The 1st XI Hockey team took part in the prestigious St George’s Weybridge Festival. They played extremely well, coming 6th out of 32 teams in total. They had good wins over Alleyns School and Dr Challoner’s Grammar School in their pool games which ended 2-1 and 4-0 respectively. They progressed to the quarter-finals where they beat Royal Grammar School, Guildford 2-0, the team then carried that winning momentum into the semi-finals where they beat King Edward VI School Southampton 1-0 in what was a tight affair. The final saw Eltham come up against Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School, both teams left everything on the field but despite the Eltham boys valiant efforts the game ended 1-0 to the opposition. The team should be extremely proud of the performances they put together during the day, special congratulations to Joshua Self who was named the overall player of the tournament.
The 2nd XI team put in a good performance against Caterham School and dominated the game only for Caterham to score near the end to force a 2-2 draw. Eltham started positively and created plenty of scoring opportunities but only managed one goal in the opening 15 minutes. Caterham then managed to equalise completely against the run of play with their first shot on goal. Eltham continued to dominate the game with Ken Dixson, Oliver Colegate and Sam Smith monopolising the possession in mid -field and putting the Caterham defence under pressure but the goalkeeper managed to make several good saves to keep the score at 1-1. The second half was much more of the same with any attack by Caterham being thwarted by Conor Fuller and Louis Brown who had good games in defence. The Eltham attack continued to pepper the Caterham goal and eventually managed to score a goal with a precise shot from Matthew Found which managed to beat the overworked Caterham goalie. Caterham managed to score a goal late on with the Eltham defence disorganised due to a substitution and earn themselves a rather fortunate draw.
The Under 15A team were involved in a tight affair in which both teams had a fair amount of chances, the game could have gone either way on the day but unfortunately Eltham found themselves on the losing side as Caterham held on to a 2-1 win, the Eltham boys fought hard until the final whistle but were unable to find the equaliser, credit to the boys who didn’t drop their heads and didn’t give up right until the end.
The Under 15B side were another one of the Eltham teams who managed a comfortable 3-0 victory over a good Caterham team. The boys worked hard and won their 50/50s, showing a bit more commitment and hunger than their opposition, they defended hard the whole game despite going 3-0 up.
The Under 14A team had a slow start to their game and were struggling to find rhythm in their play, they eventually opened up the scoring which allowed the boys to play with a bit more freedom and confidence which in success led to two more goals, another good defensive showing saw yet another Eltham team keep a clean sheet, keeping their opposition at bay for the entirety of the match.
The Under 13B side played well in their 3-0 win, even though they missed a few chances they managed to put three away and then held the opposition at bay to secure a clean sheet and a solid win over their opponents. The boys showed heart and wanted the victory more than their opponents.
The Under 12A side had a good 3-1 win over a good Caterham side, both teams had a fair share of chances but Eltham was the more dominant of the two and was the more clinical side in front of goal. They also defended really well, managing to only concede one goal.
The Under 12C side played extremely well in an impressive 7-0 win, every team member contributed to what was a dominant performance. Credit to the boys who worked hard the whole game and despite being 7-0 up still defended valiantly.
The Under 12D side managed a 3-1 victory in a game where they missed plenty of chances, they did defend well enough to hold the opposition off, who also had their fair share of chances but were unable to capitalize. The Eltham boys had the majority of the possession in the second half but only managed to score one more goal, which was enough to seal the victory.
