Some grand masters of the hockey world, both English and Dutch, met in St Albans to turn back the clock one more time.

Members of St Albans Hockey Club's centurions, the over 60s team, met the over 45 team from Netherlands club Forcial-Voorne.

The Dutch squad had travelled over to Harwich on the ferry and were using St Albans as their base of operations.

The itinerary began with a clash against their hosts at Oaklands College, a keenly-contested match that ended 3-3.

That was followed by a post-match dinner at The Stables, the restaurant within the college.

The following day the Dutch travelled to Cambridge for a punt on the Cam and another game of hockey in the afternoon before returning to St Albans for a final game at Oaklands against the Southgate-based Pistons on Sunday morning.

At last the sun was shining and both teams enjoyed drinks and a snack lunch in the Tangerines' clubroom before heading back over the North Sea.

A spokesman for St Albans said: "We hope they returned with happy memories of Sthe club and their Oaklands College base and everyone was already talking about doing it all over again next year."