HBU U16 & U11 SECRHA Match Report
On Sunday 1 April the Bay Arena was the venue for a South Eastern Counties (SECRHA) Roller Hockey tournament for Under 11s and Under 16s. The tournament was the second of the series that forms the SECRHA league. The event was hosted by the Herne Bay club with teams from Herne Bay United (HBU), RHC Invicta and Maidstone.
Under 11
In the Under 11s category the 1st match of the day was between Herne Bay 1 and HBU. The HBU team is currently heading the Eastern Counties league and the experience helped them to a 5 – 2 victory over an up and coming Herne Bay side. HBU goals were scored by George Daly and Sian Emslie (2 each) and Noah Latham.
The matches against new and improving Maidstone and Herne Bay’s second team presented HBU with the opportunity to give more play to the younger and less experienced players in the team. They rose to the occasion with a 4-0 win over Maidstone (Sian 2, Max Bassom and Archie Isaacs 1 apiece) and 14-0 over Herne Bay 2 (Noah 6, Luke Huckstepp 2, Max 1 and Archie Isaacs 5). Louis Clarke made a promising debut and Jamie Leonard in goal made saves when he had to including from a penalty.
HBU Team: Jamie Leonard (GK), George Daly (Captain), Luke Huckstepp, Noah Latham, Sian Emslie. Archie Isaacs, Max Bassom, Louis Clarke.
Under 16
Herne Bay v HBU
This was a highly competitive match with leading schoolboy (and schoolgirl) talent in both teams. HBU had the majority of the scoring chances but the Bay’s keeper took a lot to beat. The final result was a 4 – 1 win for HBU. HBU scorers were Ashley Barton 2, Alex Mount 1 and David Martindale 1.
HBU Team: Ed Mount (GK), Ashley Barton (Captain), Katie McVey, Alex Mount, David Martindale, Josh Branchett, Will Parkinson Wellard.
HBU’s second match was against RHC Invicta. Jamie McVey was added to the squad and Rhys Young took over in goal from Ed Mount who played out. Both Mounts left at half-time for a field-hockey match leaving HBU with Ashley, Katie and the Under 13 team to complete the match. HBU held on to a comfortable 11-0 lead (goals from Ashley 6 and 2 each from Ed and Alex and 1 from David). Both HBU goalkeepers put in strong performances on the day giving the team great confidence in attack.
A good weekend for HBU was rounded off when the 1st team won their Premier League away match in Manchester and returned to the news that Grimsby had beaten league leaders Middlesbrough which means that the Premier League title race is wide open again.
