Thirsk U12 Team’s both finish runners up in their leagues, playing at Weetwood in Leeds on a fresh 9th January.
In the Yorkshire league on Sunday the U12 A Team playing in the top division, had another good day. The first game with Wakefield set the tone, as Thirsk were able to dominate, James Houseman providing the platform to launch attacks down the wings. Oliver Houseman’s run earned the first penalty corner, and Harry Collinson’s strike gave Thirsk the lead. Neat inter passing set up the next for Arthur Hunt, and Thirsk ran out comfortable 2-0 winners.
Airedale were the next opponents, and within minutes Thirsk should have been a couple of goals up, as Arthur was not able to convert passes from Harry C and Oliver. Thirsk again dominated, Sam Bosomworth helping to expand play on the left, Arthur shot at the keeper when he should have done better. The deadlock was broken when Harry C again converted a penalty corner with a clean strike. Thirsk were comfortable 1-0 winners.
The next game was with Ben Rhydding and it did not take long for Thirsk to get a lead, Harry Goodall earned a penalty corner dispossessing them outside the circle before being obstructed on his run to goal. Harry C, was fortunate to see his strike deflected in by a defender. The lead was soon doubled, when another slick passing move picked out Arthur who confidently beat the goalkeeper. Ben Rhydding’s quality players did mount several attacks, but good tackling back by Sam and Harry G, well timed intervention by Alex Docherty, and a fine save by Luke Brownlee kept them out. Thirsk finished strongly, and Harry C grabbed a second goal with a lifted shot following Oliver’s fine lay off, to make it 3-0.
The final game with Bradford again saw Thirsk start well, but unable to find the target with two attempts. Bradford broke away, and Thirsk’s defence were slow to get back, a fine strike into the corner beat Luke for a 1-0 lead. Thirsk peppered the Bradford goal for the rest of the game, but Bradford’s goal keeper, who was the player of the match saved several testing shots, and Thirsk did not get any rebounds falling for them, so went down 1-0.
Overall Thirsk A finished level on points with Bradford at the top, but lost out on goal difference. Oliver Houseman voted player of the day. Well done to everyone, thanks to Neil Collinson for umpiring, and for the many parents who supported.

from left back row, ARTHUR HUNT, JAMES HOUSEMAN, OLIVER HOUSEMAN, HARRY COLLINSON, SAM BOSOMWORTH
front row from left, HARRY GOODALL, LUKE BROWNLEE, ALEX DOCHERTY.
Thirsk B’s ended up with only 4 teams in their division, and went on to play all their opponents twice. They comfortably beat Hull 4-0 on both occasions, they shared two 0-0 draws with Driffield , and demolished Wakefield 3-0 also on both occasions. The goals were scored by Johnathan Craske with six, Connor Watson with five, Sam Winstanley with three, and one for Josh Dale. Good defensive work by Paddy Medley, and Tom Wade, and goalkeeping from Will Mitchell lead to six clean sheets.
Overall they ended up as runners up to Driffield on goal difference and will get promotion for the next session. Player of the day was Connor Watson. Thanks to Mike Rushmere for managing the team, and for the great parental support.

Thirsk Under 12 Boys in the Yorkshire Youth Hockey League on Sunday 4th December 2011.
The Thirsk ‘A’ team were playing in Division A, after their promotion last time. Their first game was with last month’s Division A leaders Airedale, and on a cold, damp morning was not ideal. Thirsk were slowly into their stride allowing Airedale to build several good attacks. Harry Collinson and Arthur Hunt tried to make it hard for their playmaker, but he was allowed to march into and through the circle before lifting the ball over Luke Brownlee in the Thirsk goal. Thirsk did get some attacking play down the right, through Oliver Houseman, but the Airedale keeper saved. Thirsk were unlucky to concede a second goal when a deflected shot flew into the top corner. Final score 2-0 to Airedale.
The next game came against Ben Rhydding, and again, the opposition were first to get attacking, and Thirsk initially relied upon Alex Docherty, and James Houseman in defence to keep them out of the circle. Luke made one good save, before they attacked down the left, and their attackers cross was deflected past Luke by a retreating Arthur, to give them a 1-0 lead. This seemed to spark Thirsk into life, and following a good save by their goal keeper from Oliver’s shot. The next attack saw Oliver draw the goalkeeper before passing to Sam Bosomworth, who slotted in the equalizer. Thirsk finished the stronger, but were unable to find a winner and had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Harrogate were the next opponents, and Thirsk were attacking from the start, and Arthur had an effort saved. Thirsk then gained a penalty corner, Harry’s strike was saved, but Oliver latched onto the rebound, and rounded their goalkeeper to take the lead. Thirsk had to repel several Harrogate attacks, Luke saving well, before he was beaten at the near post. Thirsk continued to push for a winner, and Sam was unable to find Oliver in space in the dying minutes, when found by a great ball from James. Final score 1-1.
The final game with Hull saw Thirsk play their best, and give a most determined performance. Thirsk did not allow Hull to get going at all. Arthur opened the scoring, as Oliver’s cross was met, and slapped in. Thirsk’s second goal was a lovely team goal, played from the back by James, who found Harry, he put it wide to Oliver, his cross after drawing the goalkeeper, set up Sam at the back post, to fire home. The final goal was a lovely solo effort from the halfway line by Harry, who beat several players with his run before slotting past their keeper. A fine 3-0 win.
Overall Thirsk ‘A’ finished on 7 points, just one point behind joint winners Ben Rhydding, and Airedale, and look forward to another crack at these top teams in January. Congratulations to all the players, and many thanks to all the parents for their great support, on a very damp and cold day.

