With both Holcombe Talent Academy sides in action at the 2024 Talent Academy Cup recently, Boys’ Head Coach Jake Owen and Girls’ Assistant Coach Robyn Hodges provide a round-up of the fixtures below.
Boys’:
Game 1: Holcombe 0-2 Hampstead & Westminster
On a hot first day, the boys set out to begin their campaign against a strong Hampstead and Westminster side.
Having played them during the cycle and narrowly lost 3-2, the team understood what they were walking into and the organised hockey H&W will come to play.
A good early start for the boys saw Ollie Stewart winning the ball just inside our half and carrying out to generate the first shot of the game, a good H&W save denied the effort and gave the opposition an early warning.
They responded well, generating good possession and putting the Holcombe goal under pressure.
After some good saves from goalkeeper Orin Denton, H&W were able to break the deadlock just before the end of the first quarter with a good finish in a crowded circle.
The boys came out after a strong quarter-time talk to answer the setback, and answer they did. Owning the majority of the ball for the second quarter, the boys put pressure on their goal, narrowly missing out on an equaliser.
H&W had some good counter attacks and saw a ball flash past the far post after a fast breakaway.
Holcombe again responded well with a number of opportunities – some great high pressing saw Martin Poprelkov make a brilliant tackle and within three passes, Stewart found himself carrying down the baseline and almost creating a great opportunity.
Hampstead managed to counter strongly, though, finding a man in the circle and after a scramble, the ball was bundled into the goal to make the game 2-0 just before the end of the third quarter.
The boys kept applying pressure creating some high-quality chances including a corner at the death but some good saves kept the score at 2-0 until the final whistle.
Overall, the boys had a great performance against a strong H&W side and went into the end of day one with their heads held high but aware of what would be required of them for the remaining two group games.
Game 2: Holcombe (Rafael Dekkers (2), Arthur Peachey (2), Jack Chester, Dominic Curtiss, Ed Pitcher) 7-2 Yorkshire
The boys headed into game two against Yorkshire on yet another hot day.
With the loss against H&W fresh in their minds, the boys came with a ruthless attitude looking to make up for the earlier result.
Yorkshire started well, applying pressure on the Holcombe goal with some early shots to which Orin Denton was equal.
Nine minutes into the gam, Holcombe were able to open the scoring with Stewart stealing the ball from a Yorkshire defender, carrying strongly towards the top of the circle and finding an unmarked Rafael Dekkers who dispatched a fine finish into the bottom corner for 1-0.
Five minutes later, a deflected Will Surridge pass found its way from our 25 to a waiting Ed Pitcher in the circle, Pitcher calmly sloting the ball past the keeper at the near post.
Holcombe would score twice more unanswered, the first coming after a good initial save from an Arthur Peachey short corner followed by three more saves until eventually Jack Chester slotted the ball home.
The fourth goal of the first half came four minutes later courtesy of a Peachey drag-flick into the top-left corner.
Yorkshire were quick to respond and after just two minutes made the score 4 – 1 when a ball into the circle fell to a forward who dispatched a rasping shot into the bottom corner past Sam Jenkins.
The scoring continued through the second half with Yorkshire converting a rebound from a penalty corner to make it 4–2 – the next goal would be crucial and thankfully it fell Holcombe’s way after a penalty corner gone wrong saw a stroke awarded for a deliberate foul on Dekkers, who promptly dispatched it into the bottom right corner to make it 5–2.
It would be 11 more minutes until scoring resumed when a Josh Bondzio cross found its way to Dominic Curtiss on the penalty spot, a good finish under high pressure made the score 6–2.
The boys weren’t done and five minutes later after a good Ed Pitcher steal and a series of passes, Stewart calmly delivered a pass across the face of goal for a first-time finish by Peachey for Holcombe’s seventh of the game.
Game 3: Holcombe (Rafael Dekkers) 1-4 Beeston
Game three was set to be a high-stakes match with the winner topping the group and advancing to the first-place finals.
Beeston had won their first two games beating Yorkshire 3–2 and H&W 2–0, putting them top of the group, while Holcombe were second on goal difference (level on points with H&W).
