HC Knole Park’s juniors continue their excellent season winning gold, silver, and bronze medals at this weekend’s Regional Finals. The U12 Girls won gold, beating Guildford in the Final, and have now qualified for the National Finals, the U10 Girls won silver and the U12 Boys won a bronze in what was an amazing day for Knole Park.
In the U12 Girls Tournament the girls were superb from start to finish! In the opening match of the tournament, they faced hosts Guildford. In an end-to-end match two goals from Elisa Hippe secured a good 2-2 draw. Onto match two and the girls won 4-0 against Brighton and Hove. Goals from Hippe, Olivia Walker, Erica Wood, and Elodie Smith. In the performance of the day, the girls played some superb hockey against Sevenoaks, winning 5-0. Goals from Hippe, Wood (2), Walker and Jess Grobler. Against East Grinstead the girls failed to break down the Sussex club’s defence and it finished 0-0. A place in the final secured, the final group match was another very good performance as Wood scored twice to give the girls a 2-0 win over Epsom. In the final the girls were outstanding and despite the Guildford defence holding strong a single strike from Elisa Hippe was enough to see the girls’ crowned champions for the second year in a row! The girls progress to the National Finals in Nottingham on the 7th May.
In the U10 Girls competition the girls were excellent. In the group phase they won 5 out of 5 matches. In match one against Woking, they won 3-1 (Etta Jones, Flo Muñoz 2), against Eastbourne they won 5-0 (Muñoz 2, Eva Vitorino Hiietamm 3), and against Sevenoaks a last-minute winner secured a 2-1 win. Muñoz scoring both goals. Against East Grinstead the girls won 2-0 (Muñoz 2), and in the performance of the day against Old Georgians the girls won 4-0 (Muñoz 2, Elizabeth Abueita, Caroline Jobke). Onto the Final and they faced an inspired Sevenoaks defence who defended their D like never before! A lucky break away goal gave Sevenoaks a 1-0 win and therefore Knole Park girls had to settle for the silver. Despite the defeat the girls were immensely proud of their tournament having played some excellent hockey throughout the day.
The U12 Boys had a up and down tournament. At times they were sublime and others they failed to fire on all cylinders! In a tough start the boys were hit on the break three times to lose 2-3 to Woking. Lucas Dale the scorer for Knole Park. In match two it was a much-improved performance as the boys beat St. Francis 3-0. Dale, Jude Eliis and Ben Wildgoose the scorers. A disappointing performance against fellow Kent side Canterbury meant a 0-2 loss, which was followed by a 0-3 loss to Guildford. But the boys picked themselves up and a brilliant hat-trick from Dale gave the boys a 3-0 win over East Grinstead. Into the Bronze medal match and a 0-0 stalemate against Woking whose goalkeeper must have made 15 excellent saves meant penalties. Henry Walsh, Seb Foale and Lucas Dale all converted and Knole Park won the bronze! Sam Holness in goal stopping the Woking strikers from scoring!
The day showed how bright the future is at Knole Park, with strong performances at Regional level across U10 and U12 Boys and Girls! This is a remarkable achievement for a club only in its fourth season. The U12 Girls will go on to play in the National Finals next weekend and will be hoping to defend their national title.