( back row from left to right ): Harry Collinson (players player of the day) , Sam Bosomworth, Arthur Hunt, Oliver Houseman.
Front row : James Houseman, Luke Brownlee, and Alex Docherty.
The ‘B’ team were playing again in Division ‘D’, the first three games were a 1-1 draw with Bradford, Sam Winstanley scoring. That was followed by a 2-1 defeat to Airedale, Sam scoring again, then a 2-0 defeat to Leeds.
The fourth game against Driffield was a much improved performance. Thirsk opened the scoring when Connor Watson was set up by Johnathan Craske. Connor made it 2-0 when he met Sam’s cross, he narrowly missed out on a hat-trick as their keeper saved well. The third goal was another for Sam, as he was found with a lovely cross from Josh Dale, and Josh got a goal of his own, to wrap up a 4-0 win.
The final game with Slazengers was end to end from the beginning, and Thirsk struck first when Tom Wade’s clearing pass found Josh on the left, and he set up Johnathan to score well. It could have been two, Sam narrowly shooting wide. Thirsk left themselves a little exposed at the back, and despite Paddy Medley’s best efforts, and an initial save from Will Mitchell were unable to prevent a neat reverse finish. Thirsk had another great chance to win it, but Sam was impeded when trying to shoot, the resulting penalty corner was not converted. Slazengers broke, and fired home their winner . A 2-1 win to Slazengers.
Well done to all the team, Sam Winstanley named player of the day, and a huge thanks to Sam Gardiner for managing the team, and all the parents who braved the cold and wet day.

www.thirskhockeyclub.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/U12-Boys-Match-Report.pdf

Thirsk U12 Boys played in the next round of the Yorkshire Youth Hockey league at Leeds on Sunday 6^th November.

The Thirsk ‘A’ team were playing in the ‘B” division, and their first game was against Harrogate. Initially Thirsk had to withstand several Harrogate attacks, and Luke Brownlee made a good save from their penalty corner. Josh Dale and James Houseman playing together for the first time in defence soon began to build Thirsk’s attack from the back, and Oliver Houseman was released down the right, and his partially cleared cross was put away by Harry Collinson for a 1-0 lead. It might have been bonfire night yesterday, but Sam Bosomworth had saved a rocket for today, he picked up a great through ball from James and fired the ball into the roof of the net, the Harrogate goalkeeper wondering what had just hit his helmet. Thirsk ran out 2-0 winners.

York were Thirsk’s second opponents, and again it was a close game. Luke was again called on to make several fine saves, although Thirsk’s defence did not allow York to shoot from close range. Thirsk also forced some good saves from the York goalkeeper, from both Oliver and Harry’s shots. They should have scored a winner  as the ball evaded their goalie at the back post, only for Sam and Oliver to get in each- others way. It ended 0-0.

The next game with Ben Rhydding was a more one sided affair, and it did not take long for Thirsk’s slick passing to cut through their defence, and it was Arthur Hunt who met Oliver’s pass to take the lead. Sam  added two more goals, one another sweet hit from just inside the circle, and Harry bagged another in the 4-0 win, though it could have been more.

The final game with Bridlington saw Thirsk again play some fine passing hockey, Oliver was the first to score following up on the rebound from Harry’s penalty corner strike. James saw his shot hit the post and Oliver forced a fine save from their goalie only for Harry to score from the rebound. Harry rounded off the scoring for the day and completed a 3-0 win.

