U12 Boys take Gold in Canterbury Indoor!
Knole Park’s U12 Boys had another superb weekend as they won Gold at the Canterbury Indoor Tournament. In a four-way tournament with Canterbury, Woking and Sevenoaks the boys won all three matches scoring 26 goals and conceding just 3.
In the first match Knole Park faced Woking from Surrey. An electric start saw the boys 4-0 up at half-time after two goals a piece from attacking duo Moritz Hippe and Isaac Dale. The second half saw Knole Park produced more of the same individual skill as Isaac scored two more goals and Moritz added one more to his tally for a hat-trick. A sublime individual goal from Harry Lewis from a seemingly impossible position and a penalty corner from William Galloni meant the final score was 9-0 to Knole Park!
The second match against the hosts was a tighter game. The Canterbury goalkeeper did very well between the sticks, however the team still managed to score four goals through Isaac (2), Iggy Muñoz and Mack Copp. Canterbury did score an early goal themselves after an uncharacteristic error from the Knole Park forwards, however the score finished 4-1 to Knole Park.
The final match was against Sevenoaks, who had heavily lost both of their matches already. In a very one sided match the Knole Park boys put on an exhibition of quality passing and individual hockey, as well as pressing exceptionally well to run out 13-2 winners! Goals in the first half were scored by Isaac (3), Moritz (2) and Mack including a goal after 7 seconds by Isaac Dale! The second half was very similar as the boys continued to impress scoring a further seven goals through Isaac (2), Mack (2), Moritz (2) and Iggy. Sevenoaks did score two break away goals, however the score finished and emphatic 13-2 and Knole Park had won the gold medals!
Isaac Dale and Moritz Hippe shared the Player of the Tournament award for the team.
Thank you to Canterbury for hosting such a great tournament in your wonderful facility. We look forward to playing again next season!
The U12 Girls played some fantastic hockey to win silver in Canterbury!
HC Knole Park’s U12 Girls played some outstanding hockey to win silver in the Canterbury indoor tournament. Having finished outside the medals at the Copper Box, the girls had been training exceptionally hard throughout January and their improvements in this time alone have been absolutely phenomenal! In the five-way tournament Knole Park would play Sevenoaks and Canterbury A & B teams. The girls won 3 and drew 1, just missing out on the Gold medal on goal difference of three goals!
In the first match Knole Park played Sevenoaks A. In a dominant display the girls scored mid-way through the half through Lettie Hughes. After a well worked penalty corner was saved, Lettie pounced on the rebound and flicked it into the corner. Despite many further chances to extend the lead, the girls just couldn’t find that second goal. Some excellent goalkeeping from the Sevenoaks keeper proving to be the difference between the two teams. 1-0 is always a dangerous score line in sport, and so it proved as Sevenoaks scored from a break away to equalise. Knole Park had one more chance to seal the win, however some excellent defending on the line meant the match finished 1-1.
In the second match, the girls were outstanding again! A 5-0 win over host Canterbury A team with goals from Celia Foster (2), Ines Gascoyne-Day (2) and Sara Friis proving to be too much for Canterbury.
The third match was a much tougher experience for the team as they faced Canterbury B-Team. In an inspired performance from the opposition and in particular their goalkeeper, the Knole Park attack was kept at bay until the 12th minute of the match! Indeed at this point Canterbury had taken a deserved 1-0 lead on the break! However a flurry of goals at the end of the match from Celia Foster, Lettie (2) and Phoebe Bright saw the girls run out 4-1 winners.
To the final match of the tournament and Sevenoaks B-team. The girls regained their inspiration and were awesome once again! Betsy Burden scored a fantastic solo goal to open the scoring, before Ines and Celia (2) added more goals for a final score of 4-0 to Knole Park.
With 14 goals for and just 2 against the girls had an excellent tournament. Since the Copper Box, goal-scoring has been the main focus in training and to see the girls score this many goals against such high quality opposition was wonderful to see. The team certainly created the most chances in the tournament, however they did meet some inspired goalkeepers too! Second place overall, by three goals was a shame, especially having had chances to win their first match, however the progress by all was a joy to behold and the girls should be exceptionally pleased with their progress and performances.
Betsy Burden, Lettie Hughes and Ines Gascoyne-Day shared the Player of the Tournament award for the team.
Thank you to Canterbury for hosting such a great tournament in your wonderful facility. We look forward to playing again next season!
On to the next tournament, next weekend!
U14 Girls qualify for the England Hockey Regional Finals with emphatic victory!
HC Knole Park’s U14 girls team travelled to Woking on Sunday for an England Hockey Tier 1 match. The girls knew that a victory would be enough to secure progression to the next round and were delighted to win the match and play some truly inspirational hockey in the process!
The team got off to a flying start with a goal from Olivia Breed within the first minute of the match after an attacking run into the circle from captain Lottie Bingham. The second goal followed two minutes later when another run from Lottie found Phoebe Gough Cooper in the circle who calmly slotted the ball away. A penalty corner strike from Lottie gave Knole Park a convincing 3-0 lead after less than five minutes of the game!
Knole Park continued to play their trademark fast attacking hockey with excellent passing and movement which resulted in three more goals from Belle Kramer, Olivia and Summer Knight Thompson all assisted by the attacking prowess and accurate delivery of pass by vice-captain Anna Faulstich. The defence remained resolute despite a couple of breakaway attacks from Woking and Jess Lewis frequently surged through from defence to create further attacking opportunities. Phoebe scored from a penalty corner and Lottie added to her tally after a fine run by Summer. The half ended with Knole Park leading 9-0 after a superb through pass from Olivia that found Harriet Medlen free in the circle who scored an excellent debut A-team goal.
Woking came back re-energised after the half time break and scored a well-deserved counter attack goal. Less than two minutes later however Lottie converted a penalty corner and from then on Knole Park were back in control. Olivia scored an excellent second half hat trick to take her personal game tally to five goals and she also assisted Phoebe for a fine hat trick. Lottie scored an impressive individual goal and slotted home her fifth of the game after good attacking play from Phoebe. The tireless running of Josefina Hippe in midfield earned her two goals and a final score line of 18-1 for Knole Park.
The opposition were very gracious in defeat and were full of praise for the amazing team performance which they described as a pleasure to watch. Woking voted Lottie Bingham as player of the match but the entire Knole Park team should be congratulated on their excellent work rate, team cohesion, passing and emphatic goal scoring.