The big AKS U13 squad enjoyed a great afternoon of hockey as two teams played in the Lancashire U13 Tournament and both came out as Champions with the A team now going on to represent the County in the North West finals of the National In2Hockey Championships.
The A team started the tournament well against Ripley going ahead early in the game when Sophia T found the net. This settled the nerves and we started to play some superb passing hockey and further goals from Alyssa W, Sadie A and Charlotte R saw us go in to the break at half time 6 -0 ahead. The second half saw Ripley defend more resolutely but a brace of goals from Sophia T and one from Evie G sealed the win and the first points on the board. The second game was always going to be tougher against Kirkham and so it proved to be! We again started well taking the game to Kirkham and deservedly went ahead with a superb Alyssa W goal. Kirkham were always dangerous and they had chances of their own but good defending from Penny A and some great saves from Evie C in goal kept us ahead until the very last seconds of the half when Kirkham found the net from a corner, despite two great saves by Evie and at half time the teams could not be separated at 1 – 1. The second half went the way of the first with AKS attacking at pace only to see their shots fly wide of the goal or players getting tackled before getting a shot away but Kirkham also had chances to score, particularly from corners. After an end to end half neither team could find the net and the scores remained level with both teams having to settle for a share of the points. AKS went into the final game against Bolton School knowing the outcome of the tournament would be decided on the result. AKS started brilliantly with Alyssa W scoring from the first push back and this set the tone for the game. Playing impressive passing hockey we dominated the game and more goals from Charlotte R and Sophia T saw us go in to the break comfortably ahead. After the break more clinical finishing into the corners of the goal against the impressive Bolton goalkeeper, particularly from Sophia T, saw us get the number of goals required to be crowned Lancashire U13 Champions and the squad now go on to play in the North West Finals for the third year in a row!
The AKS B team started their tournament against Ripley and they too had an impressive win. Bella A opened the scoring and then a hat-trick from Hattie W saw us go in to the break 4 – 0 ahead. The second half saw us play more controlled hockey passing the ball well and attacking down the right. A brace of goals from Elle J plus goals from Hattie and Amelia sealed the win and our first points on the board. The second game against Kirkham was much closer. We started well and dominated possession creating a number of scoring opportunities but some great saves by the Kirkham keeper kept the ball out and we went into the break level. After the break we continued to dominate with Bella A and Hattie N using their pace well to be a constant threat to the Kirkham goal but again we were frustrated by good Kirkham defending and some wayward shots. With time running out and a draw looking likely we finally found the net when a superb shot from Issy H at a corner was deflected into the net by a Kirkham defender to seal a 1 – 0 win and more points on the board. We went into the final game against Bolton School with top spot within our grasp. Nerves were settled when Hattie W put us into the lead and we never looked back with more goals from Hattie along with Amelia , Bella and Izzy sealing a well deserved victory and the accolade of being Lancashire U13 B Champions!
Overall a superb afternoon of hockey enjoyed by a large number of girls which saw us play some superb hockey, saw many grow in confidence and improve their skills and we now look forward to the remaining matches of the season