Thirsk ‘A’s won the Division and gained promotion to the top division for next time. Congratulations to player of the day James Houseman, and thanks Neil Collinson for umpiring and all the parents who supported.

The Thirsk ‘B’ team following their promotion were playing in Division D. Their first match was a 1-0 win against Pocklington with Connor Watson scoring the goal. The second game was against the eventual division winners Sheffield, and although they fought well, Thirsk lost 2-0. They then went on to soundly beat Huddersfield 4-1, Sam Winstanley scoring on his Thirsk debut, two goals from Johnathan Craske, and one more from Connor. Thirsk lost their final two games, 2-0 to Chapeltown, and 1-0 to Slazengers, but could consider themselves a little unlucky, and well done to goalkeeper Will Mitchell, and defenders Tom Wade, and Paddy Medley who played well all day. The results gave them a third place finish in the Division, and will look to build on that next time. Congratulations to Paddy Medley who was player of the day, and thanks to Sam Gardiner for managing the team, and the parents who supported so well.

The opening fixtures of the Yorkshire Youth Hockey Under 12 boys league were held at Pocklington on Sunday 25th Sep. Thirsk were fielding two teams, the ‘A’ team starting in Division B where they played all last season, and the newly reformed ‘B’ team starting at the bottom in division E.

A’s -  The first game with Leeds was very one sided, with Thirsk dominating possession and territory. Thirsk got an early goal through Oliver Houseman, but really should have scored a lot more, with some efforts wide of the goal, the Leeds goalkeeper making some nice saves, and several players guilty of going for thrashing hits, when a push would have been better. Thirsk did eventually get a second when Sam Bosomworth deflected in ahead of the goalkeeper, and Thirsk won 2-0. The next game with Driffield was a big improvement, and Thirsk’s passing game got going, Arthur Hunt making his debut, combined well with Harry Collinson, and with the ball regularly moving out wide before been crossed in many great chances were created. Harry Goodall with a hat-trick, and Oliver scoring the goals in the 4-0 win. Next, unbeaten Hull were tougher opponents, but Thirsk were matching them well. Sam hit the post first, and the Hull goalkeeper kept out several efforts. Alex Docherty in defence was working hard to deal with the quality attacking play from Hull. Thirsk then hit another post when Harry C had the goalkeeper beaten. Hull countered and although Luke Brownlee made a great save, they were quicker to gather up the rebound and take the lead. Thirsk pressed on and were again denied by the post with a shot from Harry G. In pressing for the equaliser, Thirsk left  themselves a little exposed and Hull’s forward launched an aerial shot towards the top corner, only to see it beaten away by Luke, quite a save, but Hull again pounced on the rebound to score again. Thirsk continued to press but were unlucky 2-0 losers in the end. The final game with unbeaten Bradford was another one dominated by Thirsk, and Bradford were indebted to their goalkeeper with several fines saves. Thirsk were guilty of committing too many players forward and were caught out on the break, Luke unable to prevent a well worked passing movement and shot from Bradford. But Thirsk did not give up, and their reward was an equaliser from Oliver, following a passing move with Sam down the left side. The game ended 1-1. Thirsk finished in second place in the league, and with the top two promoted, will play the next session in division A.

B’s -  A new look team, with Paddy Medley, and Johnathan Craske making their Thirsk debuts were up against Chapeltown A in their first game. Thirsk had chances, but were indebted to Will Mitchell in goal for some fine saves, and James Houseman and Tom Wade for some brave defending to keep the game to a 0-0 draw. Thirsk went on to beat Hull 3-0, Chapeltown B  2-0 and ended with a thumping 3-0 win over Airedale. The goals were shared out between Ben McIntosh, Josh Dale, Jothanthan and Paddy. Thirsk won the Division, and will be promoted to Division D for next time.

Well done to all the players who took part, and for the great achievement of both teams  gaining promotion. Thank you for all the parents who helped, and supported, and thanks to James Laking for managing the ‘B’ team so well.

The team for today was as follows: Jack Newman in goal, Sam Bosomworth and Alex Docherty in defence, Harry Goodall centre midfield, Oliver Houseman right wing, Harry Collinson center forward and Louie Watson left wing, Liam Shannon and James Houseman started as subs.

