Youngsters take to the pitch for schools hockey contest

Spalding Hockey Club hosted the Spalding Primary Schools Hockey Tournament Three at Glen Park, Surfleet, on Friday with a full quota of 20 teams from 13 primary schools participating.

Although many of the youngsters had played in the earlier tournaments, there were still many of the 150 plus players making their first appearance for their schools.
Building on the two previous tournaments, the teams were split into four graded leagues, Advanced, Intermediate, Beginner A and Beginner B leagues.
In the Advanced league, Monks House A carried on where they left off at the top of the tree in tournament Two with another series of impressive performances.
They won three of their four games, beating Ayscoughfee A (2-0), Eye Primary (2-1) and Boston’s Tower Road A (2-0) and were only denied a clean sweep by a determined John Harrox A team that held them to a goalless draw.
Ayscoughfee A finished in second place again with three wins over Tower Road A (1-0), John Harrox A (1-0) and Peterborough-based Eye Primary (2-0)
Tower Road once again demonstrated that they have strength in depth with their B team dominating the Intermediate league.
They opened their account with a hard fought win (1-0) over a well-organised Gosberton Risegate team and went on to record further wins over Spalding Parish (3-0) and Monks House B (2-0) but were denied a fourth win in a goalless draw with neighbours St Thomas’s who finished in second place.
Undefeated St Thomas’s managed two wins over Monks House B (1-0) and Spalding Parish (2-0) and were denied the top spot when Gosberton Risegate held them to a draw (1-1) in the deciding game.
In the Beginner A league, Eye Primary B put in some strong performances to take the top spot recording wins over locals Surfleet Primary (1-0), St John’s (3-0) and Pinchbeck East (1-0) but were held to a goalless draw by a steadily improving St Norbert’s team that finished in second place.
St Norbert’s started strongly with wins over St John’s (2-0) and Pinchbeck East (1-0) but were beaten by Surfleet Primary (1-0) in their final game.
The two Gosberton Academy teams A and B, dominated the Beginner B league finishing in the top two slots.
After a goalless draw in their opening game against John Harrox B, Gosberton Academy A picked up their momentum to record three wins over Tower Road C (3-0), Ayscoughfee B (2-0) and their own B team (1-0) to top the league.
Their B team also performed well with two wins Tower Road C (2-0) and John Harrox b (2-0) and a goalless draw against Ayscoughfee B in their final game.
The eight teenage umpires from Spalding Hockey Club controlled the games excellently.
Tournament Four is scheduled for Friday, March 17, with the finals due to take place on Friday, May 5.