The Isle of Man under-14s boys hockey team travelled to face Guildford in the semi-final of the EH Junior Tier Two Plate KO competition on Sunday. 

Everyone knew in advance that this was going to be tough as Guildford are one of the top hockey clubs in the UK.  

The Manx boys struggled to settle for the first few minutes and conceded an early goal, but their heads didn’t drop and they grew into the game, creating a few chances.  

Guildford then scored a couple of quick goals to make it 3-0 and, despite being the better team for the next 10-15 minutes, the Isle of Man couldn’t press home the advantage. A little against the run of play, Guildford scored a fourth goal to make it 4-0 at the break.

Following a half-time team talk and a couple of formation tweaks, the Manx boys started the second half well and for the first 15 minutes were the better team again but unfortunately couldn’t turn their dominance into goals.  

Then, 20 minutes into the second half, Guildford scored a fifth followed by another three quick goals to make the final score 8-0. 

The boys continued to play good hockey throughout, didn’t stop running and were unlucky not to score. While it was a disappointing result, the Manx boys took great heart from the way they played which will serve them well as they further their hockey careers. 

The players’ man of the match went to Ethan Quirk who was also jointly named the coaches’ MotM alongside Myles Stevenson.