Posted on: January 23rd 2018

U16 Hockey at Hurst

U16 Hockey – Boys County Cup
Miss Eames

The U16 boys hockey team travelled to Hurstpierpoint on Tuesday 23rd January to play in the Sussex County Cup. They were in a pool with Hurst and Eastbourne College (both well established Prep schools with a strong hockey pedigree) and Sackville.

In their opening game the boys found themselves up against Eastbourne who were dominant from the opening whistle. This was tough opposition for their first match of the day, but the boys fought well and frustrated the opposition. Josh Parker was a rock in defence and denied many shots at goal, and those that snuck through defence were denied by some excellent goal keeping from Luke Denyer. The boys conceded numerous short corners and it was from one of these that Eastbourne scored their opening goal at the tail end of the first half. The second half saw Eastbourne pile on the pressure and they were able to work through our defence to put three more in the back of the net. Tom Seve came close at the end of the game, after a piercing run from the half way line, but the game ended with a 4-0 loss.

23.01.18 Hockey at HURST (4)

After a break, the next opponents were Sackville. With a different formation being trialled, Sackville were able to score an early goal whilst the boys settled into their new positions. They didn’t lose their composure and were soon dominating the midfield. Ollie Summerill and Jack Angell combined well and were able to release the ball to Freddie White and Tom Seve who worried the opposition’s defence and gave us our first chances to test the keeper. It was from one of these attacks that we scored a well-deserved equaliser as the ball was slipped across the face of the goal for Cameron Smith to slot the ball neatly into the back of the net. We continued to dominate and came close on a couple of occasions. In the second half, Callum Peyman stepped up in midfield and made some penetrating runs at the opposition. This gave the boys a couple of short corner opportunities. Peyman attempted a couple of drag flicks, but it was Josh Parker who slammed a firm strike inside the left post to give Chichester the lead. Unfortunately, the momentum was lost briefly and Sackville snuck in an equaliser that wasn’t really deserved and the game ended 2-2.

23.01.18 Hockey at HURST (1)The final game was against Hurst who were very well organised. For the first 10 minutes, the game was evenly poised and our boys were looking like true hockey players and playing with their heads held high. Jack Jones and Callum Ayling made some great tackles to deny the opposition the chance to shoot and Denyer made more fine saves. Theo Batchelor and the Henson twins worked well in the midfield but, towards the end of the half, Hurst managed to break the deadlock and scored a well worked goal. The second half saw a bit more pressure from Hurst, and despite battling hard, two more goals were conceded. At the end of the game, the Hurst coaches commented on how well the boys had played and given a good account of themselves. They were particularly impressed with Josh Parker, who had been solid in defence throughout the day and was definitely our player of the tournament.

If you see the boys, please congratulate them. They have worked hard all year and to go to this tournament and get the results they did is a real credit to them (it’s difficult to compete with schools who have three astro-turfs each and have private coaches who work with their teams!).

I am very proud of these boys and what they have achieved.

Team: Luke Denyer, Callum Peyman ( c ), Josh Parker, Freddie White, Jack Jones, Jack Angell, Callum Ayling, Cameron McManus, Cameron Smith, Josh Farrier, Theo Batchelor, Ollie Summerill, Tom Seve, Oscar Henson, Harvey Henson.

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