B R Ladies.....10

Thirsk.............0

AN easy victory for Ben Rhydding Ladies in this Yorkshire Cup quarter-final provided an opportunity to experiment with a whole range of penalty corner routines and various role changes.

It took nearly 20 minutes for Ben Rhydding to stop falling into Thirsk's slow pace of play and resist the temptation to run the ball at their inferior opponents.

Once they began playing two-touch possession hockey and working hard off the ball, everything fell nicely into place.

Thirsk's best player was their goalkeeper and she surely saved her team from an even more massive humiliation today, coming out with the ball from some of the surest goal scoring situations.

Rhydding were unstoppable in every phase of attack, even Jackie Barrett found herself in the D on several occasions, faced with no option but to shoot, her neck injury going unnoticed.

The midfield was very fluid and Jackie Goodwin put away a couple of great goals. Mel Gough was to claim a couple of classic corner strikes and played an alert and thoughtful game on the left.

Demy Dowley and Melissa Reynard linked up superbly with outstanding communication and supplied an unrelenting stream of opportunities for Rachel Doherty and Jo Ellis who put away five goals between them.

Gemma Anderson's flawless sweeping left Clare Britcliffe wishing she had more to do in goal but it was a peaceful game for her. Dot Mainwaring showed yet again that her experience is a by-word for versatility and shuffled around at the back with relish.

Izzy MacDonald was given far too much room in the middle and was able to surge down the field time and again, creating all manner of excitement up front with Melanie Thompson needing no second chances in front of goal.

Katie Greene always so low and strong on the ball came close to scoring from the top of the 'D' twice which reflects how complete the attack of Ben Rhydding was.

No doubt a 10-0 wipe-out will not be so easy to attain in the semi-finals but the ladies remain optimistic.

Ben Rhydding

boys are the

champions

ON Sunday Ben Rhydding Under-16 boys' team became Yorkshire champions when they competed in the finals at Leeds Metropolitan University.

The competition proved tense and exciting and despite the absence of schoolboy international Andrew Parkes, away on England duty, Ben Rhydding started positively asgainst a much fancied Gateshead side.

Early goals from White and Birkinshaw proved decisive in a 2-1 win.

Harmer scored in a 1-1 draw with Sheffield which was followed by a 2-0 success over Grimsby to earn Ben Rhydding top spot in their group and a semi-final clash against old rivals Harrogate. Scorers were White and Lazenby.

Despite being outplayed for much of the game set piece goals from the prolific White and Harmer proved enough to secure a 2-0 win and a place in the final.

The final against Gateshead was a scrappy, defensive affair with goal opportunities few and far between and the 0-0 outcome was inevitable.

So the game went to the drama of a penalty shoot out and these occasions produce heroes and villains.

For Ben Rhydding they had the hero in Warwick Oates who pulled off four sensational saves. His heroics were admired by the large and vociferous crowd and the young South African goalkeeper was soon submerged under his gleeful team mates.

Having clinched the Yorkshire League title a fortnight earlier victory in the cup final secured a double which may not be repeated for many a year.

With so many talented youngsters emerging Ben Rhydding hockey has a bright future.

The squad was - Oates, Haggerty, Harmer, Lind, Bevington, Jolly, A Mounsey, S Mounsey, Lambert, Heaton, Forbes, Pawson, White, Birkinshaw, Lazenby.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.