Northop Hall showed outstanding commitment and effort to
clinch third place in the Welsh Indoor Championships on Sunday.Despite being only able to muster the bare
minimum 6 players to travel to Merthyr Tydfil,
Hall showed true grit and determination and shocked the other teams with their
solid structure and relentless pressure.The feat was all the more impressive given that each of the other teams
had at least 5 substitutes, effectively meaning that their outfield players
only needed to put in half the pitch time of Hall.
First up were Cardiff Medics, somewhat of an unknown
quantity for Hall, but some resolute defending and clinical finishing allowed
Hall to run out comfortable winners with a 6-4 scoreline.Paul Cochran, Andy Seiman and captain
Alistair Brown with the goals.
The next game was against eventual winner CardiffUniversity.The students were already renowned for their
professional approach, and regularly switched entire personnel and systems
throughout the game; a luxury Hall could not afford.Despite the early pressure, Hall held onto a
0-0 scoreline at the break.Some early
mistakes from a tiring Hall early in the second half gave the University a lead
which Hall were unable to eat into, but they did manage a couple of goals
before the end and lost 5-2.
Reigning champions SwanseaBay
were next up, hoping to put in a strong performance before their European Championships
next weekend.Northop Hall had other
ideas however and put in a solid and intelligent performance which frustrated Swansea and allowed the
North side to capitalise on some mistakes.With the score at 5-4 to Hall with only three minutes remaining, it
looked as though Hall were going to secure a shock win and effectively hand the
title to Cardiff
early.But fatigue was now affecting
Hall and Swansea
pulled back 2 goals, including one in the final ten seconds, to take a victory
and leave Hall deflated.
Hall’s final game was against 12-man Bridgend, and would
determine who took the Bronze Medal position.At this point, Hall were just hoping to get through the full game, which
for most would be their fourth hour of hockey in one weekend.Resolute defending from Brown, Ian Warren and
Jon Upton in goal kept Bridgend at bay for long periods.Tireless running from Seiman, Cochran and
Pete Ketland up front caused constant problems for the Bridgend defence, and
goals from Ketland and Seiman secured a 3-2 win and a thoroughly well deserved
third place for Hall.
CardiffUniversity deservedly took the title, but Hall were equally
proud for upsetting the odds and representing North Wales
with style at the national level.
