The culmination of this season’s Junior Club Championships programme, which started with over 700 teams entering the tournaments back in September, with 48 teams from around the country taking part in 24 finals on Sunday;
The finals were spread over eight pitches at three venues – Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, Cambridge University and Reading Hockey Club – with several clubs experiencing national title success for the first time.
Fledgling club Knole Park HC continued to accrue titles at junior level, while there was success for the usual protagonists.
Cambridge University
U14 Girls T2 Plate
Wimbledon 0-2 Timperley
Timperley struck twice in the second half to take victory; Isabel Mawby and Grace Hayward with the goals.
U18 Boys T2 Plate
5-1 Hampton in Arden
Goals from Oli Moss and Zach Edwards gave North Stafford a two-goal advantage, but skipper Samuel Alcock got Hampton back in the game on half time. Teddy Halket, Nathaneal Yerbury and Oli Power sealed a well-earned victory with goals in the 47th, 58th and 63rd minutes respectively.
U16 Boys T2 Cup
Timperley 2-1 Hampstead & Westminster
A late goal from Edward Lord earned Timperley their second title of the day. Josh Higgin opened the scoring, but H&W’s captain Aidan Hincks levelled matters early in the second half. However Lord popped up on the hour to seal victory.
U14 Girls T2 Cup
Surbiton 0-4 Bury St Edmunds
An Evie Younger hat-trick helped Bury St Edmunds earn an excellent victory against Surbiton. Evie had already shown her goalscoring prowess earlier in the year when scoring at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in the Girls Schools Championships, and her hat-trick on this occasion was punctuated by further strike from teammate Esther Sheldon.
U18 Girls T2 Plate
Old Silhillians 0-1 Devizes
In one of the tightest games of the day, it took until the 48th minute for the deadlock to be broken, Martha Cracknell scoring to give Devizes the plate.
U16 Boys T2 Plate
London Wayfarers 6-1 Guildford
Two goals apiece from Freddie Nevrides and Theo Mellor helped give London Wayfarers a big win against Guildford. Nevrides and Mellor made it 2-0 before Chris Hitchcox pulled one back, but a quickfire double from Mellor and Nevrides made it 4-2, with Charlie Cotgrove and Ben Lyons further extending the advantage.
U14 Boys T2 Plate
Spencer Juniors 12-0 Cambridge City
Luca Pistacchi and Max Saba scored four goals apiece in a big win for Spencer Juniors over a spirited Cambridge City side. An early goal from Ned Burton set the tone, with Rory Ledbetter, Jake Krens and Leo Rigoli also on target in a great display of attacking hockey.
U16 Girls T2 Plate
Havant 5-0 Marden Russets
Three goals inside the first eleven minutes helped Havant to a great result against Mardne Russets. Lucy Michna, Izzy Wiles and skipper Scarlett Smith scored early, before Lauren Hill added a brace.
Lee Valley
U14 Girls T1 Plate
Sevenoaks 6-0 Alderley Edge
Oaks got the day off to a great start from their perspective, scoring six goals in the first half to overcome Alderley Edge. Holly Diprose and Cailyn McKenna each scored twice, with Neve Taylor and Lettie Hughes also on the scoresheet.
U16 Girls T1 Cup
Beeston 1-7 Knole Park
Captain Lottie Bingham enjoyed an incredible morning as she scored five and lifted the trophy in a 7-1 win for her Knole Park side. She scored the game’s first three goals before Hannah Suchan pulled one back for Bees, only for Bingham to get two more, either side of goals from Olivia Breed and Anna Faulstich.
U18 Girls T1 Cup
Surbiton 4-3 Repton
In one of the day’s most topsy-turvy encounters, Surbiton came out on top in a seven-goal thriller. Elani Sherwood (2) and Jess Dyson gave Surbiton a three-goal cushion, only for Evie Grindal and skipper Daisy Bennett to reduce the deficit. Caragh Haspel then got what proved to be a decisive fourth for Surbiton, and Sienna Dunn’s late goal was just too late for Repton to find an equaliser.
U14 Boys T1 Cup
Cambridge City 2-3 Surbiton
Surbiton came from two goals down to overtake Cambridge City in a dramatic game at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre. Henry Denny-Gouldson and Alfred Warren had City in front, but three goals after the 47-minute mark turned the game on its head, Tom Cowling getting the first before two from Toby Thompson won the cup.
