It was a tremendous day for the Blue Hornets Felsted Hockey Club last weekend as four teams qualified for the regional stage of the tournament.

Dunmow Broadcast: U10 girls: Back row from left, Charlotte Levick, Steffi Rodley; Grace MacLennan, Frankie Burdge, Imogen Donald. Front from left, Saffron Spink, Alexia Mackley, Jess Olorenshaw, Olivia Rowe.U10 girls: Back row from left, Charlotte Levick, Steffi Rodley; Grace MacLennan, Frankie Burdge, Imogen Donald. Front from left, Saffron Spink, Alexia Mackley, Jess Olorenshaw, Olivia Rowe. (Image: Archant)

Sponsored by Investec, both the U10 and U12 girls’ teams successfully retained their Essex County championship title, and the U10 and U12 boys came runners-up.

Dunmow Broadcast: U12 boys Essex runners-up: Top from left, Kieran Roach, Harrison Stanford, Matthew Yeoman, Henry Dean, Justin Ross, Alex Bruce-Smith, Fergus Wootton. Front from left, JJ Surguy, Harry Olorenshaw, Rory Aitken.U12 boys Essex runners-up: Top from left, Kieran Roach, Harrison Stanford, Matthew Yeoman, Henry Dean, Justin Ross, Alex Bruce-Smith, Fergus Wootton. Front from left, JJ Surguy, Harry Olorenshaw, Rory Aitken. (Image: Archant)

During the round robin tournament, the U10 girls were undefeated in all seven matches, scoring 19 goals and only conceding two. This included a wins against Chelmsford (2-0), Colchester (2-1), Blue Hornets Bs (1-0), Crostyx (4-0) and Old Loughts B (6-0). The final two games of the day were against the toughest opposition but the girls came out on top beating Upminster 2-1 and Old Loughts A 2-0.

The U12 girls became Essex champions after a hard-fought final against rivals Old Loughtonians. They remained undefeated throughout the tournament, with their biggest scare being against Upminster, their second group match, in a tight 2-1 win.

As group winners, they faced Crostyx in the semi-final. It was a tight, end-to-end game but the deadlock was eventually broken by an outstanding individual goal from Eve Maclennan. This proved a real momentum shifter and possession was all with the Hornets who eventually emerged 3-0 winners.

For the first half of the final Old Loughtonians looked dangerous. But for some outstanding goal-keeping from Jasmine Kenny, Old Lought’s would surely have scored first but a breakaway move ended with Olivia Hoare taking her chance neatly to open the scoring.

Affrica Hamilton’s pace and Minty Latham’s distribution from the middle presented three more scoring opportunities, two of which the Hornets took to emerge 3-0 winners.

The U10 and U12 boys both qualified for the regional finals with a second placed finish at the county championships.

With wins against Crostyx (4-1), Upminster (1-0), Chelmsford (7-0), Blue Hornets Felsted B (4-0), Colchester (5-0) and Old Loughts B (9-0), a narrow defeat to Old Loughts (0-1) was the game that decided the tournament for the U10. The match could have gone either way as both teams had good chances to score throughout the game.

The U12 boys also did well, beating every opposition with the exception of a 2-0 loss in the final match against Old Loughts.

All these teams now progress to the regional finals on April 26.

For information about Blue Hornets Felsted Hockey Club, visit bluehornetshc.co.uk. The club welcomes all abilities and experience, from first timers to budding Olympic stars of the future.