The girls started strongly, gaining a short corner with Irmak Kara hitting the post and some great stickwork down the right wing from Jess McCully. This was followed by a period of pressure from Tunbridge Wells. Our defence battled well and Georgia Binfield made a number of great saves.
 
Our defence made consistent long clearances finding Sophie Wain and Molly-Anne Burden in space up front who made a number of powerful runs forcing saves from the Tunbridge Wells goalkeeper. There was some fine stickwork at speed on display from Eleni Godwin.
 
The Canterbury pressure finally paid off with a great solo goal from Sophie Wain leaving Canterbury 1-0 up at half time.
 
Tunbridge Wells came out fighting after the break and probably had the better of a second half where they scored twice - a result of keeping possession, passing the ball well and intercepting our attempts to get the ball clear of our defensive quarter.  
 
However, the Canterbury girls worked very hard and refused to give up.  The defence held firm, the midfield tackled fearlessly and supplied great passes to the forwards.  Our hard work paid off with Sophie Wain bursting through on a strong run finding the back of the Tunbridge Wells’ net to score the equaliser.
 
The final score was 2-2, which was a fair result.
 
The girls can reflect on a positive match where some great skills and teamwork were on display from both sides.
 
Player of the match goes to Sophie Wain.
 
Team: Amelia Benson   Annabelle Styles  Eleni Godwin  Elissa Kingsbury  Georgia Binfield (GK)  Irmak Kara  Jessica McCully  Kiera Beerstecher  Molly-Anne Burden  Natalya Hoare  Olivia Ryeland  Rebecca Carter  Sophie Aikin  Sophie Wain

Report by John Aikin.

A well drilled and skilful Sevenoaks took on Canterbury at a wind swept Polo Farm. Rebecca Hutchings won the home side the toss but Sevenoaks applied pressure from the start and after 10 minutes the first goal was scored from a short corner. 5 minutes later they scored a second from open play.
 
Canterbury had the better of the next ten minutes with the Sevenoaks goalkeeper making some fine saves. Rebecca made a couple of mazey runs followed by Harriet Brealy and Felicity Ward driving forward to earn successive short corners but our home team could not capitalise. Another spell of Sevenoaks pressure created a 3-0 deficit at the end of the half after a Canterbury goal was disallowed.
 
The second half saw some more fine passing and interplay from Sevenoaks which resulted in their fourth goal. Canterbury girls battled hard to apply pressure and never stopped working for the cause. Beth Langdale broke from our defensive line to dribble down the right wing and cross to the far post just narrowly missing the stick of Lily Beer. Georgia Binfield pulled off some fine saves to limit the damage. With 10 minutes left on the clock Sevenoaks had a break away goal making the final score 5-0.
 

Player of the match was Harriet Brealy.
 
Report by Jeremy Ward

Canterbury knew that this fixture was potentially their toughest test so far this season. The boys started brightly, creating two very good chances in the first 10 minutes but unfortunately not converting either. Sevenoaks were then able to play themselves into the game and scored the first goal of the match. Canterbury fought back hard in the first half, creating more chances and finally being rewarded with a goal to bring the score to 1-1.
 
The second half saw both teams having to defend well and attack hard, with Canterbury and Sevenoaks both creating good scoring opportunities. It was Sevenoaks who were able to convert one of their chances to give them the 2-1 lead. Canterbury continued to attack, narrowly missing both sides of the post & having a number of goal-mouth melees. Unfortunately the ball would simply not go in the goal and Canterbury were unable to equalise, despite the valiant efforts of the team.
 
Lots to work on over the next 3 weeks before the boys meet Sevenoaks again, this time in the EH cup. With everything to play for, and knowing they can play much better team hockey, we are certain that the A team will head into the fixture knowing that they can get the result they deserve.
 
Goal scorer: Blue Kelleher
 
Most Valuable Player: Sam Laird – for his commitment to the team and for his energy levels.
 
Team: Eddie Rowney, Charlie Jain, Harry Halle Smith, Jude Stroud, Edward Lampard, Callum Conlon, Michael Sabine, Leo Norwood, Josh Prebble, Sam Laird, Sam Ericson, Josh Kitson, Charlie Gotke, Blue Kelleher, Ethan Aitken, Thomas Izzard (Captain)
 

Report by Ziggy Ericson

Canterbury U14 Bs traveled up to Langley Park in London to take on Brom Becks and came out on top!
 
Canterbury started slow and suffered two injuries in the first 10 minutes which unfortunately meant they were down to 11 for the rest of the game. Not to be deterred though the boys secured a goal and great keeping by Barnaby from the U12s kept them ahead going into the break.
 
Knowing that their best play came from quick passing and nice leads from the forwards, the boys were determined to take home 3 points and set out again in the second half.
 
A brief lapse in communication by the defence gave a BBHC player just enough space to fire a rocket on his backhand which no one could reach and suddenly the game was tied!
 
Still focused on three points Canterbury knuckled down and soon started getting into the D more and more, piling on the pressure and finding the goal once again. Now back ahead again, Canterbury dominated the rest of the game and didn’t tire, finding the goal a further 3 times before the final whistle! The final goal just seconds before the end, from a great ball into the D from Wilf to the far post, beating all the defenders and finding an unmarked red shirt for a neat finish by Riley.
 
With a total of 23 shots on target, 34 circle penetrations and no PCs conceded, the boys should be proud of their great opening to the second half of the season!
 
5-1 win. The goals came from Issac, Angus, Riley and Luca (2)
 
Most valuable player was awarded to Hugo for his great effort at CM - not letting anyone past him with the ball and finding the forwards with every pass he made!

Report by Sammzi Bhowry

Firstly, special thanks to Ella, Hannah, Jess and Yazzy for helping out the Ladies 2a team and headed to Old Loughts for a rearranged fixture, and to Clara, Georgie Ericson and Georgie Upton (U14s) who helped out the U16s at short notice - what team work and great club spirit, well done girls!
 
A fantastic game for the U16s (please see match report from Issy S below) - a 3-2 win and goals from Issy Mount, Flora B (welcome back!) and Issy Savage. Unfortunately a 3-2 loss for the Ladies but our girls played really well by all accounts.
 
Thanks to Soak and Chris for umpiring and Jack for coaching, as well as our lovely kitchen ladies for providing match teas for you all.
 
As we pottered onto the windy water base, with a high amount of optimism, we started a brisk warmup before setting off to beat Tulse Hill & Dulwich. We were off to a slow start as the ball went back and forth between both teams, but with a sudden burst of energy Issy mount managed to score an excellent back hand goal from the top of the circle which shot past the keeper. As the half time whistle blew we were left more confident but knew we would have to continue fighting.

We started the next half with a lot more aggression which meant we had a lot more opportunities at scoring, unfortunately after copious amounts of short corners we were unable to score, but luckily Flora Brett managed to come in and score giving us a 2-0 advantage. With our heads held high we continued fighting, however they were sadly dropped as the opposition broke through our defence and managed to score.

As the second half progressed we managed to pass a lot more and we become more confident in carrying the ball which resulted in many attempts at scoring, especially down the righthand side, which resulted in another goal by Issy savage. Kiera Papper stayed strong in Goal as Tulse Hill & Dulwich  were getting more and more determined to beat us, which sadly led to another goal by our opponents.

After that both teams failed to score anymore goals and the game was about to draw to a close meaning we had to fight to make sure we wouldn’t concede anymore goals, thankfully to our strong defence and the midfield continuously turning over the ball we finished the game with a respectable 3-2 win. Hopefully we can expect to beat them again as we play them shortly at their home ground, well done and good luck girls.

Report Issy Savage