U16B T1 away to Old Loughtonians

The boys started with some great positive play and distribution across the back in the unseasonably hot afternoon sun. Despite conceding an early field goal, play continued with great energy . After a couple of close calls on short corners Loughts eventually found the backboard. The quarter finished 2:0 down. The boys reconfigured to 3 at the back and stuck to the tasks at hand not letting their heads drop. The opposition pressed hard with a solid centre proving difficult to negotiate or penetrate. Another short corner found the backboard, Ipswich went into halftime with a scoreline of 3:0 against.

Sam had bought Birthday reinforcements (Happy Birthday to both Sam (Captain) and Dylan) for halftime and a refuel of Chocolate Brownies gave some new energy. With some of our handy midfielders barely getting a touch of the ball a slight reshuffle of players created some opportunities and play in the opposition D. Loughts were quick to break on the turnovers and 2 more field goals were conceded along with a green card as passion got in the way of play. 3rd quarter ended - 5:0.

Many a team would crack at this point and it's often seen for a flurry of goals to be further conceded, but not from this group - quite the opposite in fact - they dug hard - can't go round it, can't go through it, let's create some dynamic play and go over it - a couple of aerials past the Loughts midfield followed that on a different day could easily have result in more positive outcomes. They fought hard to the final whistle keeping the last quarter score 0:0. Final score 5:0 loss but for this newly formed young team dipping a toe into Tier 1 hockey some solid foundations and excellent hockey to build on as they chart the path of their hockey journey. Great to have Kinso and Ingham onboard and well done to Benji and Jack stepping up as part of their development. We go again next week as Tuddenham Road does the Double with the Mens 1st XI in the East Conference PB at 1300 followed by the U16 Boys in the T1 England Hockey Championship at 1500 against their respective Hampstead and Westminster oppositions. Get down to TR and support the boys in Blue.