The Isle of Man Men’s hockey team competed in the County Championships last weekend (18 and 19 May), held at the Nottingham Hockey Centre, one of Europe’s largest hockey facilities. The Island team were competing in the top “A” division for the second season running, following a 4th place finish in the 2023 event after winning the “B” division in 2022.
In their first match against defending champions Kent, the team received a painful reminder about the standard of competition in the A division. Against a Kent side which included a number of players from National Premier League club Holcombe, the Isle of Man started slowly and found themselves 3-0 down at the half time whistle. The Manx team didn’t fare any better in the second half and the match ended up 6-0 to Kent, as the Island struggled to cope with strong ball carrying and some emphatic finishing from their opposition.
The second match on Saturday against Staffordshire was one the team had identified pre-tournament as a must-win game. The Island team started brightly, creating good quality chances, which, unfortunately, they failed to convert. Their profligacy in front of goal was soon punished by Staffordshire, and the Isle of Man trailed 1-0 at halftime. In the second half the Isle of Man set out to press their opponents aggressively to get themselves back in the game but were quickly undone by a harsh umpiring decision which resulted in a yellow card and 5-minute sin bin for centre-back Will Hassall, and a penalty corner which Staffordshire converted to make the match 2-0. When back up to a full complement, the Manx side worked hard to make amends and were rewarded following a well-worked move with captain Jamie Brown supplying George Powell for his first goal for the Isle of Man. However, as the Isle of Man pushed to find an equaliser, Staffordshire were able to capitalise on additional space as the game became stretched and ended up 3-1 winners.
In their final match on Saturday, the Isle of Man faced a Nottinghamshire side which had beaten Kent 4-0 earlier in the day. Anticipating a difficult match, the Island set up more cautiously and were largely able to contain Nottinghamshire thanks to the defence of Archie Cox, Rhyse Williams, Will Hassall and John Verrall, as well as a number of fine saves from goalkeeper Juan Bellando. Despite their best efforts though, the Isle of Man still found themselves 1-0 down at half time. The Isle of Man created chances to level the game, as quick counter-attacking play from the likes of Elliot Reid and Oscar Lace caught Nottinghamshire on the break. However, as the game wore on, Nottinghamshire’s quality eventually saw them extend their lead to 2-0. The result meant that the Isle of Man finished bottom of their pool and as such faced relegation play-offs on Sunday, while Nottinghamshire ultimately went on to a runners-up spot in the Championships.
On Sunday morning the Island faced a Yorkshire side which had finished third in the opposite pool on Saturday. Yorkshire started quickly and the Isle of Man found themselves behind within a couple of minutes as Yorkshire scored from a penalty corner. Yorkshire continued to pressurise the Isle of Man and the Manx side were 2-0 before the first 15 minutes was up. The Isle of Man were creating chances of their own though and Andrew Whiting managed to claw one back before half time to make it 2-1 at the break. Any hope of a comeback was quickly extinguished though as a well organised Yorkshire press stifled the Isle of Man as they searched for a way for through, and Yorkshire took advantage of a number of errors to score a further 3 goals in the second half to end up deserved 5-1 winners.
Defeat to Yorkshire meant that relegation to the B division was a certainty and the Island’s last game of the weekend became a play-off for either seventh or eighth place, against an Armed Forces team which had beaten them in last years’ 3rd place play-off. With the pressure off, the Island team seemed to play more freely. The Isle of Man scored early with George Powell getting his second of the weekend, however the Armed Forces were still a threat and soon equalised against the run of play. James Harrison dropped deeper into midfield for this match alongside Jamie Brown and together they began to take control of the game. As the Armed Forces tired and space opened up, Andy Whiting’s clever movement and passing, together with the industry of Tom Burrows helped to created chances for Alex Bell, who put on a demonstration of clinical finishing in the second half to end the game with 4 goals as the Island were able to finish the tournament on a positive note with a 5-3 win.
While the weekend ended with the disappointment of relegation to the B division for next season, there were some silver linings as a number of players from the Isle of Man under 18 team proved they were more than capable of stepping up into the senior side and one of those players, Rhyse Williams, was voted by the squad as the Isle of Man’s player of the tournament. The team will be hoping to bounce back into the A division at the first time of asking in 2025 and are already eyeing up a run at the England Hockey Tier 2 cup competition next season.