Hockey

Thirsk Hockey Club

Sunday, March 29 was a stunning day for two of the junior squads.

The U10 girls and U12 girls both walked away as winners in their groups in the EH Clubs In2Hockey North Championships.

The U10 girls played against Crewe, winning 5-1; Wakefield, winning 3-0; Durham, winning 5-1, and so winning their pool. The semi-final was against Chapletown, a much tougher game but still winning 2-0.

The final became an all Yorkshire affair with Wakefield as the opposition. Wakefield seemed to be determined to win and had many short corners in the first five minutes, all of which the defence handled with confidence.

Then Thirsk started to get into the attack. Having seen off all comers so far this game really came together and was won 10-0. This result provided a season’s statistics of 40 games played, 128 goals scored and only four conceded.

The U12 girls entered the competition as the third Yorkshire qualifier so had much to prove. The first opposition was Morpeth, and despite a slow start Thirsk ran out 1-0 winners. Next were Alderley Edge with the team still making hard work of scoring. Despite some chances it ended equal at 0-0.

The final pool game was against Wakefield, who had won the Yorkshire round and this proved a tougher game, finishing as 2-0 to Wakefield.

As runners up in their pool the semi-final was against the other pool winners, City of York. A barren first half after some saves by both keepers meant it was all down to a last effort in the second half.

Then it started to come together and finally Thirsk were scoring. Two goals with no reply saw them reach the final. This was a rematch against Wakefield, but the previous game had raised confidence and concentration, so Thirsk were early on the score sheet. Wakefield pulled one back, but Thirsk went into half time 2-1 up. A very even second half only produced one more goal, and it went to Thirsk. They head to the National finals in May.