Another very busy weekend of competitive hockey for Repton Hockey Club.

The weekend began with our Bulls Head Mens XI winning 2-1 away at Leicester in their second League match of the season. Two goals from Repton HC's penalty corner striker Aaron Hibell and some fantastic saves from Man of the Match GK Dan Darby leaves RHC top of the table in the early stages of our League campaign.

The BMW Ladies XI took on joint top of the table Staveley at home in our most competitive fixture to date. A resounding 9-3 win for Repton HC saw five different goal scorers and a fantastic performance from 13 year old Claudia Swain scoring four goals and bringing her tally this season to 14 goals across 3 appearances for the Ladies XI.

Sunday saw the start of Repton Hockey Club's England Hockey Junior Championship matches. Our BMW U16 Girls and SCC U14 girls both had a bye for the first round but a friendly fixture was arranged at home against Beeston U14 Girls. Repton HC won 7-2 in a game that was a great testament to the strength of local Midland talent across this age group and a really worthwhile friendly fixture for both sides. With thanks to Beeston HC for making the journey across to Repton and we look forward to more fixtures across all age groups to develop this pool of Midlands hockey talent!

Our Bulls Head U18 boys were next up at home in the first round of their EH Championship knockout competition and faced a strong City of York side who had made the long journey down to Repton that morning. Our boys played a fantastic team game, maintaining their composure throughout and working together to secure an 8-2 victory and gain their place in the next round of the competition. Highlights include Rohan Bhuhi's mazy run up the pitch and spin finish to score the RHC goal of the day having beaten three defenders on route. Thanks to all our U18 boys for their commitment and hard work in training since the start of the season and for those who made the long journeys back to Repton from their half term holidays.

Our Bulls Head U16 boys were last on the Repton pitches at 3pm against Derwent HC in their first pool match of the EH competition. Derwent came out strongly and scored three quick goals, taking our boys by surprise, but led by captain Xavier Teyletche the Repton HC boys worked hard and stayed composed  against a physical, skilful Derwent side with a final scoreline of 2-5 reflecting the hard fought battle from both sides.  Congratulations to Derwent HC on a great match and looking forward  in the competition our boys will go on to face Chesterfield, Belper, Beeston and Loughborough in the rest of their Tier 1 games so plenty more matches ahead to secure their spot at Regionals. 

We had two teams playing away on Sunday - the Tandem U14 Boys made their first road trip of the season over to Stourport HC  and the BMW U18 Girls were away at Leicester HC in the first round of the their EH Championship competiton.

Building on the team's last match against Stourport HC (Loss 2-7) the U14 boys showed an improved performance in an end to end game and should not be too disappointed with the final result of 5-7. Highlights of the match include two goals a piece for Joe Sookias and Zach Wenham and a fine performance from GK Otto Schneck. The team will go on to face Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield and Rugby & East Warwicks in their remaining Tier 1 matches with two teams from the group qualifying for Regionals.

With a depleted squad due to half term unavailability our BMW U18 Girls faced a talented and large Leicester HC squad and, despite a determined effort from every one of the girls, were defeated 1-4. The girls really stretched the Leicester squad in an entertaining, end to end game and should be very proud of their commitment, skill and composure throughout the game. A huge thank you to all the players and parents who travelled significant distances and broke up half term holidays to make sure they could play and, once again, showed their commitment to Repton Hockey Club. This hugely talented squad of players will now go on in the EH Plate Competition and we look forward to their journey - hopefully to the National Finals !

Overall then a very busy and very rewarding weekend of club hockey for all those involved with Repton Hockey Club - players, parents and supporters alike. Once again a HUGE thank you to Kate and her team for the match teas and delicious baked goods on offer throughout the day. We are also really grateful to all the team managers and coaches for the efforts put in, both on and off the pitch, and of course to all the players, many of whom travelled long distances on the first weekend of their half term holiday, to support the club.