Four of the Islands Junior Hockey sides travelled to the UK at the weekend to compete in the Quarter finals of the Tier 2 English Junior Championships.

All four teams were drawn against opposition from the Midlands, one of the strongest hockey areas in the country after London and the South and as expected the matches were played to a high standard .

First up on Sunday morning were the Under 14 Boys who faced North Stafford who had dropped down from Tier 1 this season. It took the Manx boys a while to settle in to what was a very physical and tense game.

Just before the half time break, Theo R broke the deadlock with a nice move in front of goal. He added two more goals in the second half which saw the boys take a 3-0 lead going into the last 10 mins. North Stafford however came back, scoring twice in 8 mins to make it a very tense final 2 minutes. The boys hung on to take the win 3 – 2, and book a place in the semi finals.

The Under 16 girls were next to take to the pitch, travelling down to Ashby de la Zouch The girls started very nervously and Ashby had 3 quick corners in succession which thanks to some superb goal keeping from Summer R, they failed to convert. The Manx team settled and the midfield began to link up very nicely with the forward line to produce some stunning running play allowing centre forward, Lucy B to convert twice and a fine goal 10 minutes from time by Ashton F saw the IOM girls through to the semi finals having won the match 3-0.

The Under 14 girls had travelled to Rugby to face Rugby and East Warwickshire in the late afternoon. The Midlands team dominated the first quarter but the Island side held their own before beginning to exert pressure on their opposition. The teams went into the second half at 0-0, and this continued into the second half with neither team converting any chances. 

With 15 minutes to go the momentum changed when Rugby scored from a slightly controversial corner  following which a rejuvenated Rugby side scored 3 further goals in quick succession and this saw the IOM girls go out of the competition, losing 4-0.

The final match of the day saw the Under 18 girls take to the pitch in Warwick, later than expected due to traffic delays. The girls took a while to get going and conceded early to Khalsa Leamington . The Island quickly replied through an excellent strike from Evie W. Lucy C added to the score from a top D strike, but just before half time the score was levelled by Khalsa from a Short corner. 

The second half continued 2-2 to the full time whistle.  Due to lack of time, penalty flicks were to decide the outcome rather than the IOM Girls preference of shuffles. Despite a fine effort, the girls went down 1-3 on flicks. An emotional end to the campaign for the team , particularly the year 13s as their Junior Squads journey finishes up after 6 years.

Thanks as ever to Oak Group for their continued sponsorship, and to the coaches for putting the report together.