A determined Cannock side travelled down to Whitgift School, Croydon to play in the England Hockey Boys Under 18 National Finals. In a buoyant mood the expectation within the camp was high having qualified as Midlands Champions. However, the Nockers were drawn in a difficult pool but with some excellent performances progressed through to the semi-finals where a fresher Wycombe side just pipped us at the post in a very close even game. Wycombe went on to win the National title beating Havent on penalty strokes after the final finished 2-2. Despite the disappointment the Cannock lads did themselves proud over the weekend & also represented the club with total dedication. Making all the parents, coaching staff & fans very proud of them. Below you will find a more detailed account of the weekends action.

Group Games: Cannock 2-5 Isca

Scorers: J. Middleton, T. Morris

Cannock started their National Finals campaign on Saturday against Exeter based Isca, who started the game more alert & saw them open up a goal advantage within the first 4 minutes from a penalty corner. This sparked the Cannock team into life & subsequently saw the Nockers create more & more chances, unfortunately the Isca goalkeeper was at his inspired best & every shot fired at him stayed out of the goal. Even when two Ed Fleet penalty corners found there way past the keeper there was a defender on the line to clear the ball. Despite the continuous Cannock pressure Isca managed to score another goal from a dubious penalty corner to go into the half time interval two goals ahead. The same pattern was seen at the second half as the Cannock boys couldn't find that elusive goal before Isca increased their lead to three. This called for desperate action from the Cannock bench & the goalkeeper Jack Hitchens was sacrificed so that they could play with six outfield players. Within in a minute of the change a goal was pulled back by Tom Morris & Cannock continued to pressurise the Isca goal, however a quick counter-attack saw the undefended Cannock goal open to another Isca goal. From the restart Jack Middleton found space in the opposition D to again pull a goal back. Cannock pushed forward looking for more goals but a late yellow card for Tom Morris saw Cannock reduced to five men. This halted the Cannock charge & Isca quickly scored another goal. To limit any further damage the Cannock keeper returned to the line-up & the match finished 5-2. Not the ideal start for the Cannock side but it was a scoreline that didn't show the full story as Cannock had four times as many attempts on goal than there opponents, however a superb performance by the Isca goalkeeper had to be frustratingly admired.

Cannock 7-0 Doncaster

Scorers: G. Southall, A. Drayton-Chana (3), E. Fleet, T. Morris, J. Childs

Cannock went into their second game determined to show the travelling support that we were there to play good hockey. The opening exchanges saw the game go from end to end with both goalkeepers called into action with some good saves. Then Doncaster got through the Cannock defense only to see their shot rebound off the post straight onto the keeper Jack Hitchins pads & luckily bounce wide of the post. From that point Cannock took the game to the opposition & started to dominate the proceedings. Due to a kit technicality Chris Darnley had to be substituted & within 30 seconds of entering the pitch his replacement George Southall was found unmarked at the back post to open the scoring. Than a minute late an identical play saw Southall again unmarked but the opportunity slipped by due to a good save by the Doncaster keeper. In the closing moments of the first half Arjan Drayton-Chana increased the lead with a finish. Going into the half time interval two goals to the good was just the motivation the Cannock lads needed to kick start their tournament & they started the second half with confidence. The normal free flowing hockey was evident as the Cannock boys picked off the Doncaster goal will regular ease & soon the game was put to bed & an emphatic seven goal win was achieved. A great result & the perfect response after the first game set back, showing the Cannock lads were here to challenge for the title & not as an also ran.

Cannock 4-1 Havent

Scorers: T. Morris (2),  A.Drayton-Chana (2)

After a good nights rest Cannock begun the Sunday's play with a very tough fixture against Havent, who had convincingly won both their Saturday games & topped the group. Knowing this was going to be a tough ask from the Cannock lads they were pumped up & raring to go from the first whistle. Cannock pressed the Havent defense at every opportunity & were soon rewarded by a lapse pass from there opposition which gave Arjan Drayton-Chana the opportunity to give the Nockers a lead after just three minutes. Cannock continued to apply the pressure & were rewarded after five minutes when a penalty stroke was awarded following a foot on the line. Tom Morris calmly stepped up to slot home the second goal. Soon after it was a third Cannock goal as a text book penalty corner was deflected home again by Tom Morris. The Cannock side went into the half time break three goals to the good. Knowing the opposition now had to chase the the game Cannock set up for the second half with a half court press. This proved to frustrate Havent as they couldn't break down the disciplined Cannock formation, as the clock ticked down the Havent players tried to force the ball forward but frequently lost possession. Eventually Havent did force a penalty corner & pulled a goal back. With the Havent tails now up & looking to get back into the game the restart saw Cannock immediately score a fourth goal from Arjan Drayton-Chana & saw put an end to the Havent hopes. An excellent performance from the Cannock lads saw them well back into the hunt for top spot in the group.

