HC Knole Park’s Men 1st Team hit the spot once again!
In an up and down season so far, with a few more ups!, HC Knole Park’s men’s 1st team backed up their excellent performance last week with a goal fest against Burnt Ash. Winning 14-3 it was definitely a game for the social distanced supporters! Nine goals from Duncan Parnis, two from Adam Ward and singles from Louis van den Rijse, Dave Smith and Maarten de Widt gave the men their biggest goals total in their history!
The match started in the torrential rain, but this wasn’t enough to deter a motivated Knole Park side. The first goal was scored by Adam Ward. A penalty corner flick hit the post man on the foot, and after some excellent advantage from the umpire, the rebound was calmly slotted away by Adam. Duncan and Will Gough-Cooper then combined to score the second. Some lovely passing put Duncan in and he scored his first of the afternoon. Duncan backed this up five minutes later with another trademark drag-flick. Duncan then scored a superb individual effort. Rounding the Burnt Ash defence he coolly slotted the ball past the on rushing goalkeeper. A mix-up in defence did give Burn Ash hope however as they scored just before half-time to make it 4-1.
The second half was a significantly better performance. The passing was better, the team work more refined, the receiving more accurate and it made a huge difference as the young Knole Park produced some scintillating second half hockey! The first goal of the second half was a slick more involving youngsters Luke Dimond, Ted Paice and Louis vd Rijse. The boys passed and moved the ball brilliantly and Louis smashed the ball into the bottom corner to get the second half scoring going! Duncan’s first of the half was an amazing solo effort - picking the ball up on the half way line he rounded the whole Burnt Ash team before cruising into the D and smashing the ball passed the goalkeeper. Duncan repeated the trick twice more in relatively quick succession. Once from a long corner and the other from the assist master Luke Dimond. A lovely 1-2 put Duncan through and he rounded the goalkeeper once more to finish well. Duncan also scored a hat-trick of penalty corner strikes in the second half to take his total to an incredible nine for the match!! Not content with scoring, Duncan also claimed two assists late on in the match as he repeated his skills from earlier in the game and rolled in Dave Smith for his first Knole Park goal and Maarten de Widt for his first of the season. A remarkable result from a team making improvements every week! The lockdown has come at the wrong time for this developing team! Credit to Burnt Ash they did continue to play and scored two good goals in the second half to make the final score 14-3 to Knole Park.
With a month off, the team’s next scheduled match is against Sevenoaks on the 5th December! One to look forward to during lockdown.
Our Ladies 1s and 2s played in an inter club friendly on Saturday, replacing their cancelled league matches. Great to get some game time, thanks to everyone who came out to play!
The Navy team took the lead through Josefina after a superb carry from Ruth through the White defence. As the game approached half-time the White team however scored twice to make it 2-1. The goals came from a penalty corner strike from Annabel and an excellent solo effort from Phoebe after turning the ball over in the press.
The second half was equally competitive, however it was the clinical nature of the White team that was the difference. Sarah scored two quick fire girls from close range, including a classy lift over the goalkeeper for one to make it 4-1. Amelie and Lauren did score for the Navy team after more good work from Josefina and Ruth respectively, but another rebound finish from Sarah in the final moment of the game meant it finished 5-3 to the Whites.
Despite the disappointment of the cancelled matches, this was a fantastic replacement. The quality of hockey throughout was a joy to watch and everyone should be pleased with their progress so far this season. Well done to everyone!