HOCKEY Boyne delighted with progress Canterbury men

Canterbury coach Craig Boyne hailed his side for cutting down on the ‘clangers’ as they continued their surge up the table and added a semi-final to their schedule over the weekend.

A hat- trick from William Heywood spearheaded Canterbury’s 5- 3 win over Richmond on Saturday to keep them level on points with second-placed Southgate in the Conference East.

This was followed up by a 6-0 victory in Sunday’s Tier 1 Championships quarter-final clash with Old Cranleighans.

The home side’s early dominance was rewarded when Teague Marcano opened the scoring with a low backhand shot from the top of the D.

Goals from Louis Ridge and Adam Lee-brown extended the lead to 3-0, before Will Mead’s deflected effort crept between the goalkeeper’s legs for four.

Marcano doubled his tally for five and the win was wrapped up by Heywood upon his timely return from injury.

“It was great that we had Will Heywood come back into the team after injury, he added a bit of spark up front,” said Boyne.

“It was really nice that all of our players played really well, especially our youngsters up top. It was really satisfying to see the growth of the team, and the energy around the ball.”

Having been disappointed to concede sloppy goals in the 4-3 win over Old Loughtonians the previous week, Boyne accepted there was little his side could do to thwart Richmond in their three efforts.

He added: “It was three short corners, the first was a great hit and execution. The second was a spin flick that was really hard to save. The third was a corner break down that took a lucky touch I thought.”

A pleasing aspect to the win was seemingly the enhanced mental stamina Boyne had turned a focus towards in light of the late pressure his team endured last weekend.

“I’ve gone through the video breakdowns of the game.

“I call them ‘clangers’ when a player makes an unforced error and those were minimal this week.

“It was really satisfying that what we did in the week was really put into practice.

“I think the fact we were leading at the start and they were always climbing back was really good for the belief of the players and gave them licence to go forward and score. It was easy for me sitting back and letting the guys take over.”

While strengthening defensively remains a leading objec tive, exper ience is beginning to equate to a great cohesion in attacking areas for Canterbury.

“Defensively, we could still be better, we gave away those short corners a bit too easily,” Boyne admitted.

“But the goal scoring side of things has been developing for a good six months now. It’s about getting as efficient as possible going forward and those young guys are really starting to get some confidence.”

Besides competing at the top of the table, Canterbury now also have a semi-final to prepare for after a professional display against Cranleighans.

“We went into the game aware we needed to put in a good performance as they’d knocked out two teams from our competition. Full testament to our group that we didn’t get involved with the grittiness that could have taken over the game.

“In the second half they barely spent any time in our half. There was a slight apprehension heading into the game, but full credit to the boys for stepping up and nailing a comprehensive win.”

For Canterbury to be competing on both fronts serves as further proof of the talent Boyne has at his disposal.

He added: “They’ve all got the ability. We’re constantly reinforcing the fact they they’re good enough to be there.

“When we get those results on paper it’s huge because these guys feed off that success.”

outside of his boot. Connor Ashman was man of the match for a fantastic performance at the back that ensured a second consecutive clean sheet. “We stuck to our game plan, didn’t panic, and the boys got what they deserved,” said Axford afterwards. “All in all a really pleasing result. That’s eight goals without reply in the last two games and now six games unbeaten in the league. “We are looking strong and more resilient, and go into any game with a good level of confidence.” The under-13s also blew hot in their wind-affected game against Deal Town as they triumphed 9-2. A hat-trick from Sol Streatfield, two goals apiece by Jack Feaver and Archie Hutchinson, and a further strike each from Ryan Whittaker and man-of-thematch Kyle Beaman completed a convincing win. Captain Luke White claimed three assists for under-11 Lightning in their cup match against Cheriton. Harvey Pelling (2), Frank Davison, Jake Crawley and Oliver White also found the net, while Charlie Hope was named best player on the day. Debutant Arthur Aiken scored and was named joint player of the match, alongside goalkeeper Fletch Green, in under-9 Thunder’s match against Kennington. There was an under-8 Strike Force derby as Lightning met Thunder. Eli Monger, Ollie Gilbert Childs, Reggie Hughes, Roman Lee, Austin Wanmer (2), Huey Garlinge, Connor Pritchard and Ethan Hickford (2) scored as both sides finished happy with their efforts.