34. 23 December 2021 - Old Loughts are East indoor champions against the odds

Following the mid season break from outdoor hockey, the Old Loughts teams were looking forward to the winter indoor hockey season and, first up, the East of England indoor championships for both adults and colts. The men’s 1s were due to play in Norwich but were one of five teams of the 12 entrants which had to withdraw for covid related reasons.

The Colts competitions however went ahead with Old Loughts under 18 boys, under 16 girls and under 16 boys all entered.

Sunday 19th December saw a rather depleted U18’s squad travel to Queenswood School to take part in the East region indoor finals having 3 players away on England duty and another couple on holiday. On arrival Loughts discovered that Harleston Magpies had withdrawn so it all came down to a straight play-off between 3 teams and whoever won both their matches would progress to the National finals on Sunday 16th January.

In their first match Loughts played Ipswich and East Suffolk (IES) and, although against the run of play, IES took a 1:0 lead in to half time. The Loughts boys re-grouped, increased the pressure on the press and sharpened up their own passing to find the back of the net 3 times in the second half, before IES scored a consolation goal with just seconds remaining on the clock. The final result a 3:2 win to Loughts and hence a win over Cambridge City would secure a place at the Nationals.

The first half however followed a similar pattern to the previous match and Cambridge found themselves with a 1:0 lead at half time. During the break the boys identified what they needed to do to turn the match around and again produced the performance required. They defended resolutely and created good goal scoring opportunities with many successful penetrations in to the D. The pressure forced a number of short corners, two of which were dispatched in to the top right-hand corner of the net to ensure Loughts finished as 2:1 victors.

It was a tough day at the office, but in the end it was job done and a place at the Nationals secured. Well done to all the boys and a massive thank you to all the boys who stepped up to help out. It showed how important it is to have a strong squad.

Time for a brief rest for the players over Christmas before competing at the Copperbox tournament on Thursday 30th December (where Loughts will field teams from u10 to u18) and then a trip to Wolverhampton for the National Finals.

Both the under 16 competitions also came down to a deciding match against Cambridge City. The boys won their match 5-4 and also finished as East champions and will join the u18s at the National finals. The u16 girls finished runners up to champions Cambridge City.