HOCKEY: Thirsk H C, the hockey club where winning is routine.

The weather was cold and at times heavy rain, and with three games to play, it was important to be well warmed up for the start of the first game for Thirsk against Springfields.  Maybe the cold weather was not helpful as we conceded a goal about 10 minutes into the first half, although possession had been equal up to that point.  Chances fell to both sides for the rest of the half and finally from a well-practiced penalty corner routine Helena got Thirsk onto the score sheet, 1-1 at half time.  Into the second half and again the sides were evenly matched but it was Springfields who scored again.  Thirsk seemed to get their heads more into the game after this and put much pressure onto the Springfield defence.  With time running out another attack found Lucy at the top of the D, she took a shot which deflected up off a defenders stick and looped over the keeper into the net. Within a minute the final whistle blew, a draw the result.

Thirsk were on the next game against the CB's from the Isle of Mann.  This was the game when the weather took a turn for the worse and for most of the game the rain drove across the pitch.  Despite this the girls put the previous game behind them and set about the CB's with some excellent hockey. Strong tackles, hard and accurate passing and determined running at the defenders proved decisive. 4-0 up at half time with goals from Emelia (2), Alice and Helena, of which 2 were from penalty corners.  The second half was a continuation of the first, although the CB's had organised their defence better, leaving less opportunities for open attacks.  Despite this two more goals came, one each from Helena and Annabel.  The game ended with the best score of the afternoon 6-0, and although wet through there was much celebrating in the Thirsk travelling supporters group.  There were now two games off and a chance to dry out and refuel.

The last game was against the hosts and taking the previous scores meant that the only result for Thirsk was a win.  Goal difference was on our side but not if we drew.  The Alderley Edge team included two U16 EHB National squad players so we knew that we had to work especially hard to control the game.  The rain had stopped by now and so into the final game with all to play for. Maybe a combination of pressure and no rain saw the hosts gain the advantage of a goal about 8 minutes into the game.  Before this the play had been fairly equal with chances falling to both sides. More hard work and attempts on goal by Thirsk were not rewarded and then Alderley scored again. 2-0 at half time.  A small change in positions for the second half and the game began to go in Thirsk's favour, but another goal by Alderley seemed to the audience a bitter blow.  It did not stop the girls however and they now seemed to find more energy than their opponents and this lead to a short corner, converted by Emelia.  Game on.  More pressure by Thirsk and Alderley began to loose control, another attack and Thirsk had another, Alice the scorer.  With less than 5 minutes to go it was all out and several chances went by without any success.  Still putting pressure on the Alderley goal the final whistle went and the loss by 3-2 meant the girls had missed out by 2 goals on a place in the National finals.  They deserved more from the effort and dedication shown, but demonstrated that we have a team to be reckoned with.  On departure the Alderley Edge team manager paid tribute to their efforts and asked if we would be back.  Yes we would and next time it will be Thirsk going forward.  Well done to all the girls, an example to all of what we can achieve. Thanks to Jo for producing a team to rival the best the North of England can offer, Thirsk scoring more goals than any other team.  Also thanks to Richard for being our umpire and the parents who travelled and provided much vocal support.

Back Row: L – R Lucy, Charlotte, Ella, Helena, Gina, Grace, Alice, Laura, Coach Jo

Front Row: L – R Emilia, Charlotte, Louella, Annabel, Amalia

Thirsk ladies 2nds hosted Bradford on Saturday 7th March. Bradford started particularly strongly against another young Thirsk side. They picked the ball up well and moved quickly through the Thirsk defence and scored within the first few minutes leaving the youngsters a little shocked. But then Thirsk started to play. Gina Garnett scored first after Annabel Hill delivered the ball across the D. Annabel passed a similar ball to Sue Parry who scored the second and Thirsk were then on a roll. A Bradford player was penalised for playing the ball from the ground as the last defender and Annabel scored a lovely goal from the resultant penalty flick. Ella Durkin, playing her usual determined role in the midfield pulled the ball to Bev Petty who drove the ball past the Bradford keeper for number four and Amelia Borchard did all of the work for the fifth goal but Sue had the last touch. The sixth, and last of the half was scored by Gina after a pin-ball session with the Bradford keeper.

The second half needed the keeping skills of Beth Harrison-Wright a little more, but strong defending just built to more attacking moves and as Ella drove into the D to score a strong reverse goal to score number seven Bradford stared to tire. Amelia worked hard down the right to find Annabel on the top of the D who fired the ball into the goal for number eight and Amalia Watkins and Millie Siminazc combined down the left before the cross found Sue for the final goal of the game. Goal scorers: Sue Parry 3, Annabel Hill 2, Gina Garnett 2, Bev Petty 1 and Ella Durkin 1

Final Score: Thirsk 9  Bradford 1.

