The Isle of Man’s under-16 girls hockey team won through a dramatic encounter with North Staffordshire to advance to the third round of the England Hockey Tier Two Championships on Sunday.

The two sides were locked at 2-2 after 70 minutes, the Manx eventually triumphing 10-9 on penalty flicks.

After catching the evening ferry after their Saturday league matches, the travelling squad had a late night and early start, but quickly focused and immediately placed North Staffs under pressure winning two penalty corners within the first two minutes. 

Unfortunately the Manx didn’t manage to convert these opportunities and North Staffs found their rhythm and began to counter attack.

The first goal of the match came at 11 minutes in, when North Staffs converted a well-taken penalty corner despite strong defending from Bree Collister and Caitlin Williams.

The English side, determined to maintain their lead, focussed on double teaming in an attempt to disrupt island captain Ela Blakemore’s composed control of the game and the skilful forward play of attacking midfielders Summer Craig and Zara Levy. 

Although winning further short corners, the Manx struggled to find the back of the net and the first half ended 0-1 to North Staffs. 

The fight to control the game continued into the second period with the breakthrough coming in the 13th minute.

Alicia Keirnan, Sophie Partington and Saffy Miah, fronting the Isle of Man press, forced a defensive error with Sophie Partington taking full advantage to win the ball, beat two defenders as well as the goalkeeper to level the score for the islanders. 

With renewed confidence, the Manx pressed for a second goal.

Players’ movement on and off the ball enabled Ella Blackmore to pass the ball wide to Connie Sellors who worked the ball past North Staffs to again find Blackmore. She drove through the North Staffs midfield passing to Zoe Bridson who ran the right wing and base line to create a scoring opportunity.

North Staffs’ goalie made the save, but the cleared ball was picked up at the top of the ‘D’ by Saffy Miah who slotted the ball home to put the islanders in front.

North Staffs came back fighting with some physical play and continued double teaming in an attempt to equalise. 

Isle of Man continued to defend from the front with Isla Caine strongly supporting the press and attacking play from the left wing and Amira Crookall and May-Saa Smith working the right half and wing with speed and tenacity. 

At 63 minutes Bree Collister received a stick to the knee. While the Isle of Man readjusted positions, North Staffs took advantage.

Despite strong goalkeeping from Zara Benham, North Staffs scored the equaliser a minute before the final whistle. 

Both teams and umpires agreed on penalty flicks to determine the outcome of the match which proved a nail-biting finish with all 10 flick takers slotting their shots past the keepers leading to a ‘sudden death’ scenario. 

Collister and Bridson’s second penalty flicks were matched by their North Staff counterparts. Then the stalemate was broken when Benham saved North Staffs’ next attempt followed by skipper Blakemore calmly slotting home the winning penalty flick.

Thanks go to North Staffs for a well-fought match and their wonderful hospitality. Thank you also to the umpires, sponsor OAK, the Manx Hockey Association and all the squad’s parents for their ongoing support.

LYNNE VALERGA

- The island’s under-16s boys team narrowly lost 3-2 to Preston, Robbie Valerga scoring twice for the Manx side.

The under-18 boys also lost by the same scoreline, this time against Deeside outfit Neston. On the scoresheet for the islanders were Vikings HC duo Cameron Roome and Ben Dougal.