W
ith no game against
Queen's, we had to
wait until the
following week for
the Millfield fixture,
which proved an
excellent start to the season, as we were
playing confident hockey and denying Millfield
space. We conceded a goal on the break 15
minutes from the end, but captain James
Walsh coolly equalised two minutes later from
a well-worked corner. Rob Ellis and Charles
Marshall shared the man of the match award,
but this was a real team effort.
We had a great win against
Sherborne, looking the better
side from the start, but
conceding on the break. Todd
Barrett equalised, and added
two further goals, and though
Sherborne scored a late
consolation three minutes
from the end, we kept our
heads to secure a welldeserved
win.
Despite fielding a weakened
side at Canford, we often
looked the better team.
Though Canford took the lead,
Rob Ellis and Tom Farrow
looked solid in defence, and
we equalised through Robin Danaher after
some excellent running in midfield. Canford
then caught us on the hop, resulting in a
disappointing finish.
Our pace going forward put King's, Bruton
under considerable pressure, and Robin
Danaher took advantage of this with two firsthalf
goals, to give us a comfortable lead going
into the interval. Todd Barrett snatched a third
in the last quarter.
In the county cup, we defeated Bishop Fox and
Wellington, though lost to a strong Taunton
side. A frenetic and tense semi-final against
Millfield ended 1-1, leading to a penalty
strokes decider. In sudden death, cool heads
and some brilliant keeping by Corbett SykesMoore,
saw us through to the final against
Taunton School, but coming straight from such
an exhausting encounter, we were always going
to find overturning the pool result an uphill
struggle, and despite the whole team's
commitment, we ended the day runners-up.
In our final match of the season against
Taunton School, we went ahead with a goal
from a patient James Walsh, but conceded
early in the second half. Taunton then scored
with a short corner, and though we rallied well,
disappointingly we couldn't quite manage the
equaliser.
T
he Bs started their season
with an emphatic win against
Queen's, overpowering their
opposition with skill,
commitment and teamwork.
Goals came from wingers Matt
Jaffa and Lloyd Griffiths, midfielders James
Jennings and Todd Barrett, and skipper George
Bayless. After a protracted delay because of
bad weather, Sherborne duly took advantage of
our lack of match practice, but it says a great
deal for the character and determination of the
side that we stuck to our task, did not concede
in the second half and could easily have scored.
We again showed terrific character and energy
at Canford, coming back from 3-1 down at
half-time to dominate the second half, almost
snatching a draw with goals from Lloyd
Griffiths and Greg Albery to add to Matt Jaffa's
first-half effort.
In a triumphant return to winning ways, we
overwhelmed King's, Bruton, attacking with
great speed and purpose. Guy Jones opened the
scoring with good support from Lloyd Griffiths,
and Richard Turner made it 2-0 from a short
corner. James Dent, Matt Jaffa (2) and Lloyd
Griffiths (2) took the final goal tally to seven!
In our final match of the season, we played our
best hockey to defeat Taunton School's 4th XI,
despite going behind in the first half. Skipper
James Dent converted a penalty flick, and Matt
Jaffa scored the winning goal with a simple tap
in after sweeping play by Lloyd Griffiths. The
result confirmed real progress throughout the
team.
Aluredian
76
Robin Danaher drives the
Senior Colts forward
Boys'
Hockey
Senior
Colts