Future Stars Shine at U14 Inter-Districts

The ever-popular Under 14 Inter-District Tournaments returned to the Scottish Hockey calendar on 21/22 May after a two-year absence.  And normal service was resumed with a celebration of youth hockey at Peffermill, featuring the best young players from each District.

U14 Girls Inter-Districts

The Girls’ Tournament on Saturday had eight teams in two pools of four, followed by play-offs/finals.  East and West both entered two evenly-matched teams this season to provide more young players with this opportunity.

In Pool A, Zara Wood scored for South after only three minutes before East Sky hit back with five goals before half-time. In the end, East ran out 7-1 winners with a hattrick from Emily Lang, two from captain Lucy Coull, and one each from Emilia Dempster and Gaby Miller. On pitch 2, Midland and West Tigers were fighting out a 2-2 draw. Rosie Ettle scored both Midland goals, including a late equaliser, and Nicola Dray scored a double for West.

Midland followed this up with an excellent 2-1 win against East Sky. Isabella Paton put East ahead before Rosie Ettle and Leigh Arbuckle sealed the win for Midland.  Meanwhile, West Tigers were 3-0 winners v South with goals from Beth Campbell, Edie Simmers Clark and Aneesa Philips.

In the final pool matches, West Tigers finished top on goal difference after a 4-2 win v East Sky in a cracking match. Two goals in the first six minutes from Isabella Paton had Sky in command before the Tigers roared back with goals from Maisy Darce, Aneesa Philips, Beth Campbell and Anna Morrison.  Midland secured second place with a 4-1 win v South.  Leigh Arbuckle (2), Amy Jenkinson and Rosie Ettle scored before Isla Ramsay got a consolation for South.

In Pool B, West Jaguars and East Purple both started strongly. West had a 3-0 win v South-West with goals from Poppy Ballantyne, Josie Walker Smith and Holly Robertson. And East beat North 7-1 with a hattrick from Jessica Forman, plus others from Sophie Davidson, Katya Cairns, Lucy Scott and Gabriella Fontenla.

East Purple followed this up with a 4-0 win v South-West, including two more goals from Sophie Davidson. And West Jaguars also won again, 3-0 v North, with goals from Olivia McKnight, Isabelle Caskie and Jess O’Toole.

In one the best games of the day, East Purple won the group on goal difference after a 2-2 draw with West Jaguars. Two U13 players, Lucy Scott and Jessica Forman, scored for East, and Ellie Coulson hit a double for West. An excellent performance by South-West earned them a 3-0 win v North. Ruby Thomson scored twice, and Ava Graham once.

And so to the play-offs. West Jaguars finished third overall with a 1-0 win against Midland. East Sky turned on the style in an 8-0 win against South-West, including an Emilia Dempster hattrick, to secure fifth. South sealed seventh place with a hard-fought 1-0 win v North thanks to an Ava McLean penalty corner.

The final was similar to the Women’s Cup Final on the same pitch a week earlier. An excellent goal by Jessica Forman gave East Purple a 1-0 half-time lead against West Tigers, which they retained until full time.  Both teams put in strong defensive performances, with excellent goalkeeping from Nicole Malbon (West) and the two East goalies, Abi Grahamslaw and Kirsty Geddes. Congratulations to the East Purple coach and manager, Janice Hudson-Windsor and Cheryl Milligan.

Kelly Fillingham, Emerging Girls Head Coach, commented after presenting the medals to both teams and trophy to winning captain, Keara Milligan; “I was really impressed by the high standard of hockey from this age group. This event is great experience for these young players and is the beginning of the performance pathway, where we start to identify upcoming talent. The future certainly looks bright!”

East Purple – U14 Girls Inter-District Winners

U14 Boys Inter-Districts

The following day it was the turn of the boys to show off their skills and teamwork to the large crowd of supporters. With seven teams in action, the format was different – every team played each other in a round-robin event.

West Cerise started the day strongly with a 4-1 win v East Navy, including a hattrick by Oscar Lochrin. However, it took two late penalty corners from Tom Hunt, the latter with 20 seconds to go, to beat South 2-1. South, who were making their debut in this competition, opened with an excellent 1-1 draw against East Sky.  Greg Wardlaw scored in both matches.  James Townshend scored for Sky, and again as they beat Midland 1-0.

Brian McGarrity scored to earn Midland a 1-0 win v West Yellow, but the young West team edged out North 1-0 in their next match thanks to a Corey Wild strike.  North had earlier lost to East Navy, for whom James Gordon, Max Salter, Matthew Leiper and Angus Fletcher scored in a 4-2 win. North replied with two well-deserved goals through Alex Thomson and Freddie Freeland. East Navy drew 1-1 with South; Will Kelly scoring before Jamie Hendry replied for the Borderers.

That concluded the first four rounds (8 matches), with 13 games to go and all to play for. West Cerise maintained their 100% record with a 2-0 win v Midland; Oscar Lochrin and Tom Hunt on target again. East Sky then hit ten goals in two matches, beating North 5-0 and East Navy 5-1. Jamie Leonard scored seven of them(!), with Zak Turtle, Christopher Catto and Alastair McLellan adding the others. Matthew Leiper scored Navy’s consolation.

West Yellow lost their next two matches, 1-2 v South; and 0-5 to West Cerise, for whom Corin Miller scored twice. South’s Greg Wardlaw scored a double after Yellow’s Ethan Gemmell had scored early.  North lost 0-3 to Midland before earning a well-deserved first point of the day in a 0-0 draw v South.

In what proved to be the decisive game of the day, West Cerise twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with East Sky, for whom Jamie Leonard scored another two goals. Hamish Cornell scored for West before Tom Hunt’s late strike. Midland and South shared a 1-1 draw, with Cameron Allan equalising for the reds after Greg Wardlaw’s opener. And East Navy finished third with two wins over West Yellow (3-0) and Midland (2-0). Struan Adams and Cody Adams scored their first goals of the day.

In the penultimate game, West Cerise sealed the tournament win with a 4-0 win against a tiring North team. Miller, Jack, McDonald and Hunt were the scorers. In the final game, East Sky secured the runners-up spot with a 1-0 win v West Yellow, who finished sixth.  Once again, Jamie Leonard hit the target to be top scorer for the day with ten.

Final placings: 1. West Cerise; 2. East Sky; 3. East Navy; 4. South; 5. Midland; 6. West Yellow; 7. North

Alan Wall, Scotland Emerging Boys Head Coach, presented the medals and trophy to the top two teams.  It had been a long but thrilling day of hockey, and all the players and their coaches should be proud of their efforts.  Finally, a special mention to all the volunteers who umpired and officiated over the weekend.  They contributed hugely to a very enjoyable event.

West Cerise – U14 Boys Inter-District Winners

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top