I
t was a tough day at the office at the
start of the season against a very
experienced and well-drilled Queen's
side, but there were plenty of positives to
take from the afternoon. We worked well
down the right-hand side and put some
beautiful passes together.
With a new system and shape in place
against Millfield, it took us a little while to
find our feet, but we soon started to move
the ball around, and were more than a
match for Millfield. Goals in our 2-1 win
came from Tom Pittman and Aaron
Chapman, and there were notable
performances by James Clark, Ed
Himbury, Ben O'Neill, Will Hall and
Cameron Souter-Frost.
We experienced a little dip in the middle
of the season, as we lost our shape on
too many occasions against Sherborne,
and conceded too many early on against
Taunton School. But we played some
attractive, open hockey at Canford, and
provided them with the strongest
opposition they had faced so far in the
season. Tom Pittman was an influential
presence in midfield, while Ed Himbury,
Toby Bennett and Charlie Collins all
worked well in defence. James Clark and
Aaron Chapman made some good runs in
attack.
We ended up drawing our final two
games, both end-to-end affairs. Our goals
against Bryanston came from James Clark
and Aaron Chapman, while it was James
again and Freddie Cole who had the final
word on the season at Clifton.
T
he Bs couldn't have had a better
start to their season, a confident
and fluent display leading to a 7-1
victory at home to Queen's. Brendon
Reynolds scored some great goals, joined
on the scoresheet by Taylor Stote, Will
Cashmore and Curro Espinos Ehlis.
We had a fantastic game at Millfield,
communicating well and using space
intelligently. We stayed level until the
final minutes of the game, with man of
the match Ed Coombs working
relentlessly for the cause.
Against Sherborne we enjoyed a huge
amount of possession, but just couldn't
find the back of the net. Sherborne took
advantage of their short corners and
played with more composure. The
Taunton School fixture was a game of two
halves - an outstanding display of hockey
in the first half gave us a 2-0 lead, before
we seemed to self-implode after the
break, conceding too many soft goals.
After deservedly coming second at
Canford, we put in an excellent
performance against Bryanston, playing
with great determination to earn a 2-2
draw. Then in our final game, intelligent
play at Clifton gave us time to think and
pass. Goals from Brendon Reynolds, Will
Cashmore and Tom Dray saw us finish
the season deserved winners.
The Cs played some attractive
hockey against Sherborne, creating
plenty of chances, and put together
some good flowing moves against
Taunton School. But they certainly
saved their finest moment till last,
when they conjured up a quite
brilliant 7-0 win against Bryanston.
Goals came from Curro Espinos Ehlis
and Matthew Thorne, while five-goal
hero Brendon Reynolds was
understandably man of the match!
Sam Everard shows good
stick control on the attack
against Sherborne
Boys' Hockey
Under 14s
78