Another great performance today from Bourne Deeping Hockey Club U16 Boys saw them qualify in style from the group stage of the England Hockey Junior Club Championship 2019/20. In a regional group of 6 teams, including big city clubs Peterborough, Norwich and Bedford, Bourne Deeping have gone undefeated, topping their group with 5 wins and 5 clean sheets - a fantastic campaign and fair reward for 6 months of hard work, focus and dedication from the squad of 14 boys.

Every game was hard fought and hard won, and today's final game in the group stage against Bury St Edmunds was no exception. The Bourne Deeping boys entered the game knowing that a win or a draw would see them qualify. Instead of 'parking the bus', they took the game to Bury St Eds and chased another win, playing in their now familiar style of tight, cool-headed defence and fast-paced attacking breaks from deep within their own midfield.

The game started in typically shaky fashion on both sides as the players got the measure of each other. In the opening 10 minutes, the game could have swung either way with both teams missing great opportunities to score as balls were passed across the D but with no player there to receive and shoot. Vitally, Bourne Deeping were first to settle, with Rafa Parker Humby stabilising the midfield area which, in the opening minutes, had been dominated by Bury St Eds and had been the source of most of their attacking play. Bourne Deeping found their shape and started piling on the pressure with great linking play down both wings by Rafa, Hugo Brill and Alex Hutton. Forwards Ben Brittain, Joseph Moisey and Tommy Armitage began to enjoy a steady supply of balls and the threat of a first Bourne Deeping goal grew. After constant pressure and two well-practised penalty corners were shot wide, Bourne Deeping finally got the all-important first goal on the twenty minute mark. Although not scored in the most glamorous of fashions, the goal struck a psychological blow when the umpire played advantage for a foul on Rafa as he passed the ball into the D to Joseph Moisey. Joseph shot wide of the goal but the ball deflected off of an incoming defender's leg to trickle slowly into the back the net.

Not that play was all one-way - with the Bourne Deeping midfield difficult to break down and only one goal separating the two teams, Bury St Eds pushed back hard and attacked down both wings. However, their attacks were met by a solid defensive reply, led by outstanding play from left-back Roddy Mountain and right-back Joe Garner, supported by ever-reliable centre-back Ben Saunders and absolute work-horses Charlie Riddington, Mac Gatward-Clarke and Daniel Feest at shield. With wingers Hugo and Alex also tracking back to help out as well, the Bury St Eds attacks were simply overrun and barely an attacking pass had made it into the Bourne Deeping D by the half-time whistle.

Bury St Eds started very fast from the second-half push back and immediately charged the Bourne Deeping defence. However, Bourne Deeping had the perfect reply. The defensive wall turned the ball over and a quick outlet saw them surge up the left wing, boot-lacing their passes, untouchable to the opposition D, before Rafa slipped the ball left to Ben Brittain who cracked the ball home to go 2-0 up within three minutes of the restart. It really knocked the wind out of the Bury St Eds boys and they struggled to recover and truly get back into the game from there on.

As the second half progressed, Bourne Deeping took ever greater control of the game. Bury St Eds kept fighting but they had nothing new to break down the outstanding Bourne Deeping defence, ultimately leaving the keeper, Will Taylor, to enjoy a quiet day watching the game from afar. The Bourne Deeping attacking play kept the ball mainly in the Bury St Eds half and drew a number of free hits around the D plus another missed penalty corner. At the fifteen minute mark, the constant pressure payed off and they finally broke through again. Joseph was the first to react to a loose ball in the D and struck home his second goal of the day, putting to bed what little hope there was left in the Bury St Eds team for making a comeback. Bourne Deeping then concentrated on a possession game, much appreciated by their supporters on the sidelines and, in the last 10 minutes, they did indeed 'park the bus' with a defensive formation to protect their 100% clean sheet maintained throughout the entire group stage of the competition. Final score 3-0. Really well done boys - an outstanding team effort today and great determination throughout the group stage!