The Isle of Man junior hockey squads travelled to Northern Ireland recently for preseason fixtures ahead of their 2022-23 English Hockey Championships campaign.

The Manx teams are heading into the forthcoming championships on the back of a very successful 2021-22 season.

Like all junior age group set-ups, the teams see changes year on year but the rollout of all age groups in the last few years, although stretching the coaching teams, is starting to pay dividends as players are now experiencing much more off-island hockey.

The under-14 and u16 boys and girls teams faced two Irish club sides over the course of the day on Saturday, Lisnagarvey and Dublin YM, while the u18s faced top school side Wallace along with Lisnagarvey.

The fixtures were held at the hugely impressive grounds of Lisnagarvey Hockey Club, home of the reigning Irish men’s league champions outside Belfast.

The OAK Group-sponsored Manx teams played Wallace and Dublin YM in the morning set of fixtures followed by Lisnagarvey in the afternoon set of fixtures. The fixtures proved to be very tough for all the Manx sides, with only the u16 boys side recording a win over the course of the day.

These club-type fixtures are always hard on Manx sides who are drawn from all the clubs across the island.

The Wallace players had been playing together for some six years, but this is what the teams will be up against in the English Championships.

While results did not go their way, the fixtures were invaluable in their preparations for the season and lots of positives have been taken from the weekend.

There were some notable Manx performances from both established players and those making their island debut.

In the under-18 boys, established player Oscar Lace led by example backed up by the younger Luca Parlato on his first outing with this side.

In the girls team, their very talented goalkeeper Ella Truetler made a huge impression on the Irish coaches, umpires and players, cementing her reputation as one of the top junior goalkeepers to emerge in recent years through this set-up.

The other teams’ goalkeepers also put in sterling performances, with Robyn Stone and Ross Grimley shining in their fixtures.

Both u16 teams played well and lost out essentially to some very talented representative players, particularly Ulster players in the Lisnagarvey teams.

The u14 sides both fielded a large number of players making their island debuts. It took both teams a while to settle and a marked improvement for the afternoon set of fixtures saw both teams lose only narrowly to the Irish sides.

It was hugely encouraging for the coaching team to see this and lots has been taken away to work on.

The players also got the chance to see the Lisnagarvey men’s and women’s sides take on Dublin YM in their preseason fixtures.

Lisnagarvey men boasted no fewer than four Irish senior players, including the captain, and the match was a useful masterclass in top-level hockey.

SUCCESS

The weekend was a huge success with Lisnagarvey being excellent hosts.

Their facility at Comber Road, Lisburn is something Manx Hockey can only dream of.

The players and coaching team are very grateful to OAK group for its renewed sponsorship in supporting the teams