The U14s hosted a relatively young Sedgefield team and were comfortably the better team, maintaining a good shape in attack and pressing well when called upon to defend.
The standard of shooting was very high, with all of the goal scorers only missing one shot each, showing an impressively high conversion rate.

In the first quarter, two goals from captain Gabriel and another from Harry helped settle the nerves, and they led the first quarter 3-1.

The second quarter opened the floodgates a little, and Ben added a brace, followed by another from Harry, and Gabriel completed his hat trick in this quarter. The score at the end of the second quarter was 7-2 to Grantham.

In the third quarter, Sedgefield has the upper hand and outscored the Grantham team. Harry added another to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

There were some lapses in concentration at times, which gave them more opportunities than perhaps they had earned, and an honourable mention to Ethan in goal, who had a fine day in goal with some fantastic shot-stopping, sometimes single-handedly keeping the Sedgefield team out. Score 8-4 at that point.

In the final quarter, Tom Roscoe and Oscar got on the scoresheet with well-taken shots, and Gabriel added another two.

Credit to Gareth - yesterday's coach as the team looked organised and were comfortably controlling the match throughout. They have improved as a group and are progressing nicely.

Thanks to the table Sally, Angela and a special mention to Etta, making her debut on the table for today’s game.

Final score 13-6 to Grantham

Summary Goals
G Yewlett 5
H Holt 3
B Allsop 2
O Chen- Rees 2
T Roscoe 1

Report by Alun Yewlett

Match report: Grantham U16s v Sedgefield U16s

The first quarter got off to an even start, ending in a 1-1 tie, as both teams assessed the opposition's threats and vulnerabilities. Q2 saw Grantham take the lead after 3 minutes in, Sedgefield then pulling ahead to 4-2 by the end of the half.
Chins were somewhat down, but we entered halftime making a few tactical changes, which saw Grantham put another goal on board and stop Sedgefield in their tracks. Reuben pulling out some fantastic saves to protect our net. We largely nullified their main shooter and successfully defended their centre forward.
Bit of a pep talk before Q4, the game was still to play for. Grantham went in enthused for the win and managed to play a blinder to pull the score back to a draw 6 - 6. It was end-to-end gameplay for this quarter, and 'real nail-biting to watch' to cite our TM Paula, who spent a good chunk of the match assisting Ollie, who took a scratch to the eye, putting him out of the game.

I asked both teams to play composed polo and play respectfully, which they delivered. I am proud of both teams who went home in good spirits after two great, fun matches.
We travel to their pool in a few weeks for a rematch.