AKS U15 & U13 Hockey teams end the year on a high

AKS U15 & U13 Hockey teams end the year on a high

AKS U15 & U13 Hockey teams end the year on a high

PUBLISHED 03 July 2021

It may be summer but in this very different season AKS had the perfect final hockey matches of the school year with U15 and U13 games against Fylde Hockey Club and inter- squad games for everyone.

To give the schools’ talented U15 squad a final test they faced a Fylde HC U18 squad and they certainly stepped up to the challenge coming out on top after playing some superb passing hockey. We started well taking the game to Fylde and an early corner was well saved by the Fylde keeper. We continued to enjoy a lot of possession and with Carly W dominant on the right wing won several more corners but could not convert. Lucy B, Olivia M and Laura K worked hard in midfield and we played some superb passing hockey but could not find the final decisive pass to create scoring opportunities. Fylde did have chances to score but good goalkeeping from Scarlet D kept the scores level. Just before the break, however we did go ahead with a superb goal. Jessica A intercepted the ball in defence, passed early to Laura K in midfield and a fantastic early pass to Carly W on the right split the Fylde defence and Carly used her speed and skill to outpace the defenders and finish the move by finding the back of the net to make it 1 – 0 at half time.

The second half went the way of the first with us pressing well, dominating possession and winning a number of attacking corners one of which Laura K converted with an excellent reverse stick shot to make it 2 – 0. More great attacking play on the right with Charlotte T linking with Olivia M and Layla W using her pace well to drive into the circle but again the final pass towards Katie T on the left post was frequently cut out by the well positioned Fylde defenders. Beth R controlled the circle and great marking from all the defenders made it difficult for Fylde to create many scoring opportunities and when they did get shots on target more good saves from Scarlet D maintained our 2 goal cushion. We went further ahead with another good passing move late in the game when Maddie B won the ball in defence and a good pass found Lucy B in midfield, her early pass into the circle gave Patsy C time to find the corner of the goal with a great strike to make it 3 – 0. Fylde did have the last say in the game when they scored from a penalty stroke in the last minute to make the final score 3 – 1 to AKS. The team can be proud of the great display of passing hockey which was enjoyed by the coaches and spectators alike!

The AKS U13 side played against Fylde Hockey club and Fylde took an early lead but AKS equalised soon afterwards with a well struck goal from Layla W. Throughout this end to end game AKS  defended well with Lucy W, Esther T, Sophia M, Layla W  and Lisa P  closing down play and winning back possession effectively. A superb run on the left saw Kirtika S use her pace to beat the opposition defence before slotting the ball past the keeper to give AKS the lead. The second half saw AKS settle and play some good team hockey. In form Layla W  whose specialism as the short corner striker proved pivotal as two equally well placed strikes proved unstoppable and gave her a hatrick and AKS a comfortable 4-1 lead. For our Yr 7 strikers playing against older more experienced players proved to be a challenge, a challenge that was planned to stretch them and take them out of their comfort zone. They soon realised that the game had to be played at a faster pace and as the game progressed there were glimpses of exciting attacking play by Amelia H, Charlotte L, Lucy W  and out of position Esther T . Player of the match was Lisa P who covered so much ground in defence and proved impossible to beat. Special mention must go to Yr 7 goalkeeper Hannah A  who made a number of crucial saves against older players and shows great potential for the future. Fylde scored a well deserved consolation goal two minutes from the end to make the final score 4-2 in what was an excellent display of hockey from both teams. This match and the later match played between our Yr 7 and 8 players bodes well for next season.

As well as the matches against Fylde a large number of Yr 7, 8, 9 & 10 players enjoyed inter squad matches in which mixed teams put on a superb display of hockey showing how much they have developed over the past 12 months despite having limited matches.

In the  Year 9 & 10 match ‘Team Hanham’ narrowly defeated ‘Team Haynes’ 3 – 1 in a closely contested game while in the Year 7 & 8 match ‘Team Ferguson’ won by the same margin over ‘Team Jenkinson’. A fabulous morning of hockey for all that was the perfect end to a far from perfect season!

AUTHOR: AKS Lytham
CATEGORIES: Sport
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