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LNR ACF Hockey Team are National Championships
On Friday 3rd July a group of girls from LN&R ACF boarded a bus along with the male and female tug of war teams and travelled down to Imphal Barracks in York in order to represent the Eastern Region in the National Hockey Championships on Saturday 4th July. The entire Eastern team was made up from girls from E Company and F Squadron and were ably and skilfully supported by SSI Eve Richardson of E Company and SI Shelly Gilby from F Squadron. The team captain was Cdt Sgt Lydia Chalmers (E Coy) and she was assisted by Cpl Katie Hale (E Coy).
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Following breakfast on Saturday, the Eastern team were drawn to play in Pool A with their first match being against North East. This was the first match of the day and proved to be tough one as everyone had to learn to gel together again and North West had a good defensive team. |
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However, a good early goal by Cdt S Hale in the 4th minute gave the team confidence which was boosted further in the 19th minute when Cdt Hale scored her 2nd goal of the day. The match ended Eastern 2 - North West 0. |
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Our 2nd game was against South East. This was an excellent game for us, scoring 9 goals. Hat-tricks by both Cpl K Hale and Cdt S Hale were followed by a double from Cdt E Slann and a fourth goal from Cdt S Hale. South East didn't know what had hit them and the match ended Eastern 9 - South East 0. |
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The third game against the South West seemed to go on forever. It was particularly hot with the sun beating down on the pitch; however, neither team were going to let up. Cdt E Slann was going through an unlucky period, hitting the goal post twice! Both teams were tiring and it showed going into the second half still evenly matched at 0-0. |
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Following an excellent game of equal domination from both teams the deciding goal cam from a penalty making the final score Eastern 1 - South West 0. Winning this game ensured our place as Group Winners and guaranteed our place in the semi finals. |
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The final Pool results were as follows:
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In the semi's, we were drawn against Northern Ireland. Both teams were keeping their positions very tight, marking their opponents well and using good techniques. We were keeping the ball mainly in the opposition's goal area, but the slightest slip always gave them a chance at which they were very good at taking advantage of. |
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We had a few close encounters in the goal area, but going into the second half, it was still nil nil. We finally scored early in the second half, only to have the goal disallowed! Our victory came in the 17th minute when Cdt S Hale scored from the edge of the D. Final score Eastern 1 - Northern Ireland 0. |
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It was agreed by everyone that this was our hardest game of the day, a fantastic match which could have gone either way. The tension was now evident. This was our first outing to the Hockey Nationals and we looked good to win. After an inspiring pep talk from the team captain, the girls were not going to take defeat lightly. They marched onto the pitch with an overwhelming desire to bring home the trophy! |
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The final was against North West who were last year's winners. They tried to intimidate us by applying cam cream to their faces, but this didn't affect the Eastern team's focus. The ball was played up and down the pitch more times than a retired yoyo, clearly demonstrating that the two best teams made the final. |
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At the end of full time it was still 0-0 and the game went into extra time (5 minutes each way). The first half finished very quickly still at 0-0. Team Captain Lydia Chalmers made it clear to the team that she did not want this match to finish in 'flicks' (penalties) and the girls vowed to give it their all in the final 5 minutes of play. After a dramatic near miss on a short corner, the ball finally found its way to the back of the North West goal net with just 2 minutes of play left. By this time the tug of war teams had finished and had come over to the hockey pitch to support the girls. |
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As the cheering got louder the girls fought harder and scored a second goal. It was like music to our ears hearing the whistle blow, we had done it! Eastern Region, represented by LN&R, were the National Hockey Champions of 2009, without conceding a single goal all day. |
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Major John Osborn, The County Sports Officer (pictured in the centre of the above photograph) said "This is only the 2nd time we have entered the tournament and I am delighted to have achieved such great success in such a short period of time. I would like to express my hearty congratulations to all the cadets, who played their socks off throughout the tournament, and my thanks to the Adult Instructors whose support is paramount to the success of the team".
SSI Eve Richardson Photos by SI Shelly Gilbey
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