U12 Boys County Cup at Cheltenham

WOTTON-under-Edge Hockey Club entered two teams in the County Cup, with 17 players putting on the royal blue.

Wotton B had three debutants earning their first Wotton cap, and despite having to play the eventual 1st, 2nd and 5th placed teams, had a notable victory against Lansdown in the first game.

Wotton A did not start well, with a very lacklustre 0-3 loss to Cirencester. However, the boys as a team, decided that the first game was simply not good enough and proceeded to get themselves into the right frame of mind for the next three matches, which they won.

The first game proved decisive: as group runners-up Wotton A faced table topping Cheltenham A in the semis who had been punishing teams 10-0. This turned out to be the highlight of the day, with Wotton just losing out 2-0, but it could easily have gone the other way.

In the other semi, Cheltenham B managed to hold Cirencester to a draw, beating them on flicks, which meant Wotton faced Cirencester for the bronze medal and second regional place. This time the Wotton boys really took the game to Cirencester, unfortunately they just couldn’t get the ball into the goal ending in a 0-0 draw and penalty flicks.

Three players bravely stepped up from each team to take a flick, with both Wotton and Cirencester’s first efforts going in. Cirencester scored their second with Wotton missing; Cirencester missed their third, so Wotton needed to score to take it to sudden death, sadly they didn’t.

There was disappointment in the Wotton camp, but after a quiet chat and a debrief, the boys will be channelling those feelings into the next season. Five of this team will be back at U12 next year.