Boys win Regional tournament at Marlow, now off to Nottingham!
In2Hockey is a national seven-a-side tournament form of hockey, with over 200 clubs across the country involved, at U10 and U12 level.
Our U12 Boys qualified through the County stage (in rotten weather at Southampton in March), only falling to Haslemere in the final as the boys fought off hypothermia. The boys then travelled to Marlow last weekend for the South Central Regional tournament. This event was more cut-throat, with only the winner to progress to the National finals.
In the pool games, the boys lost a tight match to Amersham & Chalfont 1-0 first up, before bouncing back with emphatic wins over Oxford 4-1 and Maidstone 4-0, to top the pool. Onto the semi-final time against Marlow, with the winner to face either A&C who beat us earlier in the day, or Haslemere, who defeated us in the County Final.
Never fear, Marlow were despatched 3-1 in the semi before a rematch with Amersham & Chalfont, who needed penalty strokes to edge past Haslemere.
Havant bounced out of the blocks quickly, determined not to let random luck take any significant part in the match, like in the previous encounter. Early goals delivered a 2-0 lead at half-time before a final score of 2-1 to #TeamHavantHC.
Goals galore to Toby, relishing his new role on the left wing, and to Vaughan up front, but a fantastic team effort all day long.
Medals, a shield and some very happy boys and supporters for the drive home! And almost as rewarding – we received very some positive feedback from tournament officials.
“I thought you’d like to know that the umpires (who included some very experienced L3 umpires and juniors who have umpired at national level) thought that the team conducted themselves brilliantly throughout the day and were very worthy winners. Also they appreciated the coaches and parents’ excellent sporting conduct throughout the day as well.“
Next stop – Nottingham, Saturday May 11. For people not going up on the coach, you will be able to follow the tournament here – https://englandhockey.altiusrt.com/competitions/405
#BleedGreen #TeamHavantHC
