They then played a play-off match, against the team who were 2nd place to decide the gold and silver medal. Canterbury (Last Year’s Winners) got their revenge in the gold-silver play-off match.

Team: Zack Thompson, Peter Sharman, Sam Bond, Jamie Ker, Aaron White, Charlie Walker, Jasper Skillet & James Willoughby.

U10 Girls
L 0-2 vs. Surbiton
W 1-0 vs. Canterbury
L 0-1 vs. Chelmsford
W 3-0 vs. Old Loughtonians
D 1-1 vs. Blue Hornets

Bronze Medal Match W 1-0 vs. Blue Hornets

Our first match was against the favourites and eventual winners Surbiton. This match came a bit too soon and the girls didn’t really get into it. Surbiton had some talented players with excellent stick skills and emerged comfortable 2-0 winners.

After a good team talk from coaches Nick Evans and Jules, the girls played much better in the next match against Canterbury approaching it more aggressively, better marking/tackling. Hertford won the game 1-0 with a good goal from Ella Chandler who showed great tenacity throughout the match. Eva Pidduck made an excellent save to prevent Canterbury from scoring.

Next up was Chelmsford who have been our toughest opponent in the Essex League this year with two prior 0-0 draws. This was a match which Hertford largely dominated. Evie Macrae had a cracking first time hit saved well by their GK when it looked a certainty to go in and then another one stopped right on the line just at the death which would have given us a draw. Chelmsford had just scored a freak goal to go 1-0 up when our girls thought the ball had gone out of play after an excellent save by Eva Pidduck. The refs whistle on the next pitch added to the confusion. Credit to the Chelmsford striker who stayed switched on and slotted it away, but we did not deserve to lose this one!

Old Loughts came next, surprisingly playing without a proper GK. Hertford won this one comfortably by 3-0 dominating throughout and controlling the game. We secured the win with goals from Ella Chandler and Martha Kerr.

The final group match was against Blue Hornets. After taking an early lead through a goal from Ella Chandler, Hertford looked comfortable for most of the match. However, a Blue Hornets breakaway levelled the score. Charlotte Head prevented another possible goal with a great recovery tackle. The match ended 1-1 which was probably a fair result.

We were concerned this may cause us to miss out on the 3rd/4th place Play Off match but fortunately this was not the case! We played Blue Hornets again in another closely contested match. Hertford took an early lead through a goal from ‘star striker’ Ella Chandler. Could we hold on this time? At times we rode our luck with Eva Pidduck making a couple of good saves and then Blue Hornets ‘scored’ toward the end.......but it was chalked off by the referee for an infringement! The full time whistle blew shortly after to secure a well-deserved 3rd place for Hertford!

Considering the quality of the opposition we were up against, the girls can take great credit from this achievement. It was a real team effort with everyone contributing.

Eva Pidduck showed great potential in GK with some excellent stops and interventions. Erin Evans and Charlotte Head were tenacious in defence showing good distribution into midfield. Alice Lynn, Martha Kerr and Phoebe Smith were strong in Midfield, supporting both defence and attack. Ella Chandler and Evie Macrae provided good attacking threat and harried the opposition defences. Everyone played their part, with Ella the stand out player on the day showing great fight throughout and scoring 4 goals.

They are a fantastic bunch of girls with great team spirit. This augurs well for the New Year when we restart the outdoor hockey with our sights on winning both the Herts and Essex counties! The highlight was seeing the big beaming smiles of all the girls when they went up to collect their medals - wonderful!! A great day all round.