Cannock 3-2 City of Peterborough

Scorers: T. Morris, J. Middleton, A.Drayton-Chana

Cannock's final group game saw them going in to it knowing a draw would be sufficient to see them through to the semi-finals but a win could still see them going through as group winners. Peterborough also knew that a win for them would see them safely through to the next round. So everything was to play for in what turn out to be a passionate affair. A free flowing game saw Peterborough take the lead mid way through the first half but it was soon cancelled out as Tom Morris slotted him a penalty stroke after a foot on the line following a penalty corner. So at the half time buzzer the game was very even in the balance. Cannock went out in the second half with a more aggressive press & soon got the upper hand in the possession stakes, this was soon rewarded with another penalty stroke being given but this time the Peterborough keeper was equal to the task as Morris failed to convert. This gave the opposition more energy & they soon opened up a goal advantage from a penalty corner. This set back didn't effect the Cannock lads as they wouldn't let there head drop & within a minute were back on level terms as Arjan Drayton-Chana turned the defense in & out to slot the ball home for a tied scoreline. With the clock running down a penalty corner was award to the Cannock side. The final buzzer was sounded & this was to be the final play of the game. Without any nervous tension Chana fired home the ball to send the Cannock lads in to joyous raptures. Despite the last gasp winner Cannock finished second in the group on goal difference to Havent, who managed to squeeze through as group winners meaning Cannock were to play the other group winners Wycombe in the semi-finals.  Wycombe having played a game less than Cannock on the Sunday due to a smaller qualification pool.

Semi-Final: Cannock 1-2 Wycombe

Scorer: M. Jarocki

The semi-final started with the fresher Wycombe side playing a very high press trying to force the Cannock defense into mistakes. This saw Wycombe gain the early upper hand & had three very good chances which were expertly dealt with by the Cannock goalkeeper Jack Hitchins. Soon after Wycombe were awarded a penalty corner & the shot was goal bound only for Jack Childs to be on the line to superbly stop the ball at waist height & keep the game goalless. That seemed to be the wake-up call Cannock needed & the emphasis of the game swung with Cannock gaining the majority of composed possession which was capitalised as Arjan Drayton-Chana beat two defenders to burst in to the Wycombe D, as he tried to slot the ball under the advancing keeper, the keeper makes an excellent save but only for the ball to squirm straight to Matt Jarocki who calmly slotted the ball home to give the Cannock a one goal lead. The first half closed out with good exchanges of hockey but both keepers in good form. Cannock came out for the second half pumped up & eager to hold on to their lead & push forward to put some distance between the two sides. This saw the Nockers push forward at every opportunity & draw some rash challenges from the opposition. Following one of these clashes a penalty corner was awarded & from the resulting shot a foot was hit on the line - penalty stroke for Cannock. Jack Middleton confidently took the ball only to see his stroke go wide of the right upright. This slice of luck seemed to push the Wycombe side forward searching for an equaliser & soon after a short corner was awarded. A neat switch move saw the game levelled from the resulting corner. From the restart Cannock pushed forward & another rash challenge on Arjan Drayton-Chana saw a penalty corner given but no card. The corner was well saved by the Wycombe keeper & the play swept to the other end where a challenge from Drayton-Chana see's a penalty corner to Wycombe & a somewhat harsh yellow card to be shown. Nockers now down to five players settle to defend the penalty corner only to see an identical switch move give the Wycombe 2-1 lead with 2 minutes to play. From the restart the short handed Nockers were determined not to let their dream die & continued to push forward. With 30 seconds remaining Drayton-Chana re-entered the game & saw the Nockers immediately win a penalty corner. Last chance saloon! The corner is taken & the quickly advancing Wycombe keeper smoothers out the threat at top D to see the Wycombe side scrape through to the final.