Boys U14 Herts League at Letchworth

Very well done to the 9 U14s who played in Letchworth on Sunday. There was some very skilful and competitive hockey played and a really great level of commitment from all.

The afternoon started well with a 3-1 win over Winchmore Hill and Enfield with 2 goals from Gabriel Thornton, one a very well worked penalty corner with a great slip pass from Riley Skillett, with Riley scoring the third himself. They then lost 2-0 to Welwyn Garden City (supported by Royston) and then drew a hard fought goal less match with Royston themselves.

They were then faced with their last two matches against the two strongest teams. First were Blueharts which was a close game with Hertford loosing by the only goal of the match. The boys put on a fine display in defence to limit Blueharts scoring opportunities whilst the mid field fought competitively to create some good chances on goal.

Possibly the boys best game was against a very strong (and in some cases old looking) Letchworth side. Letchworth started very positively and struck home four very good goals in the first 6 or 7 minutes leaving Jack Bentley with little chance in goal. The boys never gave up or looked defeated which was great to see and with Jack making a couple of great saves and the defence getting to grips with the Letchworth attack, they turned the second half of the game around and the last few minutes were all Hertford with Riley scoring twice. The game ended 4-2 but more importantly Hertford showed what they are really capable of.

I would also add that Hertford provided 5 players to our friends at WGC for three of their matches with at least 2 wins (ironic that we lost to them) and a special mention for Jack in goal who played 7 straight games for us and WGC.