HC Knole Park U18 Girls crown debut with a win in the local derby!
HC Knole Park beat local neighbours Sevenoaks HC 3-1 on Sunday in the club’s first ever U18 fixture. The victory was sealed with goals from Elloise Paler, Amelie Allen and Olivia Breed. In a very high quality match, the victory was the perfect start to the season for Knole Park’s newly introduced U18 team.
In a very even first ten minutes both sides created good chances. Knole Park won a few penalty corners and tested the goalkeeper, likewise Sevenoaks saw a chance go begging just inches in front of goal! It was however Sevenoaks who broke the deadlock when their new England U18 signing scored after some confusion in the Knole Park defence. Not to be perturbed, Knole Park continued to play and dominated the ball and shortly after, a sweeping full pitch passing move started by Elloise Paler was then finished off in style by the flying half back. Elloise has been superb since joining Knole Park over the summer and her performance throughout this match was outstanding.
The second half was a similar format as both teams played some brilliant hockey and created chances. Alice Reeve in goal for Knole Park was excellent throughout making a number of excellent saves. Betrys Galloni and Jessica Lewis also managed to keep the Sevenoaks threats at bay. The midfield trio of Lottie Bingham, Anna Faulstich and Sasha Kelbrick were also exceptional in midfield.
15 minutes into the second half it was the quality of the Knole Park girls who managed to break the stalemate as they scored goals number two and three of the match in relatively quick succession. Another excellent passing more saw Alex Sewell roll in Annabel Cheveley who squared the ball to Amelie Allen who netted for a 2-1 lead, and then Olivia Breed capitalised on some scrappy defending as she scored Knole Park’s third goal which gave Knole Park a landmark 3-1 victory in their first U18 fixture!
Many congratulations to all the players on both sides for an excellent U18 match. Both sides should be exceptionally proud of how they played.
The U18 girls look forward to hosting Wimbledon in a few weeks’ time for game two!
HC Knole Park’s U16B Girls start their season with defeat.
HC Knole Park’s U16B Girls narrowly lost 3-4 in their season opening encounter with Marden Russets U16A Girls in the Home Counties Tier 2 competition. Polly Brownlow, Greta Shannon and Phoebe Gough-Cooper were the Knole Park scorers in a very closely contested match.
Entering into the Tier 2 competitions was always going to be a tough ask for the U16 girls squad at Knole Park, however with so many enthusiastic and talented girls it was felt that this would be ideal to stretch and develop everyone’s hockey. Two teams at U16 level was unthinkable a year ago – but now it means that all the girls get to play regular hockey against A-teams throughout the season which will really help their hockey.
The match on Sunday started well. The Marden goalkeeper was called into action on several occasions. Marden’s success however came on the counter-attack as their fast forwards ran into space left behind the Knole Park defence and they took a 1-0 lead. Almost immediately Polly Brownlow scored from a well worked penalty corner. Sadly this gave Marden the boost they needed and some good moments for them later, they were 3-1 up.
Not to be outdone the second half was excellent. An increase in work rate, positivity and quality and the girls created a number of better opportunities. A superb solo run from Polly was finished off by Greta Shannon and Phoebe Gough-Cooper scored a good individual goal. Sadly the Knole Park dominance came at a price as Marden hit Knole Park on the break and took a 4-3. So it came down to the last play of the match and a penalty corner to tie it up. Sadly the Marden defence were equal to the challenge and they won 4-3.
The girls look forward to travelling to East Grinstead in a couple of weeks’ time.
HC Knole Park’s U14 boys suffer open day defeat against Canterbury
HC Knole Park’s U14 boys travelled to Canterbury on Sunday to face fellow Kent side Canterbury. With the journey still in their legs the boys went into an early 4-0 deficit. However a much more positive second half saw a much more even half and the boys test the Canterbury goalkeeper a lot. Isaac Dale scored a well taken goal to effectively win the second half 1-0, however unfortunately on this occasion it wasn’t enough.
In two weeks’ time the boys host Surbiton who also won at the weekend. It promised to be a tough match, but the boys will be keen to reverse this defeat.
An amazing performance for HC Knole Park’s U14A Girls as they start the season with a win!
HC Knole Park beat Sevenoaks HC U14A Girls 7-1 in an amazing performance on Sunday. Two goals each from Charlotte Watkins and Summer Knight-Thompson and individual goals from Amber Croll, Carlotta Kern and Celia Foster meant that Knole Park started their season in the best way possible – a brilliant performance and three points!
The Knole Park girls were dominant from the first whistle and despite numerous chances it was only the solo magic of Charlotte Watkins that could get past the Sevenoaks goalkeeper in the first half. 1-0.
The second half, the Knole Park fans were treated to an even better performance from the Knole Park girls as they scored some wonderful team and individual goals. A great solo run from Summer Knight-Thompson was finished off by Celia Foster, before Carlotta Kern smashed home a set piece move. Summer then scored a goal of her own to make it 4-0. A lapse in concentration then allowed Sevenoaks to score a goal of their own against the run of play. In a brilliant final ten minutes, Charlotte Watkins scored again, before Amber Croll and Summer Knight-Thompson finished the scoring to wrap up the 7-1 win. The girls were truly fantastic from the first whistle to the last – this promises to be a very exciting season for them!
The Sevenoaks goalkeeper should be commended as she was exceptional throughout.
This puts the girls top of their Home Counties table after the first matches and was the perfect start to the season. Knole Park host Guildford in a few weeks’ time for round two of the season!
HC Knole Park’s U14B Girls play out a seven goal thriller!
As part of HC Knole Park’s “Super Sunday”, the U14B Girls hosted Marden Russets A-Team in a friendly. In what was the girls first ever full pitch match together, having spent last year playing half pitch matches. In a very pleasing match the girls individual progress and how well they adapted their skills to the extra space and players available was excellent. Goals from Betsy Burden, after a lovely 1-2 with Celia Foster, Lettie Hughes and Mali Nicholls were almost enough, as the score line ebbed and flowed throughout the match. Sadly a breakaway goal late on was the blow to the young Knole Park side that meant the game ended in defeat and a 4-3 win to Marden Russets.
The U14B Girls season gets underway in a couple of weeks’ time against Canterbury A-Team.
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