The Bridgwater U12s travelled to sunny Bruton, to play the Somerset Hockey U12 tournament at the fantastic facilities at King’s Bruton school. Parents were wrapped up warm and cheerfully supported the squad in every match. The whole squad worked hard, listened well and made huge progress throughout the day.

After game 1 the team explained they needed to work on using the width and getting back behind the ball as the opposition attacked. A fast break by a Bruton forward had allowed Bruton to score the winning goal in the 2-1 score line. Young Fred in goal had won applause from the spectators and praise from the Bruton parents for his determined saves.

The second game v Cheddar Valley saw a more focussed squad as they responded well to ‘coach’ Joe’s advice re positioning and play. Alfie and Lucas played on the wings and linked well with Oliver and Alicia in attack. Bridgwater scored again but ended up on the losing side of a 3-2 score line.

The third game against Chard saw the squad benefit from their growing confidence. Jacob and Patrick were solid in defence and gave strong passes to set up attacking play. Micheal showed good positioning and found himself in a fantastic spot on the post to pop in a lovely goal. Lucas and Alfie scored strong goals linking with clever play whilst Alicia went close. Felix and Chloe found their strength as defenders making some good blocks and in game 4 against Yeovil & Sherborne, Patrick held the midfield and put great pressure on the keeper also had several shots just wide. Fred kept goal confidently kicking strongly in 1 on 1 situations, and Jacob cleverly drove the ball out of defence and into attacking positions, shooting well. The squad finished with huge smiles having played well and making good progress.

Well done all and thanks to all parents, coach Joe and umpire Bridget.