Slazengers under-tens were beaten for the first time this season as they had to settle for a runners-up finish in the third of six Yorkshire Youth Hockey League tournaments.The Slazengers boys had finished top of Group A in the opening two rounds of matches at Weetwood in Leeds, while also winning the West Yorkshire Mini Hockey Championships cup competition.
Their latest outing saw them triumph in the opening four games before finally coming unstuck 1-0 against old foes Ben Rhydding, who had drawn with Slazengers in all their previous meetings this winter.Slazengers began with a 3-0 victory against Harrogate thanks to two goals from Charlie Bland, both with his reverse stick, and Will Gascoigne.
The same combination of scorers then earned a 3-1 success against Leeds.Another 3-0 win followed against York, with goals this time from Gascoigne – after a solo run out of defence – Alex Stacey and Tommy Randle, before Thirsk B were beaten 2-1 courtesy of strikes by Bland and Stacey.
This set up a winner-takes-all decider against Ben Rhydding, who just had the edge this time thanks to the only goal of the game as they reversed previous second-placed finishes against Slazengers.
