Tag Archives: Bedales hockey

Team Walton victorious in fast paced Hockey Fest final

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By Kevin Boniface, Head of Hockey

After 11 weeks, 33 games and 91 students having signed up, we reached the conclusion of Hockey Fest this week, with the final match played out between Team Walton and Team Stewart.

Fittingly, the final was played at tremendous pace, despite the heat, and there were excellent passages of play, the ball moving quickly and both teams getting into advanced positions early. Team Walton struck the first blow with a ferocious far corner strike from Hari Walton, the score 1-0 at half-time with the game well balanced. However, the balance shifted heavily in favour of Team Walton when birthday boy Henry Bott put the team 2-0 up.

Time was ebbing away for Team Stewart but with a minute to play, captain Zach Stewart gave his team hope with an excellent deflected finish. Zach wasn’t finished there and won a penalty corner with 30 seconds remaining on the clock. A drag-flick heading towards the top corner was neatly dealt with by goalkeeper Mike Wei, and despite the best efforts of Team Stewart, it was Team Walton who came out on top, 2-1 winners.

A wonderful final, but equally as pleasing was the way in which there has been such a huge mix of students not only taking part but blending nicely into various teams this year. The camaraderie, leadership and development shown across the board has been incredibly encouraging. Well done and thank you to everyone who took part.

Boys’ First XI Hockey v Kings’ School, Winchester

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By Kevin Boniface, Head of Hockey

On Wednesday the first XI travelled to their traditional season opener against Kings’ School, Winchester. Typically, the opposition were well organised and capable on the ball. It was perhaps not surprising then that Kings made the majority of the early attacking play and, despite some impressive defending from Sol Arbib and Joe Cullen, found themselves 2-0 up inside 15 minutes. However, the new look Bedales side began to settle into a rhythm and became more precise moving forward, driven by the influential Zach Stewart and Sam Gibbon.
 
Bedales created a number of decent chances but unfortunately failed to convert. However, on the stroke of half-time, a moment of individual brilliance and a clinical finish from Jac Wheeler, deservedly pulled Bedales back in to the game.
 
Despite a well presented half-time talk from captain Josh Baty, the Bedales side weren’t able to match the same intensity levels as the first half and began to lose shape, producing a number of turnovers which were clinically finished by Kings, who came away deserved winners. Plenty of promise from the Bedales side and a clear target of maintaining intensity and structural discipline levels.