Sevenoaks Hockey Club girls under-16A team faced Canterbury at the start of February knowing that a win would send them through to the England Hockey Regional Finals as group winners.
Early nerves were settled by Venetia Barker with one of her trademark short corners. Barker then followed up with another short corner in the middle of the first half. The girls went into half-time 3-0 up after a well taken goal from Sasha Kelbrick.
In the second half the girls started to really dominate with two close range goals from Tilly Fox, a fine back hand strike from Annabel Cheveley that looped the goalkeeper as if in slow motion and a well worked team move saw Jess Fleming finish off with an easy tap-in on the far post.
It is the third time the team have played Canterbury this season and have progressed from winning the first one 3-1 to now winning 7-0.
The victory was based on the defensive unit of Alice Reeve, Elloise Paler, Venetia Barker, Betrys Galloni, Bea Jones and Alex Sewell keeping a clean sheet for the first time this season, the dynamic midfield of Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Tilly Fox, Sasha Kelbrick and Lulu Stephens working tirelessly to dominate the match and setting up the forwards of Annabel Cheveley, Abi Scott, Amelie Allen, Jess Fleming and Katherine Pearce to create the pressure in the circle that led to the goals.
The next stage in the EH Cup for the team is the Regional Finals on 8th March.
Under-18 girls progress in Plate
The U18 girls faced Old Loughtonians in the first round of the England Hockey Plate. They had the advantage of playing at home with crowd support giving the girls an additional boost.
Sevenoaks had the majority of the possession in the 1st half with multiple shots on goal. It was only a matter of time before Oaks got on the score sheet. Neither team scored as the half time whistle blew.
Oaks started the second half with their goal finishing tactics in mind and it didn’t take long before Manon Hughes fired the ball into the D only for Claire Morgan to slot it into the back of the net.
The first goal gave Oaks a shot of adrenaline and three minutes later Rosie Talbot took the ball down the right flank crossing it for Fleur Jenkins to tap it past the keeper.
Now 2-0 up and Oaks had 15 minutes to see the game out. Despite the oppositions efforts to breakdown the home defence, the back four stayed strong and Kat Pastron had to pull off a number of saves to keep a clean sheet.
Only two minutes before full time a rash tackle in the D resulted in an Oaks Penalty flick being awarded. Maisie Hinds stepped up to the spot and executed with precision with the ball hitting the roof of the net. Final score 3:0 to Sevenoaks taking the U18 girls through to the next round of the competition.
More success for purple juniors
The U14A boys also had a successful day, with a 2-0 win against Canterbury in the England Hockey competition and the U12 girls played in their first indoor hockey tournament and won gold whilst the U14B girls travelled to Wallingford for a triangular tournament and came out with one win, a draw and a narrow loss.
