We started in tough conditions - the fog meant you couldn’t actually see the goal at the other end of the pitch!

We drew Devonport for our first game, which was a great match to settle the team. There were several shots on goal, with the winner coming from an amazing strike by Solly which rebounded from the Devonport goalie straight to Ben to finish it off!

Our second game was against Lipson A and bit of a goal fest with a 5-0 win! A real team effort and a great game to watch from the side-lines (all supporters had to move to the half way line to actually see both ends of the pitch!). The first goal came from a text book pass from Ben to James who sent the ball flying past the Lipson goalie. The second came from a back stick strike from Luke, closely followed by a flick from Luke to Ben to see in the third goal. The fourth goal was another classic back stick strike from Isaac, with the final goal coming from a calculated flick from Ben through the Lipson defence which was probably going to have gone in, but a strike on the ball from Luke guaranteed it finding the back boards!

The third game was against Plymouth who had also won their first 2 games. This was a tougher game than we thought and saw some very strong defending from Joe, Matt and Isaac. There were several attacks on goal but nothing seemed to get past the Plymouth goalie. Credit to Jack who along with our defence, were not going let anything past them to secure us a 0-0 draw.

Our fourth game was against Lipson B with goals from Solly and Luke before going into a much needed rest game and time to reflect before facing both the Marjons Teams.

The penultimate game saw us face Marjons A, which we thought would be the toughest. There were several attempts at the goal from our end, but our defence in Matt, Joe held off the opposition. We had the most corners against us in any of the games, with Matt deflecting a ball off the line with his knee! He carried on playing but it sadly led to him having to sit out the final game. Jack tirelessly stopped any attempt to get the ball into our goal and keeping up his clean sheet. The mid field in Isaac and Ben working hard pushing the balls through as well as holding off the attacks. Our winning goal came from Solly (well it was definitely going in!), but just to make sure, Luke gave it a final helping guide into the goal!

The final game against Marjons B was the decider. It was too complicated to work out the permutations but basically it was going to be Plymouth HC or us who would be crowned winners...we needed a draw or a win?!

It was a brilliant final game! Everyone was so determined; it was a solid team effort. Whilst James, Luke and Solly all nearly scored, it was the passing between everyone, especially Isaac, Ben and Joe working hard to push the ball through as well as working to maintain a strong defence with Jack. The save of the game had to be in the penultimate corner with a strong flick from Marjons to be sent over the goal by Jack – I’m sure his hand is still hurting now! But a 0-0 draw and UNBEATEN!!

FINAL SCORES

Match 1: Devonport Won 1-0

Match 2: Lipson A Won 5-0

Match 3: Plymouth Drew 0-0

Match 4: Lipson B Won 2-0

Match 5: Marjons A Won 1-0

Match 6: Marjons B Drew 0-0

The season has not all been about the Finals evening. We have been honoured with a 13-strong squad this year, when last year we struggled to get 7 out each Friday.

Special mentions must also go to those who were unable to play on Friday:

Tom Birchell and Izaac Kirwan, both of whom have sadly sustained injury throughout the season rendering them unable to play the latter matches, Josh Lancashire who has been our fearless rocket on the field and to Reuban Goodman and Fynn Hall, our youngest members who came into the squad this year and see their improvement each Friday. None of last Fridays success would have been possible without the entire squad contribution throughout the season.

U15/14 2017-18 Squad

Tom Birchell, Jack Cann (Goalie), Reuban Goodman, Fynn Hall, Joe Hartill, Izaac Kirwan, Solly Kurzman, James Lamb, Josh Lancashire, Luke Maxa, Isaac Staig, Matt Tywman, Ben Whitehead