Thirsk’s first game against Doncaster they started well, Jack, Sam and Alex kept Doncaster at bay making some good saves and tackles, then clearing the ball to Harry G who in turn passed it onto Harry C and Oliver. On such a surge forward entering the Doncaster circle Thirsk gained a short corner Harry C stepped up to score our first goal. Doncaster fought back with Harry G coming off having been injured Liam took his place. Again Thirsk pushed forward Liam gaining another short corner Harry C striking the ball just wide of the mark. Thirsk still continued to pressurise the Doncaster goal Oliver making some attacking runs and getting yet another short corner this time Harry C blasted the ball passed the keeper the game ended 2-0 win to Thirsk. Their second game against Hull Liam started in defence with James. Harry G coming back on as center mid. Sam going up front as center forward, Harry C going onto the right wing with Oliver on the left wing. Thirsk again started well the defence remaining solid with James playing in his début for the under 12′s clearing the ball well. In this game Thirsk played a very attacking game the forwards linking up well putting pressure on the Hull keeper, finally Harry G stepped in to hit home a well struck ball into the goal. Right from the restart Thirsk were on the attack again, Sam came off and Louie went on to strengthen the attack. On one of the attacking runs Harry C hit home another goal the game ended with another 2-0 win to Thirsk. The third game against Ben Rhydding started well Jack, Sam and Alex played well but the pressure was finally starting to tell and Ben Rhydding scored first. From the restart Thirsk were more positive a good clearance from the defence which Harry G picked up, running into the D and equalising. Ben Rhydding then scored two quick goals. On one occasion Thirsk defence cleared the ball up to Oliver who picked up the ball again running into the D and scoring. The game ended 4-2 loss, even with this result they were through to the semi final.

In the semi final Thirsk faced Airedale, with Sam and Alex starting in defence, Harry G in center midfield, Oliver center forward, Harry C and Liam right and left wing respectfully. Airedale having most possession of the game but not managing to produce a goal, Thirsk defended well clearing the ball to the forwards but the ball just kept coming back, Sam received a ball to the back of the foot and came off injured, replaced by James who again defended well the game ending 0-0. The game went into extra time with both sides looking for the golden goal. Thirsk came out strong and applied pressure straight away on the Airedale defence and keeper with a scramble in the Airedale D Liam managed to pass the ball to Harry C who did not hesitate scoring the vital golden goal.

Bring on the final against Ben Rhydding. Having already met this team in the preliminary round Thirsk new this was going to be a hard game. Sam having been injured was unable to play in this game which left Thirsk with only one sub. Right from the off Oliver nearly scored after tackling the Ben Rhydding center mid and hitting the ball wide of goal. Ben Rhydding then upped the pace and Thirsk could do nothing with a tiring defence who had played well throughout the game Ben Rhydding put away three quick goals in succession. A number of injuries to the Thirsk players then followed with Oliver receiving an injury to his hand, being replaced by Louie, Harry C getting injured meant that Sam had to come on. Ben Rhydding piled on even more pressure and they scored a further two goals. In the dying minutes of the game Thirsk pushed with one last bid attack ending with Harry G striking the ball into the corner of the goal. The game ending a 5 – 1 win to Ben Rhydding.

This result ensured that Thirsk U12 boy’s team went through to the North of England Mini Hockey Championships on Sunday 10^th May. A fantastic achievement and a first for Thirsk Hockey A big thank you to Neil Collinson for his help umpiring and to the parents for supporting the team.

Back Row L – R: Oliver Houseman, Harry Collinson, Louie Watson, Liam Shannon, Harry Goodall, James Houseman

Front Row L – R: Alex Docherty, Jack Newman (GK), Sam Bosomworth

Our team for the championships was as follows: Luke Brownlee in goal, Liam Shannon, Jack Newman in defence, Harry Goodall in midfield,Oliver Houseman was right wing, Sam Bosomworth was center forward,Harry Collinson was left wing, with Alex Docherty as sub. The team started the first game against York A well, putting loads of pressure on the York goal. Harry C crossing the ball into the ‘D’ countless times for Sam, Harry G and Oliver. York also made some runs into our half of the pitch and our defence couped well, Luke making some good saves. Liam and Jack cleared the ball well to the forwards, we swapped Alex for Jack. Alex went to the left wing Harry C went into defence the game ended 0-0.
The second game against York B was much more one sided . The defence were only troubled a few times Liam playing higher up the pitch with Jack stopped back for any counter attack. Oliver was in the center of the ‘D’
Harry C struck the ball in Oliver put the ball away very calmly. Then all the forwards started taking shots on goal Oliver got a rebounded ball and made his second goal. Then almost from the restart Harry C got the ball passed it to Sam who had a shot on goal cleared and Oliver stepped up to score his third goal. Then to finish off Harry C popped up to score the final goal the game ended 4-0.
For the third game against Harrogate we changed a few positions around and this had a good affect. Luke had only one or two saves to make; he and the defence looked solid. Our first goal came quite quickly the ball came from our midfield Sam picked it ran through the Harrogate defence and scored. The second goal also scored by Sam was more of a goal mouth scramble. Then Harry C got the third goal . Harrogate managed to pull a goal back after a mix up in defence. Then we got ourselves together again Alex picked up the ball passing several Harrogate players then passed to Harry G who scored. The ball never left the Harrogate half, Oliver got the next goal scored from the center of the ‘D’. Liam scored the last goal picking the ball and running at the goalie he flicked into the corner of the goal the game ended 6-1 and a place in the next round.Thanks to the parents for their support and driving, and to Mike Rushmere and Neil Collinson for umpiring.

