13.04.10 - U14 BOYS WIN EAST SECTION OF ENGLAND HOCKEY U14 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS:
On Sunday, Old Loughtonians hosted the East section of the inaugural England Hockey U14 Club Championships. The format was two pools of three teams with the winner of each pool progressing to the final - a format meant that there was no room for error. OLs played their first pool match against local rivals Southgate. Southgate had the majority of possession for the first ten minutes without really troubling the OL’s defence, when Loughts finally did get hold of the ball the result was devastating as the boys scored two goals from their first three attacks. This gave the side the buffer they needed and more goals followed. The final score was 5-2 to OL’s. The second pool game was against Saffron Walden where the tone was set early when the boys scored in the first minute. Goals followed at regular intervals resulting in a 7-0 margin at half time. The lads took their foot off the gas in the second half as players were rested for the final. The final result was 7-1 to OL’s. This setup the final against Wycombe who had also convincingly won their two pool games. This was going to be a tough match as they were a strong side with one or two exceptional individuals. The first half was very close but Loughts superior finishing gave them a 2-0 lead. However Wycombe were not ready to roll over and they made one or two tactical changes which resulted in more pressure being put on the OL’s defence. Finally the pressure told as poor tackling resulted in their captain going through numerous tackles before scoring an exceptional individual goal. The game now became very tense as Wycombe pushed for the equaliser and Loughts tried to catch them on the break. For most of the day the coaching team had been trying to get the players to move the ball quickly and not run with it, finally everything clicked and a great team goal gave the boys a 3-1 lead with a couple of minutes to go, just time to add a fourth as Wycombe continued to push forward. Final result 4-1 to OL’s. This meant that Old Loughtonians U14 boys were East champions. Thanks toTony Goulding for umpiring all of the games and to all of the supporters for their vocal backing. Goal scorers: Andrew Macgregor 6; Conor Caplan 4; Jack Head 3; Rory Patterson 2 and William Godfrey 1. Squad:- Caleb Williams (GK), William Godfrey (Capt), Rory Patterson, Andrew Macgregor, Chris Halls, Fred Forsey, Harry Earnshaw, Matt Higgins, Jamie Colton, Sai Johal, Henry Bate, Conor Caplin, Jack Head, Liam Appleyard, Robert Samuels, James Padfield.
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