SECRHA U11 & U16 Match Reports – 3rd June
SECRHA U11 and U16
On Sunday 3 June the Bay Arena was the venue for a South Eastern Counties (SECRHA) Roller Hockey tournament for Under 11s and Under 16s. This tournament was the third of the series that forms the SECRHA league. The event was hosted by the Herne Bay United (HBU) club with teams from Herne Bay, RHC Invicta and Maidstone.
Under 11
HBU v Herne Bay 5 – 3 (HT 4 – 0)
Herne Bay started the league with two teams but have withdrawn one team. Their concentration is on their 1st team so it promised to be a tough match for the HBU Team that has won this season’s Eastern Counties Under 11 league. HBU set “the Bay” back on their heels with a George Daly goal within seconds of the start. Herne Bay regrouped after this setback and concentrated on defence against an HBU onslaught that delivered 3 more goals in the first half (Luke Huckstepp 2, Sian Emslie 1). In the second half, HBU used more of their younger players and this showed how dangerous the Herne Bay team can be. Josh Osborne got through and scored three and goal-keeper Jamie Leonard had to work hard to prevent more. It was HBU’s turn to regroup and a late goal by Luke Huckstepp made it safe for HBU.
HBU v Maidstone 7 – 1 (HT 2 – 1)
HBU started with their strongest team against Maidstone but it was Maidstone who scored first. Noah Latham replied for HBU in under a minute and HBU established their usual game of piling on the pressure; a fast improving Maidstone side refused to crack until just before the interval when Latham scored his second. In the second half the pressure was telling on Maidstone’s energy, HBU rotated their players and goals came from Luke Huckstepp (2), George Daly, Archie Isaacs and Sian Emslie.
HBU Team: Jamie Leonard (GK), George Daly (Captain) (2), Luke Huckstepp (5), Noah Latham (2), Sian Emslie (2). Archie Isaacs (1), Max Bassom, Louis Clarke, Harrison Raven (GK)
Other result: Maidstone v Herne Bay 1 – 7 (HT 0 – 3)
Under 16
HBU v Herne Bay 4 – 1 (HT 2 – 0)
Both the HBU and Herne Bay teams were without some of their usual players and it was a tentative start by the out-players with strong goal-keeping at both ends dealing easily with the shots. The deadlock was broken by HBU’s Josh Branchett slotting the ball between the Bay’s defence to the far post with GK Osborne completely unsighted. David Martindale then scored to give HBU a 2 – 0 lead at half-time. At the start of the second half Will Parkinson-Wellard gave away an unfortunate deflection into HBU’s net taking the scoreline to 2 – 1. Herne Bay strengthened their team with the arrival of Aaron Cathcart and the match looked set for a ding-dong. HBU withstood the added Herne Bay pressure and David Martindale and Lewis Greenwood provided 2 more goals to produce the final 4 – 1 win.
HBU v RHC Invicta 9 – 0 (HT 3 – 0)
Apart from the occasional foray by Luke Latham, RHC Invicta found it hard to trouble the settled team game of HBU. Early goals came from Lewis Greenwood and Alex Mount with Greenwood scoring his second on the half-time hooter. The second half opened with a third Greenwood goal and a final 4 minutes of pressure resulted in goals from Martindale (2), Greenwood (3), and Parkinson-Wellard.
HBU Team: Ed Mount (GK), Lewis Greenwood (Captain) (6), Alex Mount (1), David Martindale (4), Josh Branchett (1), Will Parkinson-Wellard (1).
Other result: Herne Bay v RHC Invicta 9 – 1 (HT 5 – 0)
