On a beautiful spring April afternoon the Girls U18 Academy played an inter-squad match. Featuring some of the club’s most talented U14 Girls too, there was much excitement in the air.
The first quarter was very close. Olivia Breed scored the first goal for Team White with a superb backhand strike after rounding Pascale Pottier in a 1v1. 1-0.
In the second quarter the Whites racked up the score line. First Josefina Hippe scored after a series of 1-2s with Olivia. A great combination team goal. 2-0. In reply, Annabel Cheveley scored the Navy team’s first goal with an expertly taken PCA strike. But the quarter belonged to the Whites as Amelie Allen scored a quick fire brace. First it was the brilliant play of U14 Charlotte Watkins who put Amelie in, before a generous defensive pass was capitalised on by Amelie to make the score 4-1 at the break.
The third quarter was more of the same. As the Navy team pushed for goals they were always likely to leave themselves slightly open at the back. The invention of Betrys Galloni did however give the Navy team hope as her ingenious ball into the D was expertly converted by Annabel for her second of the match. 4-2. The White team continued to counter and scored three unanswered goals to finish the quarter. First Olivia scored her second of the match, before some excellent skills from recently selected Wales U19 player, Elen Nicholls, put Amelie in for her hat-trick goal. Josefina then scored her second, pouncing on a loose ball in the D to coolly finish. 8-2.
It would take a almighty 15 minutes for team Navy to rescue a result from this final quarter, but they gave it a great go! The combination of Phoebe Gough-Cooper, Lottie Bingham and Annabel Cheveley linked up fantastically. First Lottie put Phoebe in and she rounded Pascale to score. Then Annabel put Lottie in and her expert backhand was reward for all her hard work. 8-4 it finished. What a fantastic match! The quality of the hockey was unreal. Everyone played exceptionally well. Well done to the U14s that enjoyed their U18 Academy debut. The future at Knole Park is very bright!
In match 2 it was two mixed Adult and U14 Boys and Girls teams. In a very defensively minded opening half the match remained goal-less.
At the start of the second half the Navy team that broke the deadlock. Another mazy run from Isaac Dale put Louis van den Rijse in and he swiftly rolled the ball onto his backhand for a sweet finish. 1-0. Sadly for the Navy team within a minute the White team equalised. A counter-attack which saw Martha Reeve burst through the Navy defence and smash the ball into the netting. 1-1.
To the final period and it was the White team that took the lead. After a goal mouth scramble Mack Copp coolly converted the rebound. 2-1. Minutes later Sarah Eversfield calmly dispatched a forehand flick past Pascale. To the final moments of the match and it was once again Mack Copp who was on the score sheet. As the Navy team pushed for a winner through a series of penalty corners it was on the counter-attack that Mack Copp slotted the ball passed the on rushing David Gough-Cooper. The final score of an entertaining match was 3-2 to team White. Well done to everyone that played. It was great to see a mixture of ages and club mates playing alongside one another, apply the club’s core philosophies of play, and with a smile on their faces!
A Sunday afternoon goal fest!
On another beautiful Sunday afternoon the KP membership played out a thrilling 11-11 draw at Radnor House!! I’m not sure anyone had ever been involved in such a high scoring draw!!
The first quarter started relatively quietly as the Navy team moved into a commanding 4-0 lead. Two goals from Duncan, a great solo effort from Niamh Stringer and a superb backhand from Charlotte were the highlights.
Into the second quarter and it was Duncan (3), Charlotte and Niamh that were once again on the score sheet for the Navy team. Ruth did capitalise on some indifferent defending to bring the Whites their first goal of the game to make it 9-1 at half time.
The second half the White came out flying. A mid match transfer for Duncan saw him directly involved from the off with the Whites scoring 6 unanswered goals. Both Duncan & Anna Faulstich scored twice, and Ruth and Sarah Eversfield slotted home for their second and first of the match respectively. 9-7 to the Navy’s!
Into the final quarter and it was once again the Whites who dominated. Ruth scored her third of the match to make it 9-8. However some superb counter-attacking from Betty Cannon and Martha Reeve pulled the Navy’s away to 11-8. With the seconds ticking away the Whites managed to grab the final three goals of the match as Duncan, Ruth and Sarah all scored to tie the game up at 11-11!
A fantastic match, played in fantastic spirit by all. When will we ever see 22 goals split between two teams in a match again? Remarkable attacking skills and finishing! Well done to everyone that played!