The Isle of Man Junior Girls squads travelled to Sedberg school in Cumbria over the Bank Holiday weekend for some early pre-season fixtures. Sedbergh is a very well renowned ‘hockey’ school so this was always going to be a very tough outing for the island girls, a large number of whom were playing in the UK for the very first time. Transport limitations meant that only small squads were able to travel and this impacted the teams in each match, especially on a hot day.
The Under 14 girls faced a tough U15 Sedbergh team. Many of the U14 girls are new to full pitch hockey so it was a great opportunity to play with many learning points taken. The score of 9 – 1 was not a true reflection of the match in what was a spirited game played by our very young team. The tireless work of the girls showed their potential and lots of positive points came from the game. A great effort all round although special mentions to Rhea Maher, our goal scorer, and joint Players of the Match, Scarlett Compton Heavy and Eve Martin.
In their first friendly of the season IOM U16 Girls played a strong and physical Sedbergh U18 B side. A tough fixture for a young team with lots of new players. The girls started the game strongly with some good possession in defensive areas, but they struggled to build up the pitch to create any real goalscoring opportunities. Summer Ritche (GK) made numerous saves throughout the first half to keep the girls in the game but despite this Sedbergh were able to grab 2 impressive goals to put themselves 2-0 up at half time. With some team changes the girls set up to attack with intensity and aggression for the final 2 quarters of the game, as a result of this they won several short corners which they were very unlucky not to convert. Our attacking ambitions meant it left the team open to Sedbergh counter attacks, which ended up with them adding a further 3 goals, ending the game 5-0. Whilst IOM didn’t get on the scoresheet today, there are plenty of positives to take from the game against an older side. Player of the Match as voted for by the opposition was captain Eva Moore, who had a great game in midfield, working hard both on and off the ball all game.
U18 girls faced an early season test with an outing against Sedbergh girls senior A team. The team started very positively and matched the very strong Sedbergh group. The girls worked extremely hard, but Sedbergh’s considerably larger squad paid off as the match progressed. The score of 8-1 was not a true reflection of the match as many of the goals came in the latter stages with tiredness of IOM girls being a contributing factor. There were some very positive elements to the game to take forward to training and future matches. Special mention to Poppy Gerard who had an outstanding debut in goal and Ela Blakemore voted Player of the Match by the opposition.
Manx Hockey Association and the junior squads would like to thank sponsors Oak Group for their continued support.