Ashmount’s Quicksticks slicksters seal silver spot

Ashmount’s hockey team finished runners up in the Islington Quicksticks Hockey tournament held at Sobell Centre.We got off to a good start in our first game beating St Andrews 4-0 with goals from Rufus Tansey (2) and Zak Baig (2).Our second game saw us really kick into gear as we put seven past Sacred Heart Primary, winning 7-1. Rufus and Zak continued their good form scoring hat tricks and Ephraim Ntoya also got in on the act with one.The last group game was against St Judes ‘A’ who were also unbeaten in the group. We raced into a two nil lead courtesy of Zak, but St Judes fought back to level the game at 2-2. However it was Ephraim who would have the final say as he scored the winning goal to seal a 3-2 win.

The semi-final saw us paired up against Canonbury who had finished unbeaten in their group. A tight match was in prospect, but again the team was quick out of the blocks as goals from Rufus (2) and Zak gave us a commanding 3-0 lead. Canonbury to their credit tried hard to comeback but our strong defensive duo of Duah Ahmed and Lucy Turner repelled any attacks that were thrown at them.

So onto the final against favourites St Joan of Arc Primary, who had been impressive in topping their group. A pulsating final ensued as the hooter blew to start the match. Both sides were evenly matched, despite St Joan of Arc containing a player who was feared by most sides. Rufus gave us the dream start with two quick goals, but there was plenty of time left and opportunities for further twists. As expected SJOA came back and pulled a goal back. We were then hanging on, but as the players tired SJOA equalised to level the match. The final whistle then blew which led the teams into 5 mins of extra time. Both sides pushed for the winner, but it was SJOA man of the moment who proved to be the match winner as his decisive strike sealed victory for SJOA.

Nevertheless a fantastic effort from the fabulous five, which did not go unnoticed as we were awarded the Fairplay award by the other schools. The second year we have entered the Hockey tournament has seen us progress since last year’s third so hopefully the development will continue over the years and see Ashmount as major player in the sport.