Cranleigh had two sides in this prestigious tournament, always a great way to get some high-intensity hockey at the start of the season.
The first team had a potentially difficult start against Sir William Borlaise but scored very quickly and won comfortably 5-0. Victories over Tormead, Kingston, Ardingly B and Kent B set up a final pool game against Reed’s to decide the winner of the group. Having gone 0-1 down early on, and with only the winner qualifying for the semi-final, we scored 3 unanswered goals to win the pool and the group.
In another pool, our second team consisting of under 16s, started by winning easily against Reigate and Ipswich. Then they came up against Ardingly and played really well to win. St George’s B and CLFS were then cast aside, so going into the last pool game against Kent College they had pretty much guaranteed a semi-final qualification as long as they didn’t lose by 7 or more goals! A 0-1 loss was therefore sufficient to get through to the semi-finals as well.
The first team beat Wellington 2-0 in one semi-final whilst the second team beat St Edward’s from Oxford 3-1 to set up an all Cranleigh final. The under 16’s created a great chance after a few minutes but just hit past the post. The game was fast-flowing with lots of skill on show. The 1st team then fired a short corner low into the bottom corner to lead 1-0 and that was how it finished – a great display of attacking hockey from both sides that culminated in respect and hugs all round. In addition to Cranleigh collecting the cup, Charlotte Calnan picked up Player of the Tournament and Fifi Robinson was Player of the Final. A great day all round.
Richard Organ Director of Hockey