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.

In our first game against Sheffield Thirsk were in total control for the first 5 minutes with Harry, Liam and Louis rarely out of the opposition’s half. Harry C came away with the ball passed it to Louis who pushed the ball to the goal the defender tried to stop the ball and conceded an own goal . Seconds later Sheffield broke with the ball and levelled the score the game ended 1-1.
2nd game against York found Thirsk under more pressure however Thirsk won 1-0 after Liam scrambled the ball over the line.
The 3rd game vs. Driffield was won 2-0 by Thirsk with Harry C scoring 2 fantastic well worked goals.
The final game vs. Wakefield was the toughest game. The team showed excellent determination to hold out for a 0-0 draw.
Thanks to all the parents for staying with the team and Neil Collinson for umpiring all our games.