Game three proved to be the hottest day so far and this would add to the challenge of playing an experienced and well-organised Beeston side.
The game started quickly with Beeston applying high pressure though Holcombe managed to break through the press with some impressive play but this didn’t come without some turnovers in midfield and from the defence leading to some strong Beeston chances.
In the sixth minute, Beeston converted an intercepted pass into a brilliant backhand shot from the middle of the circle, finding the side netting and giving Beeston a deserved lead.
Three minutes later, Beeston struck again after a brilliant pass found their centre forward who forced keeper Orin Denton into a save, but the rebound fell to an alert Beeston player who dispatched it to make it 2–0.
The next 20 minutes saw the game become more even as the Holcombe players got their feet underneath them.
The resilience shown by the boys paid off and in the 29th minute, Dekkers converted a lovely flowing move between himself and Stewart, rounding the keeper and slotting home a reverse to make it 2–1 and bring Holcs back into the game.
In the 38th minute, Beeston worked a clean routine to convert a penalty corner and restore a two-goal lead.
The boys did not give up and kept fighting to bring the game back, creating a large number of opportunities and, at times, tearing apart a strong Beeston defence.
They were not rewarded for their efforts, however, and Beeston were able to capitalise and converted another penalty corner in the 45th minute to make the game 4–1.
The boys had a mountain to climb and gave it their all but unfortunately fell short of the mark against a very strong Beeston side who deserve credit for the performance they put on and their ability to execute a clear game plan to counter-attack and win corners, something they did to great effect.
The result meant the boys finished in third place with H&W beating narrowly beating Yorkshire 3–2 to leapfrog Holcombe and move into second place.
The boys would have to wait and find out who they would face in their final game of the tournament.
Game 4: Holcombe (Arthur Peachey, Rafael Dekkers, Ollie Stewart) 3-2 Stourport
By coincidence the boys and girls both drew Stourport for their final game and after supporting the girls in their game, the boys began preparing for 60 more minutes of high-tempo hockey that would test their physical and mental strength.
The game started well for Holcombe as the boys got off to a strong start with early forays into the Stourport circle, which were unfortunate to not be rewarded.
The first blow fell 12 minutes into the game in favour of Stourport who, after a good counter-attack, were awarded a penalty stroke for a foul preventing a goal and this was dispatched past keeper Orin Denton.
Holcombe responded 13 minutes later with Peachey sending a drag-flick sailing past the helpless Stourport ‘keeper into the top-left corner to make the game 1–1.
The equaliser energised Holcombe who continued to apply pressure and, five minutes later were rewarded for their hard work as Dekkers drove a drag-flick home, beating the keeper on his stick side to make the game 2–1.
In the 62nd minute, Stourport were awarded a short corner, a great save off the line gave hope that another effort would be denied but a follow up foul yielded another penalty stroke.
Sam Jenkins made a valiant effort and nearly prevented the equaliser from going in but was just beaten making the score 2–2 late on.
A nervous few minutes saw Holcombe throw the kitchen sink at a resilient Stourport defence with seemingly no hope of gaining the winner, it appeared that the game would progress to a shootout, something the boys had been very successful at during the course of the season, having only lost one set out of all 12 games played.
However, a counter-attack in the 67th minute resulted in Stewart being brought to ground by the last man as he entered the top of the circle leading to another penalty stroke being awarded, this time in favour of Holcombe.
He stepped up looking cool, calm and collected, the whistle blew as the rest of the team as well as parents watched on with bated breath.
Then, the sound of the backboard and the signal indicating a goal came, and with it jubilation for the Holcombe side but the boys were still acutely aware that the job was not yet done.
Cameron MacQuarrie was able to lead Holcombe through these three minutes and exhibited the maturity to keep control of the ball during a crucial time and give us the victory.
Overall, the boys put out strong performances and can be incredibly proud of how they played throughout the tournament.
The future looks bright for Holcombe TA with a number of young players shining through and impressing coaches and spectators alike as well as the older players impacting the game and helping to drive our play and produce strong performances.
