Blue Hornets Felsted U12 boys performed superbly as they were crowned east regional champions, last Saturday.

They got off to a great start with 5-0 victories over both Spalding and Broxbourne, although they drew the next two games 0-0 against Saffron Walden and Bury St Edmunds respectively.

With the pressure on, Hornets went into their final group game needing to beat Norwich to qualify in second place in their group, which they did it in great style, winning 3-0.

Then it was the semi-finals against the Old Loughtonians - who they had lost to in the county finals. The Felsted boys were desperate to right that wrong and to qualify for the nationals, and controlled the game in a 2-0 victory.

The final against Hertford was a very even contest, ending 0-0 with penalty flicks. Both teams scored their first two penalties (Henry Dean and Matthew Yeoman for Hornets), then, after Justin Ross scored the third, Alex Bruce-Smith managed a save against Hertford’s last taker.

Flested now go through to the national finals on May 10 at Cannock.

The U10 girls meanwhile, fought hard but never quite played to the level they had achieved to be Essex county champions. They got off to a good start with a great 2-0 victory against Sevenoaks, but then had some tough games, losing to Hertford (2-0), Pelicans (2-0) and Cambridge City (2-1). However, in their last group match, they beat Ipswich 1-0 in a tremendous match.

The following day, the U12 girls hoped to retain their title as east champions. But, with a tough draw in their qualifying pool, they knew they had to beat leading clubs such as Canterbury and Cambridge City to progress through to the semi-finals.

Despite some excellent results against Broxbourne, Harleston Magpies and Ipswich, they went down narrowly to the two clubs who inevitably made it through to the final, losing 2-1 to City, who ended up as regional champions.

The U10s boys were also unfortunate. They topped their group, winning all their matches and went through comfortably to the semi-finals. Facing Old Loughtonians, they led 1-0 until the last 30 seconds of their match. It took until the third set of penalty flicks (with three in each set) before Old Loughtonians managed to save one before scoring the winner on sudden death!

All in all it was a great weekend of hockey for the club.

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