Boys
Hockey
U14V
ictories over Queen's, Exeter
School, Sherborne and King's
Bruton were the highlights of
the Under 14s' season. We
started really well against
Cheltenham, playing the ball
around skilfully and taking early chances, with
two goals for Tristan Marshall. Rob Ellis scored
in the second half, but we missed too many
short corner opportunities.
A hat-trick for Tristan Marshall made sure of
a comfortable win over Queen's, and there
were passages of really stylish play. The
Exeter School fixture was a real crowd-pleaser.
We were always on top, but kept allowing
Exeter back into the game. Some great goals
were scored - Tristan Marshall (2), James
Walsh, Todd Barrett on debut, Omar Hamaoui
and Rob Ellis all found the back of the net.
In a first half of dynamic, exciting hockey, we
tore through Sherborne's defence. Two goals
apiece for James Walsh and Robin Danaher set
up a convincing 4-1 win. But against Canford
we never really got going. We went behind
twice, and although we kept the game close,
we were always playing catch-up really.
We took a while to settle into the King's
Bruton game, but we gradually ground down
the opposition defence, Tristan Marshall
scoring a reverse stick strike just before the
interval. Goals in the second half from Omar
Hamaoui and James Walsh sealed the win.
There were many signs of real talent in this
side, and they are only going to get better!
T
he Bs too showed many signs
of promise for the future.
Against Cheltenham we
started well and matched the
opposition for skill, but looked
vulnerable on the break. We
played really well together though as a team,
and finished strongly.
We took the lead against Exeter School's Under
13 As through a well-worked goal from James
Jennings in the sixth minute, only for the
opposition to equalise just before half-time. A
scrappy second half saw our defence do well to
earn us a draw really. It was a good team
performance though in the Sherborne fixture,
with George Bayless and Guy Jones particularly
strong in defence. 1-0 down at half-time, we
played with purpose and determination, but
couldn't quite find the equaliser.
We had a close game against Canford, going
into the interval 0-0. We took the lead twice
through Elliott Chambers on debut, but Canford
scored three late goals to steal the game. The
defence stayed firm in the face of sustained
pressure from Taunton School, and Elliott
Chambers and Harry Heal caused problems for
the opposition defence all afternoon.
Fielding a strong side, we didn't play at our
best to start with against King's Bruton, but we
still led 3-0 at half-time. There were five goals
in all for man of the match Elliott Chambers,
and a further two from Harry Heal - easily the
highlight of our season!
The Cs had four games, including a
narrow defeat to Cheltenham, and two
impressive victories against Taunton
School and Sherborne. Josh Lambert
was excellent in goal against Millfield,
pulling off some astonishing and
instinctive saves, skipper Jack Williams
scored the winner against Sherborne, and
there was an excellent effort from Sam
Matthews, with Ivo Gavin also playing
well. Nuno Akarapongpisak scored the
winning goal against Taunton School in
an outstanding team performance.
Aluredian
74
Good stick control by XXX
XXX during the Under 14s'
3-0 win over King's Bruton