Marlborough Mixed U10s at Dauntsey’s Festival

Marlborough took 2 U10 teams to Dauntsey’s for their inaugural junior hockey festival. With the girls and boys training separately at this age, the coaches were intrigued to find out how the two would mix on the pitch. However, it was clear that they gelled quickly and were soon playing like they had been practising together for years.

The first Marlborough team won 2, drew 1 and lost 1 in their 4 games. They started with a 1-1 draw against Devizes with Jamie Travers scoring Marlborough’s first goal. They then beat Swindon 2-0 with Florence Miller scoring both goals before a very unlucky 1-0 loss to Wotton Bassett. In the final game they beat Corsham 4-0 with Will Silcocks and Iggy Finn scoring one each, and again Florence Miller with two.
Coach Tom Jeffery reported some very strong defending and goal keeping - George "the Wall" Down only letting two past in four games, ably defended by Hector Price and Ursula Jeffery. All 3 coped very well when put under pressure. In the third game Marlborough cleanly defended three or four short corners in quick succession, and the goal which came against them was from 2 against 1 in open play.
Midfield were all quick on the ball, and pressed well. Some nice play in Centre Mid by Heidi Crapper, very quick to react to a change in the flow of play. Mia Terry, Jamie Travis, Flora Low and Willow Booth all put in strong performances.
Forwards were very keen to take shots on goal, and really seized their chances to run forward into the D. Some cracking goals, particularly Iggy Finn's in the fourth game. Will Silcott pressed hard and Florence Miller was very quick to find useful space - and was top goal scorer.

The second Marlborough team won 3 and lost one game. They were quickly out of the blocks with a 6-0 win over Corsham. The goals came from Xanthe Boote, Jack Mitchener, Archie Hackett with Alex Milbourn scoring a hatrick, all on the reverse stick! Someone has clearly been practising. The next game was a cruel 1-0 loss to Devizes, in a game where they played well enough to win by a few clear goals while Devizes scored on the counter attack. The third game found Marlborough taking on Chippenham and in a close encounter of end to end hockey, Marlborough clung on to a 1-0 win with Archie Hackett scoring the only goal. Special mention should go to Jack Mitchener as he held off 4 Chippenham attackers on his own as his midfield admired his tenacity! The last game was decided again by a sole Archie Hackett goal, although there were plenty of other opportunities to extend the lead further.
Coach Will Hodge was hugely impressed by the effort and determination put in by all the players. Playing with only one defender creates a lot of work for the midfield who were expected to be everywhere and the midfield of Xanthe, Sophia Hodge, Alex, Jack and Charlie Macintosh put in a huge effort. The forwards of Amilia Dornan, Alice Rich, Thomasina Keyes and Archie really worked together to build up an attack, and were frequently finding space to receive a pass. Lastly it makes a huge difference to have a strong goal keeper, and Jess Worrow was once again fantastic, and kept 3 clean sheets.

Overall scoring 15 goals and only conceding 3 can only be a success and well done to all the kids who took part. Thanks should also go to Tom for running a team when he doesn't coach either the boys or girls U10s!