Also on the 7th the men’s first team were at home, hosting City of York. Thirsk were slow out of the blocks with York putting the pressure on Thirsk. An inch perfect short corner strike finding the smallest of gaps at Luke Brownlee’s feet giving York the early lead. However this was just the prodding Thirsk needed as they awoke and took charge of the game. Good work through the midfield saw Sam Gardiner beat a couple of players resulting in a shot on target that was not cleared properly; Paul Doyle pounced from 5 yards out and forced the ball home and level the scores.

More good work through midfield and attack saw a short corner won and a perfect routine was completed; drag out to top of D, slip left, strike across goal, deflection from the p spot, 2-1 Thirsk as Dan Lawson scored his 7 th of the season for Thirsk to take a 2-1 lead in to the break. Close to the half time whistle saw Sam Gardiner beat the same man not once, not twice, not even three times, but four times and earn him a shouting at from the team to move the ball quicker, however it wasn’t quite as simple as that as the sun had caused problems with him finding a pass as when he looked up he just saw silhouettes, however the shouting at and then subsequent calming down at halftime saw Sam come out in the second half and play out of his skin.

The second half was mainly Thirsk and some very nice place in midfield saw the ball played in to the D, squared to Doyle who took the ball on to reverse stick and his shot looped up and over the keeper to give Thirsk a 2 goal lead. Thirsk continued the nice hockey, but the final touch was just missing, special mention must be made of what would have been dream hockey had the final touch been applied as Man of the Match Harry Collinson lifted the ball over the York defence in to the path of Paul Doyle, who found himself unmarked at the top of the D, however his first touch let him down as he did not bring the ball under control and it ran away from him.

This is Thirsk’s 4th win in a row and the traditional 6pointer next week against Bradford could see Thirsk leapfrog them in the league and keep alive Thirsk’s slim hope of gaining the second place and promotion playoff position if results go their way. MoM as mentioned was awarded to Harry C for a sterling performance at left back, disrupting the York attack as well as spurring on the Thirsk attack.

Sunday 8th saw the U10 girls taking part in the Yorkshire Mini Hockey Championships and a great day was had by all. The A Team were feeling confident on their success from the first round after scoring over 30 goals for in the North Yorkshire round (and 1 against, from Thirsk B!) but knew the competition this time round would be much harder.

First up were Wakefield Panthers and to get the nerves settled Amelia zipped through to get the first goal within seconds, she was on a mission.  The girls were not quite firing on all cylinders, they normally take a few matches to get warmed up and they let Wakefield attack more than would normally be possible.  However the defence of Yas and Dora was again up to the task and a clean sheet was kept.  Amelia scored two more goals to make the final score 3-0.

Next up, Sheffield HC, they looked a slightly more organised team with some strong defenders and as it turned out, an excellent goal keeper.  The girls were pretty dominant in this game and most of the game was spent in the Sheffield half.  With some valiant saves we broke the deadlock and eventually ran out 2-0 winners, the goals coming from Amelia and Daisy.  Daisy’s goal came from a short corner move we’d been practising in training, it was great to see the girls bringing this to the game situation.

Next up was Driffield, an unknown quantity to us as we’d never played them before.  Having told the girls to look sharp, they certainly did, they were dominating them and spending most of the time in the Driffield half.  We eventually ended up 6-0 winners with Amelia (3), Daisy (2) and Connie (1) all getting goals.  There was some excellent passing and moving in this game.  Daisy was working her wing so well, I’d asked her this tournament to attack more and use her power and skills to go round people, she certainly took notice and was having an excellent tournament thus far.

Quick check of our Pool and the girls had done good, they won it.  First job done, now onto the semi-final against our rivals in the League, Wakefield A (Wildcats), the Wakefield coach had hoped that this would be the final game but they just missed out on winning their pool on goal difference, so a Thirsk v Wakefield semi-final it was!  We beat them in the league last time but they were missing some key players and we knew they were all present this time round.

The girls got revved up big style for this match, they knew what they had to do to get into the final.  To say it was slightly tense was an understatement, it was end to end stuff for a while and then Amelia decided it was time to step up, she got into the D and fired an incredibly powerful shot from the right across the goal into the far corner.  The goaly didn’t stand a chance, we’re still not sure how she hits them so hard!  The girls settled after this goal and they were moving the ball round well and really pressurising Wakefield.  Wakefield never let up, they are a really strong team and we always enjoy playing them.  However, we then got a short corner, Daisy pushed out to Amelia.  Amelia, then fired it from the top of the D into the back of the net, awesome.  Amelia then added one more to her tally so we ended up 3-0 winners. A fantastic result but there was literally no time to enjoy it, we had to get them a quick drink and straight onto the other pitch to play the final, against Chapeltown HC.

