England Hockey Championships
Posted by on 26 April 2018
Monday 7 May, 12pm at Lee Valley
Following a spectacular win against Cronkbourne last month, the East London Men’s 1s have made it through to the national hockey cup final.
Having conceded only 3 out of 26 games this season, the team have had a strong run and secured promotion early on. They started the 2017/18 season with a 6-3 win against Long Sutton and started the second half of the season with a huge performance culminating in a 2-1 victory against Shefford and Sandy, league title rivals.
The hockey has been some of the most entertaining for spectators this year, with the nail biting cup semi-final coming down to penalty flicks after a 0-0 result at full time. As an energised crowd of supporters looked on, goalkeeper Freddie Goddard made some fantastic saves and Gurmukh Panesar took the winning flick. This is the farthest stage any team in East London Hockey Club has ever reached in a national competition and the highest league the team has ever achieved, marking the club-wide push to see greater success in performance outcomes.
With most of the club having ended their season campaigns weeks ago, the boys have stayed on a tight regime ready for the ultimate battle against the Blackheath opposition. Coach Asif Rais explained “We have put into plan a 3 week training program which includes several matches against local opposition. So far the last two weeks have been very productive and we are into our final week prep now and the whole squad is very much looking forward to the big game!”
Whittling a squad of fantastic players down the final 16 was a hard task for the coaches, but they know the team will perform at its best with a supportive home crowd. “The whole squad is hoping that the whole club gets behind them and comes to watch the game. Let’s paint Lee Valley orange!”
The Men’s 1s final will be held at 12pm at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on Monday 7th May. Don’t miss out on all the action, get tickets to the cup final here:
