U14B Girls v Burgess Hill (A)
The HC Knole Park U14B Girls travelled to Burgess Hill for their third match of the season. Unfortunately, the girls made a slow start to the match and found themselves 2-0 down in the first five minutes as they struggled to get the ball out on 16s. As the half progressed the team started playing better, linking more passes together and creating some really great attacking opportunities through Mackenzie Ward, Harriet Medlen and Amber Croll. They just couldn’t quite get the final run of the ball, the linking pass or a shot on target. Just before half-time Burgess Hill hit KP on the break and scored their third goal of the game. 3-0 at Half-Time.
A few changes at half time took a couple of minutes to get used to and the team conceded very early on again. However, the rest of the half was all KP - chances created, linking hockey, silky skills and some great defence! The break-through finally came when Celia Foster scored arguably the greatest goal a Year 7 has ever scored!! Picking the ball up at the top of the D, she rolled it onto her backhand a smashed it into the top corner of the goal!! Stunned silence, followed by cheering and applause!
Soon after, Player of the Match Mackenzie Ward converted one of her many superb carries to make it 2-4 - was a comeback possible with 7 minutes on the clock… Unfortunately, a Burgess Hill goal against the run of play towards the end made the final score 5-2. Burgess Hill were deserved winners, but the KP girl’s second half performance and the opportunity to learn from the match was hugely rich for the Knole Park who finished on a real high! Well done to all involved - we look forward to welcoming Burgess Hill to Knole Park in the new year!
U12 Boys @ Tonbridge Tournament
The HC Knole Park U12 Boys hosted Old Georgians & Epsom on Sunday at Tonbridge School. OG’s were first up. They were last year’s National runner’s up, so we knew they would be a tough opponent. Knole Park started very well, and Player of the Match Moritz Hippe and Iggy Munoz linked up well to score the first goal of the game. After some sustained attack the KP boys found it hard to get the second goal and, on the break, the Old Georgians centre forward equalised with the ultimate “YouTube” goal! Juggling the ball from the half-way line the Old Georgians youngster lifted it over the on rushing GK for a super individual goal! Great to see such creativity and confidence in youth hockey!
Unperturbed by this set-back, Isaac Dale scored almost immediately from an excellent penalty corner strike into the bottom corner.
As the match wore on, the KP boys continued to try and attack to extend their advantage, however a brick wall of a GK and some last ditch defending made it very tough. Old Georgians were clinical on the break and deservedly ran in 4 unanswered goals to win the game 5-2. We look forward to the return match in the new year!
Disappointed, but motivated, the boys dusted themselves off for their second match against Epsom. In a very even start to the match it stayed at 0-0 for the first 12 minutes. Epsom finally made the breakthrough with a good breakaway goal. This seemed to spark the boys into life and they played their best hockey of the day for the final 10 minutes. William Galloni, James Parker, Iggy Munoz, Mortiz Hippe, Mack Copp and Player of the Match Isaac Dale showing some awesome individual skills and link up play to break through the Epsom defence.
Goals from Iggy, Moritz, Isaac (2) and Harry Lewis were the difference in the end as the boys got back to winning ways with a 5-1 win, including a remarkable team goal from defence to attack to finish the match. Second place on this occasion, but the perfect day to motivate the boys to develop their hockey over the next few weeks!
Congratulations to Camille, Jessica and Josefina for umpiring their first hockey matches too - you were awesome!
U14 Girls v U14 Boys - Internal Match play
In the match of the weekend the HC Knole Park U14 Boys and Girls played off against one another at Tonbridge School. HC Knole Park were due to play Bournemouth in the Cup, however due to travel complications and half-term these matches were postponed. So, in true KP fashion we make the most of a negative and turned it into a positive.
Using the incredible facilities at Tonbridge School the Knole Park youngsters played out a phenomenal match. In an extremely even game the Girls just edged it with goals from Olivia Breed and two from Phoebe Gough-Cooper including a superb backhand strike!
Whilst the Final Score was 3-0 to the Girls, the boys should be exceptionally pleased with how well they played and how much they have improved already this year. The Girls were however superb and should take huge confidence from how well they are playing at the moment - the contribution from every player was outstanding. It is therefore impossible to select the Players of the Match as you were all superb! Bit of a cop-out, but it’s true! Well done to all involved - it really was an exhibition in high quality hockey. I hope you enjoy the video!
Well done also to Adam and Ruth for their coaching and umpiring and to Rob for videoing. You’re a credit to KP and we couldn’t function without you.
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