Bridgnorth Endowed’s under-14 squad travelled to St George’s in Telford for the Tier 4 Hockey County Championships on a bitterly cold afternoon last Tuesday.
A place in the championship finals was about to be decided using a round robin format of 15-minute matches and the excitement in the minibus was palpable.
The first match against Newport’s Haberdashers’ Adams began Bridgnorth’s campaign well, with two goals from Eddie Sykes, including a lovely reverse stick shot lifted beyond the reach of their keeper. The final score was 2:1 after the opposition managed to get one back.
Next up was William Brookes and BES opened up the scoring when a great cross from the edge of the pitch by George Barnsley set Eddie Sykes through on goal. This was followed with a second from Eddie and a third from Oliver Mathers, for a 3:0 victory.
The next match saw Church Stretton put up a strong defence, but a short corner, swiftly injected by Lewis Chamberlain and finished with style by Eddie Sykes, proved the difference between the teams as BES kept a second clean sheet with 1:0.
For the final match of the day, BES faced Thomas Telford, who had also won all their matches. With a great demonstration of individual skill, Eddie Sykes scored first and, although we successfully defended a couple of short corners, Telford levelled up in the dying minutes for a 1:1 result.
Bridgnorth finished neck and neck with Thomas Telford, but goal difference meant they took second place. Despite the bittersweet result, the boys produced a performance that was good enough to see them qualify for the West Midlands Tier 4 Regional Finals, which will be held in March.
Hockey coach, Mrs Griffin, said: “I’m so proud of every member of the team, who each got to play a significant part in our victories today. While it’s easy to celebrate all the goals the team scored, it is just as important to highlight how few goals we conceded. Onwards and upwards to the regionals.”
Congratulations to our top team: Zack Round, Callum Watkins, George Berry, Oliver Mathers, George Barnsley, Patrick Lewis, Josh Bennett, Ben Musgrave, Arthur Russell, Lewis Chamberlain, Eddie Sykes, and Ben Emanuel.
