Abingdonian 2018

38 The Abingdonian Hockey Abingdon School Hockey Club has once again had a fantastic season, with over 160 pupils participating and 16 teams being fielded on a weekly basis in the Independent Schools’ Hockey League. The fixture card continues to be very competitive with fixtures against Eton, Marlborough and MCS, and Abingdon continues to punch above its weight and compete convincingly. The season started in January when a senior squad toured to Clifton for a pre- season tournament against many top class teams from around the country. With a number of Upper Sixth leaving last year, it was great to see the new senior players slotting into the system well and playing some fantastic hockey throughout the round robin tournament. The first block fixture of the season was against St Edward’s, and, with the 1st XI playing under lights for a ‘Friday night lights’ game, the weekend started with a fantastic buzz! A 6-1 win for the 1st XI laid down the expectations for the rest of the teams… and they all stepped up! Overall it was a fantastic block, with stand out performances going to the U16A, 3rd XI and U14B team. The best of the bunch was a 14-0 wins by the U15A team, a fantastic way to start off the season for the Club! With some fantastic block fixtures to follow against Marlborough, Cheltenham and Wellington, the season and boys were well on their way. A few highlights were the U14As showing significant improvement, recording a narrow 3-2 loss against a strong Marlborough side, the U16Bs continuing their strong start by drawing against Cheltenham 1-1 and the 2nd XI recording a superb display and result against Wellington, winning 4-1. However the most pleasing moment was getting a 4th XI out against Marlborough, although losing narrowly; it was great for those playing to represent the school in a block fixture! The next match was against out rivals down the road Radley and, despite snow playing havoc throughout the week, we managed to squeeze in as many fixtures as we could. The U16As and U15As continued their winning starts, winning 6-2 and 5-1 respectively. There were some tougher matches for the 1st XI and U14s - I know the boys left everything on the pitch but they couldn’t quite get the results they were looking for. With more block fixtures against the likes of Eton and Bradfield as the term went on the boys were exposed to some great hockey – and some great school teas! Our last block fixture was against the other local rivals, MCS! There were some fantastic performances with the 2nd and 3rd XIs both recording victories, winning 3-2 and 4-1 respectively. The U15As continued their magnificent form winning 8-2. The U14 As played out of their skin and managed to earn themselves a 0-0 draw. Inbetween the block fixtures the U16s and U13s competed in their respective county championships. U16s County Tournament The U16s headed to Oxford Hawks to participate in the County Championships. With four games only lasting 20 minutes each it was going to be about who played the more attacking tournament hockey. With St Edward’s up first, Abingdon took the lead, but failed to convert their other chances, ending