SECHRA 16th November: Under 16’s put in a performance at the first SECHRA tournament of the year
REPORT- SECRHA U/16 Tournament 16th Nov 2014
Herne Bay United started the 2014/15 South Eastern Counties U16 campaign, gaining three wins during an exciting day’s hockey.
HBU have a strong squad this season and the players selected for this tournament demonstrated why there is competition for places.
First up for HBU were local rivals Herne Bay, who had spoilt HBU’s undefeated record with a narrow victory at the end of last season. This time HBU started positively and found themselves 4-0 up at half time. The 2nd half continued in the same manner and HBU extended the lead before conceding a late goal to start the day off with a good performance and an 11-1 victory.
In the 2nd game against a less experienced Maidstone team, HBU went 4-0 at half time to run out victors 8-0.
The final game of the day proved to be the most exciting with HBU against RHC Invicta. The Invicta side set themselves up to keep a tight defensive formation and catch HBU on the break. This worked well with HBU unable to convert opportunities through a combination of great keeping, strong defence and poor finishing. Invicta worked hard to catch HBU on the break and against the run of play Invicta were 2-0 up at half time.
The 2nd half saw the same pattern of play with Invicta extending their lead to 3-0 with HBU making individual errors leading to chances for Invicta. The 3rd goal drew an immediate positive response from HBU who worked the ball quickly to create a shooting opportunity and a top corner finish reduced the deficit- 3-1. Continuing to press, HBU scored a 2nd and relying on great keeping to keep them in the game HBU managed to equalise & in the last couple of minutes took the lead for the 1st time 4-3.
3 wins achieved in different circumstances, a great start to the season and a reminder of the standard required to compete. All players contributed to these results with all the outplayers getting on the score sheet.
HBU Team: Jack Thomas(GK), Harrison Raven(GK), Jamie McVey(C), Oli Hudson, Josh Butcher, Will Parkinson- Wellard, Matt Lawrie, Cameron Lawrie, Noah Latham
