U11 Boys Hockey v Oakham Wed 27th January 2016

Copthill U11A Boys Hockey v Oakham 27 January 2016

The first match of the term, and a new fixture for us; away at Oakham (Jerwoods). The Copthill team consisted of old hands, with William Gardner making his debut in defence, and against us it was great to see last years B Team goalie; Ollie Dowell. 

Copthill started brightly, keeping possession and controlling the game. Toby Dalrymple and William looking very composed in defence what could go wrong...? Oakham woke up; their skilful midfielder inter-passed through three despairing tackles to finish calmly beyond Freddie Gwinnett. Without hesitation we picked ourselves up and pressurised the Oakham goal. Max Kettlewell, Luke Harriss and Felix Clayton all coming close, but all ultimately thwarted by great work from Ollie Dowell! 

As the second half developed Oakham grew increasingly confident, and we started to lose our shape. A communication mix up in defence gave Oakham a simple opportunity to add to the score, and then their influential midfielder showed his exceptional skills by carving us open to put in the centre forward for their third. Our captain Toby Dalrymple kept the team going right to the end, but we just couldn't find a consolation goal; 3 - 0 the final score

Not a win, but still a committed performance from the team not reflected by the score, and an experience we can all learn from. Well done to you all! Thanks to Captain Toby, and mention to Man of the Match; Gabriel Rudman, for continually driving us forward with skill and purpose.