4 December 2011
Abingdon's U16 Hockey team today won the inaugural Independent Schools Hockey League indoor tournament.
With the tournament being held at Abingdon, the hosts played some exciting hockey and deserved the win.
The Abingdon U16's were captained by Ben Mitchell and showed glimpses of real class as they scored 12 goals over the course of the day. They have put a good deal of work into developing their indoor skills over the course of the term and were rewarded with some excellent displays. Ben Mitchell, Sean MacLachlan and William Carter-Keall were outstanding amongst a talented group of players, Tom Best and Adam Scholey scoring the majority of the goals.
This is an excellent start to the season ahead and means that after last season’s unbeaten run, they are now ISHL indoor and outdoor champions.
In the U18 tournament held at Bradfield College, Abingdon came an unlucky second to Radley College on goal difference by one goal, having beaten Radley 2 – 1 during the day.
Abingdon started slowly and conceded in the first minute against Bradfield, but got better as the day went on. There was a two goal deficit comeback against Bloxham and excellent wins against Radley and Marlborough. In the last game of the day, Abingdon needed to win by four clear goals against Marlborough to take the title. After a great start, Abingdon were 2 – 0 up early in the game and when Gregor Hearn slotted the third, it looked like Abingdon would finish equal on goal difference with Radley. A frantic last two minutes saw a number of chances missed, leaving Abingdon agonisingly 1 goal short of Radley.
Many thanks to Dr Jeffreys, Mr Hall and James Ladd-Gibbon.
