Boys’ Hockey – Latest Match Reports

1st XI vs R.B.A.I.

Banbridge Academy Continues Strongly in Second Match of McCullough Cup.

The Academy started the first half with a quick goal within 30 seconds, following link up play between Peter McKnight and Nathan Liggett who slotted the ball under the keeper’s pads to give Bann an early lead. Throughout the first half the side continued to press the Inst backline, giving Bann another chance which young Mark Barlow seized with a strong reverse hit to beat the keeper to make it 2-0. A third goal came quickly when a through ball from Jake Rowe was played to Liggett who slipped it nicely between the keeper’s legs. After the third goal the Inst side then made a few opportunities of their own to score, but Luke Roleston in nets kept the ball out with several good saves. Near the end of the half Kyle Marshall took a chance to add his name to the scoresheet when after running down the left by-line he slotted the ball nicely past the keeper just before the half time whistle.

Bann started the second half the same way as they ended the first with the same desire and hunger for the ball. However Inst held out with a strong back line thwarting the Banbridge attack. Bann then took a different approach resulting in the award of a penalty corner, which Jake Rowe converted with a drag flick into the back of the net to give Bann their fifth. The Bann side pressed harder on the Inst team and eventually saw the ball come to Liggett who hit the ball on the volley to secure his hat-trick and leaving the score 6-0 to the Banbridge side. With this substantial lead the Bann side gave some of its younger players a chance to show what they could do including Phillip Campbell who came close with a reverse shot which was deflected over the crossbar. The resultant corner for Bann led to a further penalty corner which Marshall converted with a drag flick to add his name to the scoresheet a second time. Throughout the second half Banbridge passed the ball quickly and accurately round the back line of James Anderson, Dylan Cowan, Andrew Bennington and Ryan Simms, creating many opportunities for the midfield. Bann’s dominant midfield allowed the forwards to execute the eighth goal of the match when Charlie Norris gracefully flicked the ball over the keeper to leave the final score 8-0. An impressive performance from the Academy 1st XI and they look to face Sullivan in a crunch game next Saturday.

U15 vs R.B.A.I.

Banbridge Academy started the game very well, creating many chances early on in the game but the Inst defence remained strong and repelled the Banbridge attacks. However after some very intricate passes between Phillip Campbell and Harry Lockhart within the Inst circle, Banbridge managed to win the first short corner of the match. After a Mark Barlow dragflick was saved by the keeper, the ball was thrown into the air only to be volleyed  confidently into the bottom corner by Ryan Simms making the score 1-0. However several minutes later the Banbridge lead was cancelled out by a quick counter-attack by Inst which was well finished from a very tight angle by their striker. After the equaliser Banbridge had most of the possession but struggled to penetrate the circle to create any real scoring opportunities. But with several minutes to go, Banbridge launched a counter-attack of their own from Lewis Bingham who streaked up the pitch beating several Inst defenders in his path. He then slipped the ball through to Ryan Jones who striked the ball hard at the keeper who saved only for the ball to fall to Mark Barlow who had an easy tap in to put Banbridge back into the lead at the end of the first half.

The second half started very quickly with both teams eager to score a goal but it was the Banbridge Academy players who were in control as they dominated in possession. However once again they struggled to enter the circle as Inst were defending extremely well but in the 15th minute of the second half Banbridge grabbed their third goal of the match thanks to Phillip Campbell who took the ball along the base line and cut back across the face of goal to sweep the ball home to reinforce Banbridge’s lead. After the third goal Inst started to make some clumsy challenges and gave away quite a few short corners but Banbridge were unable to capitalise from them. Shortly after the full time whistle went and Banbridge had won once again. 3-1. It has been a very strong start to the season for the U15 team who haven’t lost a game yet and hopefully they can carry their momentum forward with them throughout the rest of the season.

U13 vs R.B.A.I.

It was a crisp September morning when Banbridge Academy’s U13’s travelled away to play RBAI. We started off strongly and our opening goal by Jordan Nummy was only the start of what was yet to come. This was followed by a great run by Edward Rowe who then passed a through ball to Chris Curry who finished it off smartly to make it 2-0. At half time we knew we had to keep possession and with our defence playing well in the previous half we knew we had the upper hand.

As we started the next half it wasn’t long until we had another solid goal by Matthew McClimmonds which made it 3-0. It was not long until we got our fourth with Edward Rowe reversing it into the bottom right hand corner. With 10 minutes to go we still had control over the ball which paid off as Chris Curry got a break and superbly crossed the ball to Louis Rowe who scored the last and winning goal. As the final whistle blew we were extremely happy with our performance and we hope we can only improve in our upcoming fixtures. We would just like to say a big thank you to Mr Walker for the continued support and help at practice.