We knew these guys were a tough team, they’d held us to a no-score draw in the league and I was slightly concerned that Thirsk were getting tired.  I told them, one last match, put everything into it.  They didn’t disappoint, it was again end to end action, Chapeltown are a great team and they really work well together, if I hadn’t been shouting at the girls I imagine it would have been a great example of U10’s playing excellent hockey together.  As it was I was shouting at them although with all the support it was hard for them to hear – we had our parents, the B Team girls and parents and some of Thirsk U12’s who’d turned up for the session after cheering, it was a fantastic atmosphere.

It was tense on the pitch but again Amelia was a girl possessed, she got down to our D took the ball off Yas, next thing she’s in their D thundering a shot into goal from right to left, an incredibly well taken goal.  The sideline was going mental.  They re-focused and attacked again, Amelia deciding to dribble through all of the defence and slot the ball in the back of the goal.  2-0, we were feeling good, then Chapeltown attacked straight down the middle, into the D and scored, I think Evie (GK) was so surprised to see someone coming towards her for the first time that she wasn’t quite ready.  Unlucky but we had to refocus.  We then ended giving away 3 short corners in a row, we couldn’t clear our lines and it was incredibly tense.  Eventually we managed to keep them out and we got back up to their D and forced a short corner.  Another excellent Daisy push out to Amelia and dutifully fired it into the back of the net.  The whistle went and our lot were Yorkshire Champions, 3-1 winners in the end.  Cue the celebrations!!!

5 games, 17 goals for, 1 against = Thirsk Champions!

What an excellent day for them, they played well in the Pool matches but they all stepped up a few gears for the semi-final and final.  They were simply awesome. Evie, Yas and Dora only let 1 goal past them in defence all day.  Holly in midfield distributed really well and fought hard to win back possession whenever possible.  Hattie, Connie and Marnie all had excellent games on the wings.  However, today the stand-out performances were from Daisy and Amelia, the team obviously agreed, Daisy got Players Player and Amelia was awarded Managers Player.

Now we are going for the double in two weeks time.  Watch out the rest, these girls are on a mission!

Standing Left to Right:  Daisy Grainge, Dora Garlick, Connie Pride, Amelia Pollock, Hattie Councell, Marnie Scatchard. Coach James Pollock at the back.

Sitting Left to Right:  Holly Pears, Evie Haigh, Yasmin Marshall.

The U14 boys were also out and taking part in the last of the season’s round of the YYHL league. Well done to the B squad, your efforts are reflected in the highest placed second team in the league, ranked 9th out of 23.

The team started the day ranked 8th in the league with matches scheduled one off, one on with breaks between the games. Despite the weather we were all prepared to give it everything to try and secure a place in the play-offs.  What a remarkable achievement it would be if we could secure two teams through!  Our aim was not to finish the bottom of the league.

We certainly gave the A team a run for their money this morning. It was extremely close with us threatening the A team's net with their keeper having solid shots to save. Despite the opposition snatching a goal from a penalty corner we certainly held our own and it was disappointing that we did not get the finish from this nail biting, tense, end to end match.

The order of play had been changed and we were suddenly faced with a back to back match against  Ben Rhydding's first team. This looked promising with the opposition only fielding 9 players however to our dismay we found it was topped up with a couple of Thirsk A team players.  The team peppered our defence and we ended the match frustrated with a 5 nil loss and an injured player.

A quick calculation of points resulted us having to gain a win over Sheffield to claim a place in the play-offs.  Focussed, the team gave everything but Sheffield sneaked an early goal.  Players realised they were an even match and knew they needed two further goals. Heads up and fuelled, they battled for the ball which saw several leading breaks to the attacking D. Despite conceding another goal heads remained up until the very end.   A late penalty corner was awarded, the whistle went, our all team quickly advanced to the attacking D.  Henry injected to Flynn who cracked the ball just wide of the left post to meet Henry's stick and the ball sounded firmly on the back board.  A superb, well deserved, uplifting goal that wrapped up the day's hockey.   The team might have not reached the play-offs today but their spirit and enthusiasm was second to none. Every player, Oli, Sam, Ben, Edward, James, James, Archie, Tim, George, Henry, Henry and Flyn had outstanding performances throughout their matches, too many to name!

A huge thank you to Andrew who has been our Team Umpire this season and especially to our parents who have supported the boys throughout the season and endured some fairly miserable weather.

Submitted by Local reporters.