Slaz 2 Hull 0
The return of the Hockey season gave the boys a nice Sunday morning out in Harrogate. Hull was the first game and both teams played with a good intensity. Slazenger however had the majority of play and the ball and pegged Hull back to their half of the pitch. Solid defending from Scott Carruthers , Alex Jolly and James Armitage meant little came through our back 3. Matthew Chilton warmed to his role of midfield sweeper and took the ball to the opposition half drilling the ball forward with ferocity. Small triangles of play between Matthew, his sister Hannah( a stand in U16 boy) and Harry Gunning lead to the first Slaz goal. A drifting run from Gunning opened the defence and their keeper could keep out his rifle shot finish. Mercurial runs from Chris Gascoigne and Josh Dunstan meant that the Hull goal was under constant threat, yet it was a run up the wing by Dunstan that gave Slaz the second goal. Blaine Bennett , Josh Swallow and Gasgoinge were all waiting for a ball flashed across the box by Dunstan; yet it was ultimately Gascoinge who got his stick to it to press home the advantage.

Slaz 0 Harrogate 4
Harrogate was a horse of a different colour as their well drill squad brought forwards in numbers, the tricky runs and willingness to get behind the back four from Slaz had them all on the back foot. Danny Alderson, the Slaz keeper now had his work cut out and had to batter away shot after shot. Scott Carruthers cleared his lines well but the constant pressure from lightning quick passes meant the Slazenger boys were left standing whilst the Harrogate forwards quickly got around the back four and slotted home an easy goal. This pattern repeated itself before Hannah and Matthew Chilton took control of the midfield. A few flashes from Dunstan were not enough to make a telling reply and Harrogate caught Slaz on the break twice more to take the game.

Player of the day: Scott Carruthers

Slazenger Hockey Club U16 Boys produced some outstanding hockey to beat Thirsk HC  by 13 – 0 in the England Hockey Board Cup, Yorkshire semi-finals at College Grove on Sunday.

This succeeded in booking their place in the next round of the national competition and setting up a Yorkshire final against City of York. In a convincing team performance, seven players saw their names on the scoresheet including hatricks from captain Aidan Hopkinson and Matthew Stacey.

In a close fought final, both teams again produced some outstanding hockey which was enjoyed by spectators from both clubs. The game eventually finished with a 2 – 1 defeat for the Horbury based Slazenger team. York took the lead with some early pressure, and forcing Slaz onto the back foot. However in the second half, the pressure was with the Horbury team, forcing a penalty flick converted by James Higgins. The team continued to press, but unfortunately a goal was disallowed, and Slaz ran out of time to find an equaliser.

The team progress through to compete against the best in the North of England for a place in the National Finals.

PHOTO – U16 squad;
Back row (L-to-R) Dan Levitt, Will Copley, James Higgins, Isaac Fisher, Matthew Stacey, Rowan Tejura, Alex King,
Front Row (L-to-R) Luke Gueli, Mathew Feather, Tom Pitchforth, Ralph Toon, Aiden Hopkinson, Dan Atkinson, Robert Caan.

Another unbeaten tournament and three more clean sheets for the Slazenger U16 boys.

The day started late due to a frozen pitch with games reduced to 20 minutes instead of the scheduled 25 minutes.

Slazenger 1 – 0 Sheffield
Slazenger dominated the newly promoted Sheffield team, creating several goal scoring opportunities but it was not until the 15th minute that Luke Gueli found a way through the Sheffield defence, keeping the ball alive from a penalty corner. Despite defending for most of the game, the Sheffield boys still posed a threat on counter attacks, winning a last minute penalty corner to ensure a very tense finish. Slazenger were deserved winners.

Slazenger 0 – 0 City of York
With both Slazenger and York boasting several JRPC and Futures Cup players, this was always going to be a difficult game. Both teams demonstrated some excellent passing hockey, making goal scoring opportunities at both ends of the field. The Slazenger defence had to be at it’s best to deny a strong York attack. In the end, a goalless draw was a fair reflection of the game.

