After a year of intense regional Performance Centre training/selection, seven Sevenoaks Hockey Club players were selected to represent the Saxon Tigers (South East) in the prestigious Futures Cup in St Albans on 21-24 August.
Ashley Sewell and Alex Thompson in the Boys under-17’s team, Fin Webster and George Schooley in the Boys under-15’s and Annabel Cheveley, Venetia Barker and Tilly Strand-Ford in the Girls under-15’s.
Six regional teams take part in Futures Cup, the selection tournament for future England juniors – four covering England plus Wales and Scotland National junior teams. Each age group is divided into two, so each Saxon Tigers team had two group matches before the playoffs/finals.
Our under-15 and under-17 Boys put in strong performances and won their first matches – both against Wales, with Fin scoring two terrific goals in the under-15’s match. They both lost their second games against Scotland (under-15’s) and the North (under-17’s) so reached the third/fourth place playoffs.
The under-15’s unfortunately lost their match against a very strong North of England so finished fourth, but the under-17’s boys fought back against West of England from 3-1 down to win 4-3, so got their richly deserved bronze medals.
The girls under-15’s won both their qualifying matches, against Wales and the North, and went through to the Final against a very strong Scotland National under-16 team. The Scottish girls took the lead but the Saxon Tigers refused to give up and managed to claw their way back with two goals in a minute at the very end of the third quarter.
They held onto that lead in a tense final quarter and went on to win gold, conceding only two goals in the whole tournament with Venetia and Tilly at the heart of the Tigers defence, and Annabel outstanding in attack.
Venetia also deservedly won the Saxon Tigers under-15 Girls Player of the Tournament.
Saxon Tigers Boys under-15 results:
• v Wales – won 7-4
• v Scotland – lost 2-6
• 3/4th Playoffs v The North – lost 2-6
Saxon Tigers Boys under-17 results:
• v Wales – won 3-1
• v The North – lost 2-3
• 3/4th Playoffs v West of England – won 4-3
Saxon Tigers Girls under-15 results:
• v Wales – won 4-0
• v The North – won 2-1
• Final v Scotland – won 2-1
