Knole Park enjoyed tremendous success at the mid-Summer Derby Indoor Grand Slam Champions. Knole Park won three Golds, two Silvers, and one Bronze across seven competitions as they enjoyed a brilliant weekend of junior indoor hockey!
Knole Park’s U18 Girls stormed to gold as they continued their phenomenal indoor season with another Cup win! The girls won all four of their group matches scoring 30 goals and only conceding 8 times. In the final against the Hockey Mentors Project the team were superb winning 3-0 and securing their third indoor gold of the indoor season! Lottie was magnificent throughout and she was awarded the Player of the Tournament. Pascale was excellent in goal too. Evie S top scored with 13 goals, Biba scored 11, Lottie scored 5, and Jessica scored 3 goals.
Knole Park’s U16 Girls also picked up their third gold of the indoor season. The girls won all four group matches scoring 26 goals. In the semi-final the girls were brilliant beating Reading HC 7-0, before beating the Hockey Mentors Project 4-2 in the final. Biba and Evie were outstanding in attack scoring 23 and 11 goals respectively. Boadicea and Zofia were superb in defence as the team only conceded 5 goals across the six matches too.
Knole Park’s U14 Girls played out a very tough tournament as their competition was stacked with the best juniors playing in national teams. The girls got off to the best start possible beating Winchester HC 5-0. The girls backed this up with wins against Rugby and East Warwickshire HC (2-0), Cambridge City (2-1), and Ipswich School (3-0). In the semi-final the girls were superb as they beat the Hockey Mentors Project 1-0. Mali ghosted past the opposition before rolling the ball to Tilly to push home. In the final against national side the UK Lions, the girls were unfortunate in the early stages of the match and were hit on the break to go 0-1 down. In pushing for an equaliser, the girls were left short at the back and the UK Lions scored again to win 2-0. The Knole Park girls had to settle for silver which given the field was a pretty phenomenal silver! Evie W dominated in midfield throughout the tournament and was awarded the tournament’s Player of the Tournament!
Knole Park’s U12 Girls continued their amazing successes this season as they won all six matches to be crowned Derby Grand Slam champions! Match one was a rematch of the National outdoor final against Surbiton. Ella B scored towards the end of the match for a 1-0 win. From there the girls beat Cheltenham (1-0), Sevenoaks (2-0), Cambridge (1-0), Winchester (1-0) and Marlow (2-0). Elisa was brilliant in centre midfield as she top scored for the team with 3 goals and was also awarded the Player of the Tournament. Martha was excellent in goal as she didn’t concede all tournament, including saving a penalty in the final match against Marlow!
Knole Park’s U10 Girls played in their first indoor tournament over half-term and were brilliant! The girls won their first four matches and drew one to qualify for the final. In the final they played an amazing match against Hertford HC. Flo gave the girls the lead, only for Hertford to slot home a rebound to make it 1-1. Flo scored again, but once again Hertford scored and it finished 2-2. Onto penalty shuffles and despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Annebelle W, Hertford managed to score two, leaving Knole Park to pick up the silver. Flo top scored for the team with 17 goals. Elizabeth scored 4, Caroline 3, Millie 1. An amazing effort for the girls for their first indoor tournament!
Knole Park’s U16 Boys were in superb form at the Derby Grand Slam. In a very tough competition, the boys played outstandingly well throughout. In the first group stage the boys won 10-2 and 4-0 against the Hockey Mentors Project B-team and Winchester HC respectively. In the second phase they then lost a tight match 3-5 to the Hockey Mentors Project A-team before beating Sutton Coldfield 3-2. This left the boys playing for 4th place which they successfully achieved in beating Reading HC 8-2 and the North of England 2-1. Isaac was outstanding throughout the tournament scoring 20 goals and was duly awarded the Player of the Tournament. Noah scored 6 times and Reggie scored twice.
Knole Park’s U12 Boys were the club’s most unfortunately team as their gold medal chances was cruelly lost on penalties in the semi-finals against Canterbury. In the group stages the boys drew 1-1 with Yarm School, before beating Bishops Stortford (3-0), City of York (3-0) and Rugby and East Warwickshire (4-3). In the semi-final the boys were all over Canterbury but just couldn’t score! A loss of possession in midfield meant that Canterbury scored with their only attempt of the match. Thankfully Alex was able to equalise moments later for 1-1. In the shootout the boys were unable to score past the excellent Canterbury goalkeeper and Canterbury progressed to the final. In the Bronze Medal match the boys were once again very good and sailed into a 2-0 lead against Surbiton. Alex and Lucas with the goals. As Surbiton piled on the pressure, they scored twice to make it 2-2 and to take it to a shootout. Thankfully the boys had learnt from last time and goals from Josh and Alex gave the boys the bronze medals. Alex top scored for the team with 8 goals. Lucas scored 4 and Jude scored 1.
Director of Coaching, Duncan, said: “It has been a brilliant few days in Derby. The club have really come together and supported one another which is lovely to see. The quality of hockey in every team was outstanding and to win so many medals and individual awards was the icing on the cake! Many congratulations to everyone involved!”