A huge congratulations to all involved and a special mention to Luke Prior, Josh Bondzio, and Pitcher who all played their final games of junior hockey in this tournament and were instrumental parts of our team – they will be greatly missed both on and off the pitch, we wish them every success in their endeavours and hope to see them back at Holcombe Park in the future!
Girls’:
Game 1: Holcombe (Chloe Williams) 1-6 Hampstead & Westminster
The girls were off to a strong and solid start after a long trip round the motorways.
After our previous warm up game against a strong, built-up team, there were some pre-match nerves but the girls channelled this and put up a battle until the deadlock was broken in the 21st minute.
Some amazing hockey was on show from transfers at the back to exhilarating counter-attacks and some nail-biting opportunities.
The girls kept pushing right until the final whistle with their heads held high and Chloe Williams added a goal for the mighty Holcs in the 48th minute.
The game finished 6-1 to Hampstead. Onwards and upwards to the next game vs Yorkshire.
Game 2: Holcombe (Etienne Bunker) 1-4 Yorkshire
After a debrief from day one’s game, the girls knew the three focus points to treasure the ball, tight man-to-man marking and early shots at goal.
Unfortunately, the girls were off to a shaky start with three goals from a robust Yorkshire coming in the second quarter.
It was time to re-group at half time, take a breath and to re-focus.
A special shoutout goes to Georgia Binfield being ‘the wall’ between the posts, along with some outstanding attacks from Grace Ellis dominating the midfield with Aofie Boyd, captain Maddie Timmins, Georgina Davis and Florence Wood to link up with the fiery forwards of Williams, Molly Kershaw, Imogen Hodges, Tilly Smith, Victoria Storrie and Etienne Bunker the girls were on a roll!
Our defenders pushed up the pitch, ‘raising the roof’ so everyone else could attack higher, finally leading to Bunker intercepting a ball from their defence and, true to form and style, she produced a cool, calm and collected finish, slotting the ball into the bottom-left corner giving coach Tilly Tillings goosebumps!
The game finally finished 4-1 to Yorkshire, but the girls were ready for more.
Game 3: Holcombe (Molly Kershaw 2) 2-4 Beeston
Day 3. After an evening of in-depth 1-1s, every individual knew what the focus was.
With Beeston there comes the home advantage and their winning streak, but this didn’t phase our girls.
The aim was to go out, leave everything on the pitch and play like it was our last game and the team certainly did just that!
A special shoutout to Molly Kershaw for bringing the thunder and thriving up top, scoring both of Holcombe’s goals! Both Tillings and Hodges couldn’t have been prouder of the intensity each and every single individual bought with that fire in their bellies and even though it wasn’t a win on paper, it was a win at heart!
Game 4: Holcombe (Etienne Bunker) 1-5 Stourport
Day four and with it comes the final showdown.
After an early rise and breakfast at 7am, the mighty Holcs were morning people and feeling fine and fresh ready for one last dance.
Holcs had the first pushback, letting us build the play and get the touches in to build the confidence from the backline through to the middle all the way to the top.
Against the run of play, Stourport managed to slip a few past against the ‘walls’ of Kendra Long and Georgia Binfield, both goalkeepers were outstanding across the whole tournament and kept the team in the games with some outstanding, world-class saves!
A special shoutout to Aofie Boyd for her determination of never giving up and putting up a battle against a strong Stourport midfield and some fantastic 3D elimination skills – what a delight to watch flourish, not just in this game across the whole season!
Holcs kept fighting and won a short corner which fell to captain Maddie Timmins with a beautiful roll out for Bunker to deflect home at the back post.
The rest of the game remained a battle, unfortunately Olivia Wright picked up an injury after a world-class tackle leaving the backline with one less individual, but, never fear, Imogen Hodges volunteered to move from the forward line to go and boss it at half-back with the support of the trusty Sofie Goode, Martha Lane, Freya Padfield, Anna Makin and Jessie Thompson.
The final score finished 5-1, but Tillings, Hodges and manager Bethan Hodges couldn’t be any prouder of the girls for what they have achieved across the entire season – it has been a journey to say the least!
Best of luck to every one of the girls whether you remain in the Talent Academy cycle or are onto a new chapter of your journey, keep holding your heads high!