U14 Girls T1 Cup
Beeston 1-7 Knole Park
Just like in the U16 Girls T1 Cup – and by the same scoreline – Knole Park overcame Beeston in some style. Biba Mills got a hat-trick, while Isla Johnson scored two and Celia Foster & Evie Whitehead also scored. Ruby Gorin had reduced the deficit to 6-1 to at least give the Bees some consolation.
U16 Boys T1 Cup
Guildford 6-1 Repton
This final got off to a blistering pace, with the scoreline already 2-1 to Guildford after only eight minutes; Patrick Cradden and Thomas Bull for ‘Ford before Nathaniel Salsby’s reply. It stayed that way until the 46th minute when Toby Kuhle made it 3-1, with skipper Sammy Dowds, Alex Thompson and Cradden rounding off the scoring.
U18 Boys T1 Cup
Surbiton 5-3 Repton
Just like in the Girls’ final in the same competition, these two sides played out a cracker. Dylan Parry and James Southorn put the London side 2-0 up, but quick goals from George Fletcher and Harry Stone levelled matters. Surbiton skipper Jamie Taylor scored twice in the space of nine minutes to make it 4-2, only for Fletcher to again pull one back. But with a minute to go, Parry scored Surbiton’s fifth to seal victory.
U14 Boys T1 Plate
Knole Park 9-2 Winchester
Captain Isaac Dale scored an incredible five goals as Knole Park put on a great display to overcome Winchester. Dale had a hat-trick inside the first eight minutes, while William Leyland also got an early goal for Winchester; the game already 3-1 with just eight gone. Mackenzie Copp then scored his own hat-trick for Knole, with Moritz Hippe getting on the scoresheet and another two for Dale. Tom Nolan got a consolation for Winchester on the hour mark.
Reading HC
U18 Boys T2 Cup
London Wayfarers 2-1 Havant
Wayfarers came from a goal down to take victory in the day’s first match at Reading Hockey Club. Havant’s Gabriel Carvalho scored in the 50th minute to open the scoring, but Wayfarers struck in the 57th and 59th minutes to turn the game on its head.
U18 Boys T1 Plate
Southgate 2-1 Cambridge City
Oscar Prior got Southgate off to a great start with four minutes gone, and Barney Collier made it 2-0 just before the half-hour mark. Alex Dunning pulled one back for Cambridge right on half time, but Southgate were able to stay firm to take the trophy.
U18 Girls T2 Cup
Maidenhead 2-0 Folkestone Optimist
It was Maidenhead who came out on top in this encounter; a 2-0 victory enabling captain Amelia Tanner to lift the trophy.
U18 Girls T1 Plate
Wimbledon 1-1 Beeston (Wimbledon win s/o)
Across all three venues and a total of 24 matches, this was the only drawn game. Ruby Apoola got Beeston in front after only five minutes, but Emily Gilbert levelled before the Londoners prevailed in the shoot-out.
U16 Girls T2 Cup
Surbiton 1-2 Belper
Belper overcame the disappointment of an early goal from Neve Hutchinson to earn victory. Isobel Moriaty got a leveller with 13 gone, and Hannah Saxton scored on the half-hour to get what proved to be the winner.
U14 Boys T2 Cup
Teddington 3-1 Alderley Edge
Edge got off to a dream start when Isaac Todd scored in the first minute, but sadly for them, Sam Wood drew level with 25 gone. Into the second half Ali Keartland became Teddington’s hero with goals after 38 and 44 minutes.
U16 Boys T1 Plate
East Grinstead 3-2 Wimbledon
Wimbledon’s Matthew Joseph gave his side a 2-0 lead with goals in quick succession; scoring in the 17th and 18th minutes to put his side in front. But crucially, EG pulled one back within two minutes which at least gave them a foothold in the game. And Wimbledon held out stoically, but two goals in the 64th and 69th minutes saw EG’s skipper Jack Webb lift the trophy.
U16 Girls T1 Plate
Brighton & Hove 5-0 London Wayfarers
The last girls match of the day saw Brighton & Hove in fine form as they overcame London Wayfarers. Emily Cook was the hat-trick hero, scoring the first, third and fifth goals; Eliza Jones and Isabella Pendlebury also on target.
Great hockey all round, but just to correct the above; after a great game ending 1-1 and 9 penalty shuffles Wimbledon won the GU18 Tier 1 Plate at Reading.
Quite poor that the goalscorers for Maidenhead U18 girls didn’t warrant a mention in this supposed round up!