East Championship Reports

East Championship Reports
COLCHESTER U10 GIRLS - RUNNERS UP AT EAST REGIONAL FINALS Colchester U10 girls excelled themselves at the regional finals finishing second in a very strong league of clubs. The girls had finished as runners-up in the Essex qualifying competition but were offered a place in the finals due to another county being unable to attend. With this in mind, the girls felt slightly over-awed at the start of the day but soon realised they had nothing to lose and everything to play for! The first game was against Canterbury HC. The girls started well but were faced with a couple of very quick players on the opposing team. The new self pass rule was used effectively by Canterbury, resulting in the first half being played at a quick pace and the girls had to quickly step up their game. Ruby Blower, the captain, led the team brilliantly in the second half and scored a great individual goal. This gave the team confidence and they started to pass the ball around well making several more scoring opportunities. Final score: Colchester 1-0 Canterbury. The second game was against Seven Oaks. Although Seven Oaks were a stronger team than Canterbury, Colchester were now brimming with confidence and enthusiasm. Olivia Saleh, Fenella Stuart and Tilly Arulampulam were in impressive form and powered forward. The attack created Seven Oaks numerous problems and the girls were awarded a succession of short corners. Tilly scored two powerful goals, one in each half. Such was the girls' dominance that Katie Cook in the Colchester goal didn't have a save to make. Next came local rivals Chelmsford HC. Only a fortnight before at the Essex Championships, Chelmsford had beaten us 5-1, so the girls were determined to try and get revenge! Meg Wall-Peters and Clemmie Knights in defence worked together brilliantly, marking the Chelmsford key players tightly and effectively out of the game. Chelmsford had several short corners but Colchester defended valiantly and fought for every ball. Katie Cook in goal made a number of good saves and Meg Wall-Peters made a succession of stops on the right post. The girls were delighted with the 0-0 result. The girls then faced Norwich City HC. Despite again working incredibly hard and fighting for every ball, Norwich City were the better and stronger team and scored three well worked goals. To their credit, the whole team played to the final whistle but had to accept that Norwich deserved the victory. The final game was against Bury HC. The girls were by now all tiring, but knew they needed a point to finish second and dug deep to find the energy to yet again play with spirit. The game was end to end stuff! Rachel Harvey in attack was superb. She pressed forward repeatedly, creating chance after chance, but it was not to be her day. The Bury goal keeper made some good saves, she hit the post and had another attempt cleared off the line. At the other end, Meg Wall-Peters made two goal line saves to prevent the Bury team taking the lead. Olivia Saleh, Fenella Stuart, Ruby Blower and Tilly Arulampulam all had good shots saved. The ball would just not cross the line. Late into the second half, Bury broke against the run of play but Amy Tallentire stood strong as the last defender and the scoreline remained 0-0. Bury were awarded a short corner in the dying seconds of the game. The final whistle sounded just as the Bury player pushed out the ball. Colchester stopped, thinking the game was over. There was a heart stopping moment when the Bury attack had a free shot on goal. However, the shouting, screaming and not-so-gentle persuasion from every parent, spectator and coach reminded the girls just in time to keep playing and Clemmie Knights cleared the ball away from danger! The point was enough to keep the girls in second place. The attitude and performance of the girls throughout the day was nothing short of outstanding. To finish second in the East region is a phenomenal achievement of which every child, parent and coach should rightly feel incredibly proud. The photo of the girls with their medals say it all: exhausted but ecstatic! Well done girls!
	U10 Girls' Team: Back row: Fenella Stuart, Meg Wall-Peters, Ruby Blower, Amy Tallentire Team: Front row: Katie Cook, Tilly Arulampulam, Rachel Harvey, Clemmie Knights, Olivia Saleh.
COLCHESTER U12 BOYS Colchester U12 Boys found themselves in new territory on Saturday when they traveled to Harleston Magpies HC to take up their place in the regional finals. They had worked hard in training but it was a chance to see how they would stand up to some better opposition and water based pitches. First up was Hertford Hockey club. Colchester's work paid off as they started well, displaying some nice passing hockey. However, their dominance in the middle was not translated to the score sheet, and ended as a draw in a match that Colchester all but won. The next game was against Luton Town HC, who were of a similar standard to Colchester. This created an even game, however their superior finishing lead to a 1-0 defeat. The boys were now playing for pride, and faced the best side in the group, Saffron Walden. Colchester displayed pride but some exceptional individual talent coupled with good passing meant that the opposition finished as comfortable winners. Colchester did not qualify from the group stages, but now had some classification matches; the first of which was against Louth. Colchester were determined to win a game, and this was seen as the one! The boys started with much intensity, putting heavy pressure on the opposition. Some excellent passing from all the players gave Jack Knights the opportunity to complete a first half (i.e. within eight minutes!) hat-trick, which included an impressive backhand finish. Colchester's dominance continued and Charlie Fernandes completed the scoring to make it 4-0. The final game saw Colchester pitted against the home club Harleston, who had unluckily been put in a very tough group. The boys were able to contend with Harleston at the beginning, and managed some pressure through early shots, however Harleston's passing provided them a 2-0 lead. A Jack Knights goal saw Colchester back in the game, 2-1 at half time. However, the clinical finishing of Harleston meant that they ended up comfortable winners. Throughout the day the squad carried themselves with pride and re-enforced the fundamental message of having fun whilst playing hockey. They coupled this with listening to their coaches and improving throughout the day. The sideline support was also a significant factor and if ever a head needed lifting, it was. Thank you parents. It is a tremendous effort to get to the regional finals and be able to compete with the best teams in the region, and even win a game! Well done all!
	Boys' U12 Team: Back row: Jack Knights, Charlie Fernandes, James Tallentire, Alex Cole, James Wickenden Team: Front row: Ben Arulampulam, Keanan Woods, Patrick Preston, Jack Ager-Smith, Joe Sheppard (GK)