IT doesn’t happen all that often on the field of play but an Abergavenny umpire was rendered quite speechless recently.

And not because he was on the receiving end of some surly backchat from a disgruntled player but because he was awarded a top honour.

Darren Lock from Abergavenny Hockey Club is the proud winner of the Umpire of the Year Tier One award.

Lock picked up the prestigious award at the 2015 Hockey Wales Awards the Saturday before last, and the euphoric umpire explained, “I didn’t expect this at all. I’m absolutely speechless to have won the award."

Darren has made a huge contribution to umpiring and has more recently taken on the role of Club Umpire Co-ordinator at Abergavenny.

Along with ensuring that each match that the club plays is sufficiently staffed with umpires, he also supports umpire development at the club by providing guidance and practice for those undertaking their Level One Umpire qualification.

Darren added, “Credit to Christian Phillips Adams who was also nominated, he’s a great umpire too. We both said before the evening that there would be no hard feelings whoever won the award. I genuinely can’t believe it."

Darren was nominated for the award of Umpire of the Year Tier One by Jodie Williams, a player and umpire at Abergavenny Hockey Club.