Repton U16s entertained Beeston on Sunday in the England Hockey Tier 1 Championships. The match was hugely entertaining, watched by a large group of spectators, and both teams played with high levels of energy and skill. The Repton team is a young side with a significant number of U15s but this was not evident from the quality of play on show. These teams play in a league format with five teams in the league and the top two or three teams in the group will progress to the Midlands Regional round.

Repton started the stronger of the two teams dominating early play but as the game settled Beeston had passages of play where they controlled the game and looked more threatening as the game progressed. Oscar Adams O’Rourke put Repton into a deserved lead with a fine strike which beat the Beeston keeper on the near post. Beeston responded on the break with an undirected cross into the D being deflected and falling to an unmarked Beeston player who made the most of the opportunity which landed at his feet. The match was level at 1-1 at half time.

The game intensity was raised in the second half as both teams struggled to find the bit of magic required to break the deadlock and find a winner. There were a number of chances for Repton which were unlucky not to pay off and, as the clock started to tick down, the pressure began to slightly affect the composure of players in front of the goal. Redemption came in the form of Repton’s Charlie Kennedy who cleverly lobbed the Beeston keeper for the second Repton goal and what ultimately became the match winner. The final quarter of the match became more open as both sides looked to stretch tired legs but, both defences dealt with the end to end breaks well. This was a really high quality junior game played competitively but not bubbling over which was a pleasure to watch. Repton were 2-1 winners and sit second in the table behind Stourport on goal difference. Repton’s remaining games are: Sutton Coldfield (Home) on 1 December and Stourport (Away) on 2 Feb 2020 which could be a table topping decider.