U12 Boys at the Canterbury Tournament

U12 Boys had another great tournament.

TW v Surbiton – Lost 0 – 1

First game of the tournament, and the boys unfortunately started slowly allowing Surbiton to put them under pressure and deservedly take the lead. This seemed to wake the boys up who then played superb hockey creating three clear cut chances that they could not quite convert.

TW v Canterbury – Won 2 – 0 (Oscar 2)

The boys dominated this game playing some excellent hockey throughout including two lovely proverbial empty net goals where the last pass from Freddie enabled Oscar to slot it past the goalkeeper with ease.

TW v Sevenoaks – Drew 1 – 1

This was a great game of hockey with two well matched teams and despite shading the early phases Sevenoaks took the lead with a fine finish after some scrappy play at the top of the D. The boy’s heads did not drop, and they pushed for the equaliser and a strong penalty corner shot from Zac hit a foot on the line and Freddie calmly scored the penalty stroke. A special mention to Charley who man-marked their key forward keeping him very quiet in the match.

TW v Ashford – Won 2 – 0 (Oscar 2)

A dominant performance in this match with the boys controlling possession and putting Ashford under a lot of pressure. The first goal came from some great work by Zac at a penalty corner drawing the defenders and finding Oscar in space to tap into the empty net. The second goal came from some great combination passes that ended with Henry B driving into the D drawing the keeper and coolly passing to Oscar for another lovely empty net goal.

TW v Epsom – Won 3 – 0

This was the best performance of the day from the boys. They played composed hockey, maintaining possession well, using the width consistently, and playing the extra pass in the D to create space for a shot. This game included the two best goals of the day, some excellent work by Max and Henry B down the right-hand side created space for Freddie who dispatched a stunning backhand shot high into the net to take the lead. This was very quickly followed by another team move down the right side eventually finding Zac in space who smashed another great backhand shot high into the back of the net. Epsom then had some pressure, but the boys defended brilliantly with Charley and Max dominant, winning their 1 v 1 tackles, and then calmly finding their teammates to start attacks. Another team move led to the third goal when after two shots were well saved by the Epsom goalkeeper, the third rebound fell to Zac who flicked it in.

A special mention for the Epsom boys who ‘buddied up’ with the TW boys on the day loudly supporting each other’s matches, having loads of fun and laughs in-between games. This is what is so great about hockey, the boys had never met before but bonded amazingly on the day playing the sport that they love !

TW v Folkestone – Drew 0 – 0

On to another bronze medal play off and the boys were joined by a key member of their team this season, Hamish, who had made a very long journey after a football cup final to join the boys late in the day (huge thanks to mum, Wendy!). Again, our sport is genuinely amazing, when Hamish arrived the joyful cheers of the boys to greet him was a very special team moment that I will not forget !

This was a very tight game between two very evenly matched teams with the Folkestone goalkeeper making three key saves from Hamish who was immediately causing a lot of problems for their defence. In the end a draw seemed the right result and both sides shared the bronze medal.

What a season, silver medal at the Kent Champs (on goal difference), bronze at the Regionals, and bronze again at Canterbury Tournament. Words cannot express how proud I am of this group of boys, not only are they fabulous players but they are the epitome of hockey players, respectful, coachable, incredibly supportive of each other, and genuinely decent boys.

A huge well done to our amazing goalkeeper James C who conceded just two goals all day, a key factor in getting through to the bronze medal match, quite brilliant.

What a squad, James, Charley, Max, Henry B, Zac, Oscar, Freddie, and Hamish (and Jamie S, who sadly could not play today).

A massive thank you again to Jen, Adam, and all the parents for your incredible support (three times at Canterbury in one month is above and beyond!).

I hope that the boys (and parents) will look back very fondly on their time as juniors before they move to 11-a-side matches next season, because I know that I will, thank you boys for an amazing journey so far.

Martin