Team: Eva Pidduck, Phoebe Smith, Alice Lynn, Erin Evans, Martha Ker, Ella Chandler, Evie Macrae, Charlotte Head

U12 Boys
L 0-1 vs. Marlow
L 0-2 vs. Brentwood
D 1-1 vs. Chelmsford
L 0-2 vs. Wotton-Under-Edge
L 0-1 vs. Epsom
D 0-0 vs. Crostyx (11th/12th Place)

Despite the results and an 11th place finish the boys acquitted themselves very well in what was a strong tournament, playing some excellent Hockey throughout and will some more luck would have gained a higher position

Team; Jack Bentley, Zac Henderson-Lea, Tom Weller, Lawrence Robinson, Matthew Carter, James Furse, Wyatt Boquiren, Chris Boquiren, LJ Archer & Cormac Green

U14 Girls

Fourteen teams entered the U14Girls tournament and Hertford’s fantastic play during the opening league matches saw them as only one of three teams to win 4 matches in the qualifying rounds. Strong wins against Saffron Walden, Guilford, Chelmsford and Maldon saw the girls enter the finals in third place on points.

Buoyed by the chance of a medal, the girls stepped up a gear in what was a nail biting 3rd/4th play-off against UK Lions. The match was end to end match but finally decided in the final 30seconds when the Lions scored to win 2-1. The girls should be really proud though, such a real team performance, with goals galore, including defenders Kathryn Rollins, Maddie Stewart and Georgina Waller making the score sheet to support top goal scorers Ella Bowman and Emily Rollins with 4 and 3 goals apiece.

The team performance could not have been complete without Maggie Bristow, Deborah James and Annabelle Hellum who selflessly played in multiple positions to help the team, and of course the athletic Fou Napolitano who fantastically kept guard in goal, achieving three clean sheets in the process.

Team: Fou Napolitano, Annabelle Hellum, Deborah James, Maggie Bristow, Emily Rollins, Kathryn Rollins, Maddie Stewart, Ella Bowman & Georgina Waller

U16 Boys
D 2-2 vs. Canterbury
W 4-0 vs. North Wales
D 2-2 vs. Old Loughtonians
W 7-3 vs. Surbiton

Semi-Final W 2-1 vs. Canterbury

Final L 2-5 vs. Old Loughtonians

New Year’s Day saw the Under 16 boys take their turn at the Copper Box, and after all the success of the previous two days, the pressure was on the boys to pull something special out of the bag. With the coaching dream team of Mari and Kennedy (seniors) enjoying rolling back the years ensuring the boys were well drilled and organised.

Hertford started with an entertaining 2-2 draw against a very skilful Canterbury team in their “friendly” fixture. They showed great determination coming from 2 goals behind, and with increasing confidence in their team play they entered the competition proper in in great shape. After a two game break the boys started with a comfortable 4-0 win against North Wales, controlling the game for long periods and looking comfortable in possession. Just one game off and Hertford then faced with the task of facing a fresh Old Loughts side who seemed to have two teams worth of players. After taking an unexpected but well deserved early lead Hertford was placed under intense pressure and eventually succumbed to a well taken corner goal. Retaking the lead Hertford then frustrated the opposition with their dogged tackling and determination to not concede again. However the equaliser did eventually come as did other chances for both sides to win it. Despite the draw, spirits were high and the boys faced the prospect of playing a highly rated Surbiton team, who two years ago relegated Hertford to fourth place in the same tournament.

Taking the game by the scruff of the neck Hertford raced into a quick 3-0 lead with some wonderful team goals. Looking solid throughout the game the team put in their best performance running out clear 7-2 winners. Placed second in the pool Hertford then faced the prospect of playing the Canterbury side that had easily won their pool.

Another tight game was played, with a place in the final at stake with goals being shared in the first half and, despite Hertford being outplayed for long periods, a last minute short corner goal gave Hertford the narrowest of wins and a place in the final against Old Loughts.

Unfortunately the final wasn’t to be as close as the pool game between the two teams with Loughts cruising into an early 3-0 lead, but the determination and great teamwork of the boys continued and gave them the consolation of scoring two goals to finish the match 5-2.

Not more could have been asked of the boys who had given their all over the whole day , against teams from much bigger clubs, and credit must go to their hard working , team ethics with a never give up attitude right from the start and right up to the final whistle.

Team; Ewan Macpherson, Edward Hartley, Arthur Twyning, Greg Moore, Luke Kennedy, Joe Mari Rob Holman, Josh Over.