SEASON LONG CLEAN SHEET AT HOME
Leicester's unbeaten first team concluded its home English Hockey Premier League season with another win on Sunday, this time beating Trojans 6-0. With 9 home games won Leicester's scoring record at home was 29 for and 0 against, a great credit to the whole team but especially the defence and excellent young keeper Maddie Hinch. Despite the side now having clocked up sixteen wins and a draw from its 17 match League season there will be no champagne celebration as no title has actually been won. The EHB in its wisdom has determined that the actual champions will emerge from a play off process which will see Leicester take on the side that ultimately finishes fourth (which could be Canterbury, Olton or University of Birmingham). Should Leicester win that match there will be a Championship final to determine the Premier League champions. In a long hard season, with so many Leicester players involved in tough training and matches down at Bisham Abbey all week, this attritional approach seems questionable. What is guaranteed for Leicester is a place in 2011's Euro Hockey League to sit alongside qualification for the European Indoor competition. Leicester can only be seeded as the number one English side by winning the play off final.
Against already relegated Trojans, Leicester went ahead in the 3rd minute when Chloe Rogers put away a penalty corner, three minutes later Lauren Turner's open play goal made it 2-0 but to Trojans' credit they lived up to their name, working hard, and held out until the 34th minute before Rogers doubled her tally to give Leicester a 3-0 interval lead. That became 4-0 two minutes into the second half when high-scoring Beckie Herbert got the first of two open play goals. Her second came in the 64th minute, after Lucy Brown had scored on 60 minutes.
Herbert's brace took her to 12 for the season alongside Crista Cullen, both of whom were praised by coach Chris Mayer in a BBC Sport article on 19th March, just follow the hockey links from 'other sports'. In it Mayer says: "We want to win every competition we enter. Now we just have to win the Cup and the play-offs and we will be a very happy club."
There were smiles elsewhere in the club as Leicester 2nds ended the Midlands Premier League campaign with a 1-0 win over second placed Kettering. Tori Moore's excellent goal separating two of the better sides in what has been a patchy League. The win meant Leicester finished fourth in the League, behind three club first teams in Worcester, Kettering and Matlock.
Leicester 3rds kept up their promotion chase in Leicestershire Premier with a 3-0 win over Leicester University, courtesy of goals from Katie Gutteridge, Nic Just and Nicky Ginn. The side faces a tough challenge on Wednesday from nearest rivals Ashby who took all three points from their game with Leicester 4ths with a 4-0 win. The 4ths were still in the game at half time but Ashby stepped up the pressure near the end, notching two late goals for a more emphatic scoreline than the game perhaps justified.
Leicester 5ths, hit by late withdrawals and the steady influence of Rose Jacques, found Loughborough Town in fine scoring form. Leicester, fielding five thirteen or fourteen year olds and three 55 year olds, shipped five goals in each half for a disappointing 10-0 loss. Heads did not go down though and the youngsters will learn from this while the veterans will just sprinkle more Radox in the bath.
Leicester U10s and U12s did very well at the Leicestershire Clubs mini hockey, the U10s won their competition and the U12s narrowly lost out. The U10s now go on to the Midlands round.