PUBLISHED 04 February 2023
AKS are celebrating being crowned Lancashire U13 Champions as, for the second year running, they remained unbeaten in the Lancashire U13 Tournament and with two teams finishing 2nd and 3rd in the B team tournament it was a great afternoon of hockey.
The A team started the tournament nervously against Lytham High struggling to get any pattern to their play and a resolute Lytham defence kept the ball out of the net. As the game progressed we started to pass the ball more effectively and Anna V opened the scoring to settle nerves. Great interplay between Anna V and Camilla C led to Camilla scoring our second goal and she was on the score sheet again before the break to make it 3 – 0. We enjoyed a lot of possession in the second half with Anna V dominant and two further goals from Anna made the final score 5 – 0 and we had our first points on the board.
The second game against Kirkham was a much closer affair and we again started slowly and Kirkham dominated the first five minutes putting our defence under immense pressure. Only some excellent defending by Lauren M, Olivia D, Anna V and Victoria H , along with some great saves from GK Shelby Q kept us on level terms. Having weathered the storm we slowly got a foot in the game with some great play from Anna V occupying several Kirkham players giving others more space to work and we put Kirkham under pressure. We deservedly got our noses infront before the break when Anna V converted a well worked corner to make it 1 – 0 at half time. The second half saw us start to be more dominant and enjoy more possession but solid Kirkham defending kept the score at just one. We continued to create scoring opportunities and the game was won late on when Camilla C was on hand with a touch to deflect the ball into the goal to make it 2 – 0. With a second win the A team were deservedly crowned Lancashire U13 Champions and picked up winners medals. The team now go on to represent Lancashire in the North West Finals in March
AKS entered two teams in the B Tournament and picked up silver medals and 3rd place certificates.
The B1 team started the tournament well with a 4 – 0 victory against Lytham B. AKS B2 provided a stronger challenge and a single goal separated the teams at the final whistle to give the team 6 points on the board. The game against Kirkham B proved to be the title decider and despite the best efforts of all the team Kirkham proved too strong and won 3 – 0 and the team had to settle for runners-up spot and silver medals.
The AKS B2 team played against all the other school B teams and did themselves proud finishing in 3rd spot. A narrow loss 0 – 1 against AKS B1 and a hard fought win against Lytham B 2 - 1 were reward for some excellent play which saw the team improve game by game.