Girls able to fend off second-half riposte

Canterbury juniors

Canterbury JHC’S under-14 girls enjoyed a 6-3 win at Surbiton in the Home Counties Premier League. Tilly Tillings scored two with others from Jess Mcmeeking, Alex Ferguson, Sian Emslie and Hannah Harvey as the city club led 2-0 at the break and withstood a fightback in the second half. In the Kent League, the depleted under-14 girls were edged out 4-3 with goals from Antonia Dilkes, Jess Rudler and Channice Marks. The under-14 boys’ development team welcomed a strong Brombecks side for a Mercian development game at Polo Farm. The team worked hard but were beaten 6-3 despite goalkeeper Finn Upton making some fine saves and Max Messenger showing his potential with an excellent hat-trick. In the Mercian Premier League a trip to Guildford was rewarded with a 7-0 victory with Lewis Wilshire scoring four times. Canterbury played their best hockey of the season in the first half with a passing display that merited a 5–0 half-time lead. Guildford stepped up in the second half with Canterbury appearing to relax and the defence were called into action several times. The under-18 boys bounced back from their National Cup exit with a 14-0 win over Holcombe in the opening round of the EH Plate. The result was not in doubt after depleted Canterbury raced into a 3-0 lead inside 10 minutes at Polo Farm. It was 11-0 at the break although the city club eased off a little in the second half. Jamie Crocker scored four goals, Patrick Brookson three, Richie Heywood two, with Hugo Creaney-birch, Charlie Griffiths and Spencer Smith also on target. Hamish is enjoying his first taste of top flight hockey with Canterbury but said: “It was a difficult stepup at first because it is a lot faster.” His talent was spotted earlier this year when he received the Ivy Hawkes Bursary awarded by the Kent Playing Fields Association to talented athletes, which included £100 towards coaching and training costs. He also began an Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) in a collaboration between Loughborough College, Skills Active and England Hockey. Away from sport, Hamish, from Tenterden, is studying A2 levels in business, biology and geography.