WINCHESTER LAND UNDER-14 TITLE

Winchester Boys have been crowned national Under-14 champions after qualifying for the Lee Valley Olympic Park finals via the county and regional rounds and then beating highly fancied Surbiton 2-0 in the final.
But their ultimate success was far from straight-forward as they needed a helping hand from Canterbury to win their four-club group and qualify for the final, writes Mike Vimpany.
They beat Canterbury 5-0 and Wakefield 2-0, but having lost 2-0 to Leicester needed Canterbury to beat the East Midlanders 3-1 and so put Winchester in the final on goal difference.
Preparation was the key as Winchester trained on the Lee Valley surface the evening before the eight-club tournament and were fully prepared.
Harry Croft-Baker bagged a hat-trick, Matty Duncombe scored a wonder goal and Rory Penrose converted a penalty stroke to give Winchester a 5-0 win over Canterbury.
A 2-0 defeat by Leicester chilled Winchester’s joy, but the Hampshire champions bounced back with Croft-Baker and Penrose scoring in the win over Wakefield.
Croft-Baker gave Winchester a deserved 1-0 cup final lead with his fifth goal of the tournament – an advantage the side ought to have built on before their top scorer was pulled down in the D and Penrose rifled home the resulting penalty flick to give the city side the trophy.
Surbiton threw everything forward after that, but Winchester battened down the hatches to carry off a magnificent win.
Winchester’s championship winning squad, pictured, was: Will Whitmore (Captain), Frank Struthers, Will Evans, Freddie Peters, Tom Henley, Rory Penrose, Charlie Johnson, Matty Duncombe, Giles Hocking, Harry Croft-Baker, Felix Northover, Oli Gage, Will Jackson, Sam Boon, Sam Dowek, Will Crompton, Freddie Coulson, and Hobie Ambrose, who missed the finals through illness.