Cannock U16s Success in Leicester
Posted by on 4 March 2015
Cannock U16s travelled to Leicester to face the hosts, BlueHarts and Olton in the Regional Finals, only the winner of the group would earn themselves a place at the Natinal Finals taking place at Old Loughtonians HC and Lee Valley Stadium on 28/29th March.
After finishing 2nd to Lichfield in the Midlands Round Cannock travelled to the East Midlands in hope rather than expactation, not really knowing what to expect of their opponents or themelves.
The U16s first game came against BlueHarts, a tight opening ten minutes was broken when Cannock scored from a Jamie Greenwood short corner, this lead was doubled by captain Guy Sheldon to give Cannock a 2-0 HT lead. Assistant Coaches Rich Parker and Ajran Chana called for calm and a repeat performance in the second half, this wasnt the case as Cannock never really got going and had to defend hard to maintain their 2-0 scoreline and take three points in their first match.
This borught some stern words from Head Coach Alex Hill before the 2nd game against Olton & West Warwick. It was time for the lads to prove themselves, time to find the killer pass and finish. Safe to say Cannock came through, Chris Gardner opened the scoring with an outstanding reverse stick stike into the top corner. This brought a range of goals from Danny Swinnerton, Jamie Greenwood, Jack Rolfe which gave Cannock a 6-0 win and sent them straight to the top of the group with one game left.
Last came hosts Leicester who needed to beat Cannock and overturn eight goals. Howwever, Cannock were in no mood for giving anything away. More Goals for Swinnerton, Gardner and Jordan Joiner gave Cannock a 4-1 win, nine points from three games and a place in the National Finals.
There was even time for a 'Jose Mourinho esk' run down the touch line from the over excited Coach before the lads finished.
A special thank you to Manager Andy Hoare for organising the weekend, Ben Driver for umpiring the U16 games and to the parents for supporting the team.
Bring on the Nationals!!
