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U12 girls Yorkshire Champions.

U12 girls Yorkshire Champions.

Mike Rushmere3 Apr 2017 - 16:32
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https://www.thirskhockeyclub.c

Sunday 2nd April at Weetwood Leeds.

Yorkshire League Champions 2017 – hugely deserved by these girls, they played some lovely hockey.
- James Pollock

Standing left to right: Daisy Grainge, Marnie Scatchard, Minnie Pollock (c), Poppy Barlow, Hattie Councell, Yasmin Marshall. Kneeling: Evie Haigh (GK)

Sunday 2nd April 2017 saw the finals of the Yorkshire Youth Hockey League being played at Weetwood, Leeds in near perfect conditions. Due to the holidays we were short of a number of players across all teams, we just managed to get 5 teams out, thanks in part to some willing U10 girls coming to help, so a big thank you to them and their parents.
The A Team were there to defend their unbeaten record across all competitions and to try and be crowned Yorkshire League Champions 2017. As said we were missing a few players and we couldn’t even manage any subs, so the girls were going to have to work hard today and try not to get injured in the process! The girls were fired up though and wanted that trophy.
We had Evie in goal, Yas and Daisy left and right back, Hattie and Marnie left and right wing, Poppy centre mid and Minnie, centre forward.
So first up was Chapeltown, a great bunch of girls and coach, but my lot were hungry for goals. The girls were moving the ball around well and Poppy (in for Holly Pears who was sadly away on holiday) was deputising the middle of the pitch incredibly well, especially given she is a year below the rest, age is but a number! In the end we were too strong for Chapeltown finishing 4-0 winners. A good start but there were improvements needed, just a bit more passing and a bit more pace required.
Next up Thirsk B, always a challenge and although they were missing a few players, they were never going to roll over. We’d challenged Marnie to run at people more, she is the quickest girl on the team and we wanted to see that pace down the right wing. She didn’t disappoint, Daisy and Yas were providing excellent service from defence giving both wings of Hattie and Marnie chance to attack. I lost count of the number of runs down the right Marnie made but it was a big step up from the previous game. The pressure was too much for Thirsk B and we ended 4-0 winners.
Next up was what we thought would be our toughest match, Wakefield. They had been looking strong so far and were winning all of their games too. I didn’t need to get the girls fired up, they were ready. Wakefield had loaded their defence so we knew it would be hard to get through. The game started and it was tense end to end action, our defence of Evie, Yas and Daisy always dealing with anything that came their way and then quickly turning defence into attack. We managed to get a short corner, Yas injected to Minnie, who went for the route one option straight at goal, she fired it into the back of the goal and my nerves were settled. It carried on being quite tense to the end but that was the final score, 1-0. We were happy with that.
The fourth game was Sheffield Hallam A, the only team to score against us all season (it still hurts that one goal!). Again, the girls were on fire, both wings doing well. One goal came from a very quick hit out from Yas to Hattie, who stopped it, looked up, did a great pass through to Minnie, who scored – great hockey. The girls were too strong again and we finished up 4-0 winners.
We then had 3 matches off before the last match, we watched Thirsk B hold Wakefield A to a 0-0 draw, a great result for them and us.
So the last match was York A, another great team and coach, they had been playing well, so I told the girls to concentrate and work hard. We started strong and Minnie in particular was on a goal scoring mission. She had a hatrick before we knew it, Marnie added a further goal and then Minnie got two more, she was on fire. Poppy got a bang on the head with a ball but played through the pain, a tough little nut as it turns out! We finished 6-0 winners.
So that was that, Yorkshire League Champions 2017 – hugely deserved by these girls, they played some lovely hockey. Even though Minnie, Hattie and Marnie got the goals, the input from all 7 of them is crucial to these winning ways. It is a pleasure to coach them and to watch them. We now turn our attention to the North of England Finals at the end of April!

Parent’s Player: Minnie Pollock
Player’s Player: Poppy Barlow

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