The team for the under 12 boys was as follows,Luke Brownlee in goal,Jack Newman,Liam Shannon,Harry Goodall,Harry Collinson,Josh Dale. In our first game against Airedale Jack and Liam defended well,Harry G, Harry C and Sam passed well but didn’t manage to score.Alex came on along with Josh in defence .Unfortunately Airedale nicked a goal in the dying seconds the game .The game ended 1-0. In our second game against Kirklees the team seemed to settle down from the off putting lots of pressure on the Kirklees goal. The defence and Luke doing a great job keeping Kirklees out.Harry G managed to nick a goal then seconds later Oliver scored the game ended 2-0.
In the third game against Rotherham the team started well but Rotherham put us under a great deal of pressure Alex and Jack defended well but the game ended 1-0 to Rotherham.
In the forth game, Leeds got an early goal .The team did well to keep Leeds out for the rest of
the game and it ended 1-0.
The last game was different, the team played really well. Oliver scored 1st Sam 2nd closely followed by Harry G and Harry C the game ended 4-0 at last we found our form lets keep it going lads .A quick thanks to the parents who drove and supported the boys.

Thirsk U10 Boys competed this Sunday(23rd Jan) in Division 2 of the Yorkshire youth hockey league. With Riley Tulley making his debut. The first match against Chapletown was a scrappy and nervous start for Thirsk. Not many clear cut chances were made although Connor Watson had his effort saved. Thirsk lost concentration at the back and allowed a Chapletown player to shoot, this was saved by Sam Bosomworth, but the rebound was followed up, giving Chapletown a 1-0 win.
Thirsk got into their stride in the second game, and Rotherham were soon behind as Connor opened the scoring. It was soon 2-0 when James Houseman’s shot was deflected in. Riley made a break down the right and his pass was collected by Oliver Houseman , and he slotted away a third for a comfortable 3-0 win.
The third game with Doncaster was quite even to start with, and Flynn Mullins along with Sam Nichols defended with confidence. Thirsk battled well in mid-field, and Henry Houseman set up Connor for his first goal of the game. Oliver then burst clear to make it 2-0, before James set up Connor for his second, to give Thirsk another 3-0 win.
The final game with Ben Rhydding was a ‘must-win’ game for Thirsk, if they were to get promotion back to the top division. Thirsk were off the mark almost immediately as Connor opened the scoring following a great through ball from James. Thirsk put Ben Rhydding under immense pressure, and when they did get any possesion, Flynn was there to take control of the situation in the Thirsk defence. Oliver added a second, and Connor a third, leading to another 3-0 win.
Congratulations on promotion back to Division 1, and thank you for all those parents who gave great support.

November 7th at Leeds saw Thirsk field two under 12 boys teams. The ‘A’ team playing in Division 2 had Toby Hussel making his debut, and Reece Johnson returning in goal. They lost the opening game to Wakefield 1-0, but then went on to beat Bridlington 2-0, followed by another 2-0 win against Slazengers. A battling 1-1 draw with Doncaster ensured they remained in Division 2 for the next session. They did however lose their last match 1-0 Driffield .
The ‘B’ team were playing in Division 4, and despite giving debuts for Alexander Docherty, Will Mitchell and Henry Houseman, were indebted to Hull for lending us a player for each game. The first game was a convincing 4-0 win over Bingley Bees, Josh Dale scoring his first goal for Thirsk. The next game was against Hull, and despite working hard were well beaten 6-0. Thirsk however lifted themselves to a good 2-0 win over York, Oliver Houseman scoring. They then battled with Sheffield coming from 2-0 down, to fight back with Sam Bosomworth being the provider for all three Thirsk goals, a great 3-2 win. The last game with Pocklington was a close encounter, Thirsk creating several chances, but failing to convert, and against the run of play Pocklington breaking away and scoring for a 1-0 win.
Well done to all who took part, and thanks for all the parental help and continued support.