Bloxham’s 1st XI were delighted to chalk up their first victory against Cheltenham College on Tuesday to reach the Second Round of the hockey National Plate
On Tuesday 2nd February, the Bloxham 1st XI hockey squad faced Cheltenham College in the first round of the National Plate competition, winning their match 3-1.
It looked as though Bloxham had a few nerves in the first few moments of the game, there were some misplaced passes and sloppy decisions in attack. However, as the team grew in confidence they began to control the game. A fine move down the right-hand side, involving Tobi and Jake, meant that Jake was able to thread a perfectly timed pass through to Jack, who had lost’ his defender. Jack rounded the Goalkeeper and coolly slotted the ball home from two yards. The team went into half time 1-0 up and knew that the second half would be a tight and cagey affair. Steve Campbell led the half-time team talk and identified a quicker transfer across the ground, pointing out the next goal would be critical and so it was…
The second half started with the opposition increasing their pressure on Bloxham’s defence but cool heads from Finn and Ben allowed Bloxham’s Harry to successfully complete a counter attack with great composure 15 minutes in. However, as expected, Cheltenham never gave up and continued to assert themselves. Streams of attacks were smothered by the Bloxham defence, superbly led by George Morley and Finlay Smart. Eventually however, Bloxham could no longer hold out and Cheltenham scored to bring the score to 2-1. With the game tight, one or two players found a fifth gear and Jack began to create opportunities for the team by carrying through the centre of the pitch. Bloxham won their third penalty corner of the afternoon and Jack took control. He eliminated the first defender and then struck the ball cleanly and crisply through the Goalkeeper’s legs from 10 yards. Bloxham managed to cling on to a two goal lead until the last play of the game, which saw Cheltenham score from a penalty corner, bringing the final score to 3-2. This win for Bloxham was no small achievement against a much larger independent school. We wish our boys the best of luck in training as they now prepare to face Bablake at home in the next round of the competition.