Portadown, September 13: Ulster Club, Portadown Ladies’ Hockey Club came together to usher in the new season in emphatic style with an U15 Girls Invitational tournament at the end of August. The tournament brought together 8 clubs from across Ireland, along with 2 clubs from the UK; Kelso Hockey Club from Scotland and Seven Oaks Hockey Club from England.
The three-day tournament began with the 10 teams divided into 2 groups for a round robin group stage. This spanned Friday August 23rd and Saturday August 24th and was played at Edenvilla Multisport facility and Killicomaine Junior High School, Portadown. The group stage determined which teams would be seeded into the 9th / 10th place-playoff, the 5th-8th place playoffs and the semi-finals.
Ultimately, it was Coleraine HC and Pegasus HC that would reach the final, played in front of a packed crowd. After normal time, the scoreline was locked at 1-1in a keenly contested match, so run-ins were required to separate the sides! In the end Coleraine came out on top, pipping Pegasus to the gold medal and were crowned champions.
Hosts Portadown played fellow Ulster side Mossley in the Bronze Medal match. Both sides put on an excellent show for the fans, but it was hosts Portadown who came away as victors, winning 1-0.
Alison Thompson, Portadown LHC President, said:
“This is the 3rd year of running our U15 tournament and it gets bigger and better each year. The excellent standard of youth hockey from all sides is a real testament to the hard work by each club in developing their youth hockey. The girls had a fantastic 3-days on and off the pitch, making memories to last a lifetime.”
A massive congratulations to all the teams involved in this fantastic tournament!
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