Slazenger 2 – 0 Ben Rhydding
Having played out a frustrating goalless draw against Ben Rhydding on their last meeting, Slazenger wasted no time in opening the scoring with Matthew Stacey finding the net in under a minute following a positive passing move involving several Slazenger players. Ben Rhydding were unable to offer any real answer to the Slazenger attack, so it was no surprise when Isaac Fisher connected with a pass from Will Copley to score the second goal after just 6 minutes play. The next 10 minutes of play were largely dominated by Slazenger who were unable to capitalise on their possession to increase the margin. Towards the end of the game, Ben Rhydding began to mount some attacks of their own, resulting in a couple of penalty corners, one of which brought the save of the day from keeper Ralph Toon, diving low to his right to tip a fierce shot around the post with his outstretched stick.

Slazenger will remain in Division 1 along with City of York who also scored 7 points. Sheffield (3 points) and Ben Rhydding (0 points) are relegated to Division 2.

The boys earned their continued success by a combination of skill, teamwork and hard work. Every attack by our opposition was met with solid defense with the whole team working hard to regain possession, none more so than player of the tournament, Dan Levitt. Most improved player goes to Dan Atkinson, playing in unfamiliar wing and inside forward positions.

Area for improvement:
Running into contact
Dwelling on the ball, allowing the opposition to read & intercept passes
Not clearing the ball from defense
For the next YYHL tournament on 1st December, Bradford & Doncaster will be promoted to Divisions 1.

Thanks to John Toon for umpiring, Ian Levitt for collecting subs, Philip Higgins for the supply of very welcome fleeces for the boys and to our loyal band of parents who turned out in force again to support the boys.

The next tournament for the U16 boys is the EHB Cup Round at Pocklington on Sunday 24th November. This is a longer event from 10am to 4pm and consisting of three games, each of 2 x 25 minute halves. Our opposition will be Doncaster, Ben Rhydding & Bradford.

The U16 Boys team qualified for the playoffs with two wins on Sunday.

Slazenger 6 – 0 Bridlington

In Slazenger’s first game of the day against Bridlington, a hatrick from Aidan Hopkinson and goals from Robert Cann, Peter Gunning and Luke Gueli (Pen) ensured a positive start. The team moved the ball around well, though sometimes tried to find the long ‘killer pass’ when short safe passes would have been a better option.

Slazenger 2 – 0 Sheffield

Against Sheffield, the team took time to settle with Luke Gueli finding the net for the second time of the day. Although the teams were more evenly matched than the first game, Sheffield rarely looked like scoring except for the occasional breakaway. The midfield passed the ball much better and we found space on both wings but the game was not made safe until the 24th minute when Isaac Fisher converted a short corner.

Slazenger 0 – 4 Ben Rhydding

The final game of the day was a clash with a very large Ben Rhydding squad. In the first few minutes, Slazenger looked unsure of their capability and consequently found themselves 2 goal down within 8 minutes. However, as the game went on, the team settled and began to string together passes again, causing the Ben Rhydding defence more problems than they had faced all day. Although we conceded two more goals, both from short corners, there was much to be positive about. In fact the game ended with a final whistle being blown as a shot from Isaac Fisher was travelling towards the top corner of the Ben Rhydding net.

With Ben Rhydding beating both Bridlington (7 – 0) and Sheffield (5 – 0) and Sheffield just edging out Bridlington (1 – 0) in a very close contest, Slazenger finished second in the middle league so qualify for the playoffs as the eighth team.

With Ralph Toon away and Bridlington arriving without a keeper, both Dan Alderson and Dan Cass got their first taste of U16 hockey. Despite conceding a few goals both performed well and will have gain a lot from the experience.

Man of the tournament was James Higgins for his solid defensive work and constant encouragement to his team mates.