Sunshine?! Blue sky?! Not normal hockey weather at all!

Bruton's U14 team played at Yeovil and Sherborne on Sunday 20 September, and really did themselves proud. Particularly for a team playing together for the first time.

The first game against a Y&S mixed team saw Bruton play some lovely attacking hockey, with great passes and strong teamwork. Our attacking play was strong, our defence solid, and we won 2-1. Walking away from the pitch, I heard a couple of spectators commenting on how well we had played.

Confidence was high going into our second game, against Chard. Again, Bruton showed some great teamwork, and were, to my mind, the stronger of the two teams. Unfortunately, even though we had most of the possession, and were attacking for almost the whole game, we just couldn't score. Chard had a couple of lucky runs, both of which ended in goals.

Shepton Mallet were a very strong team, and were able to open up some holes in our defence. Bruton played well and kept fighting, even in the face of relentless attacking moves from Shepton.

In the final game, against Chard again, the play was much more even. Chard scored a couple of lucky goals, and Bruton wasn't quite able to even up the score, in spite of a few chances.

The overall result of played 4; won 1; lost 3 doesn't do justice to the level of hockey that was played. Each and every player played their part, and played well. Tackling was strong, passes were long, there was some great communication between players. Overall - great team hockey.

Thank you to everyone who played: Tim, Maya, Ali, Kaitlin, Esmay, Tyler, Lily, Tilly and Audrey. You all made me really proud.

And thank you to all of the parents who came along and cheered them on. I can see the difference it makes to the players to have you there and to hear your shouts of encouragement.