating in the side playing short for 14 minutes.
Ashmoor had three players yellow carded.
Fareham manager Malc Davies reflected: “There is still no excuse for dissent and is unacceptable in my mind. It just never has a positive outcome or influence on the game.”
Nonetheless, it led to a very watchable game, with some often chaotic and frantic goalmouth scrambles as play swung at pace from end to end.
Fareham restored their lead 12 minutes into the third quarter with a Vincent penalty corner – his third success of the season – but Ashmoor’s response was immediate with Lewis Hammett equalising straight from the restart.
Surprisingly, it remained 2-2 with Fareham wasting an opportunity to snatch victory when they forced a penalty corner in final play.
The draw leaves Fareham in second place in the log, three points behind Bristol University, who made it five wins from six, beating winless Cheltenham 3-1.
"It was a very frantic game and great for the spectators. From our perspective, a much improved team performance compared to last week and Shame we didn’t convert in the final play of the match with the PC and steal the points. Upon reflection 2-32 was probably a fair result," Davies added.

England Hockey have announced that the national lockdown announced on Saturday will mean no club or community hockey from 5 November until after 4 December at the earliest.
The latest government announcement orders all sports facilities to close and therefore club and other community hockey activity is suspended until the game is in a position to resume.
Over the last few months all those involved in delivering hockey safely have helped to prove that the sport is extremely low risk in terms of the transmission of Covid and this gives us confidence that we can be back soon. England Hockey is very grateful to all the Covid officers, volunteers, players, coaches and officials that went the extra mile to provide a safe place for hockey to be played.
England Hockey continues to receive overwhelming feedback from participants that the physical and mental health benefits of being able to take part are significant. They recognise that the next few weeks will be challenging for those like us that love the game and will miss the opportunity to be out playing, coaching and officiating with friends.
The government announcement made reference to returning to the Covid Alert Levels after the end of this period of lockdown, and should that be the case EH is confident that clubs will be able to resume promptly in line with previously-issued Return to Play guidance. If it becomes clearer in time that the lockdown will end on 4 December, they encourage clubs to consider resuming some activity before Christmas if at all possible. To mitigate the risk of changes and with the uncertainty about what Level the club may be in at the end of this period, we recommend that the time until Christmas is used for training and very local matches. The aim of this is to ensure that activities fall in line with any Level-based restrictions that may be in place. 
It will take time to determine the best approach to reorganising activity and EH asks that players and clubs respect the need for organisers to consider the next steps properly in light of the timing and extent of the upcoming break.
England Hockey will communicate with all clubs, England Hockey League teams and EH Championships entrants as well as Player Pathway organisers in the coming days.

Chichester converted two penalty corners in the closing seven minutes but were unable to salvage a point as Khalsa Leamington returned to the Midlands with a 4-3 West Conference victory.
The result means Chichester go into the national pandemic lockdown third from bottom in the table, with a 3-2 win over Plymouth Marjon their only tangible reward from six outings.   England Hockey has shut down with immediate effect.
Chichester were chasing the game from the off against Khalsa, who scored with their initial short corner through Joe Wells.
Joe Bugden equalized from a 21st minute set piece but soon after Ben Northedge restored Leamington’s advantage.  A Szyman Oszyjcky brace left Chichester 4-1 adrift by the hour-mark.
Oli and Alex Baxter tucked away penalty corners in the closing seven minutes, but Chichester were unable to save the day.