HC Knole Park celebrated their first piece of silverware this season with success in the U16 Girls Kent Cup! In a busy weekend, all the adult’s sides won again, including success in the England Hockey Mixed Cup, and the juniors won their local derbies!
With the first piece of silverware on offer this season it was success for Knole Park as they beat Canterbury and Sevenoaks to win the U16 Girls Indoor Kent Cup and join the U16 Boys and U18 Girls in the Regional Finals later in December. Against Canterbury Biba Mills was on fire as she scored four goals. Evie Smith and Mackenzie Ward both picked up one each in the 6-0 win. Against Sevenoaks the girls raced into a 4-0 lead playing some scintillating hockey. Mills scored twice more, and Summer Knight-Thompson also scored a brace. In the second half Sevenoaks were much improved and scored once to make the final score 4-1 to Knole Park.
The U14A Girls were drawn against Sevenoaks for the second week in a row, this time in the league. Having enjoyed a very well contested draw last week it was no surprise that the half time score was 1-1. Imogen Smith netting a powerful strike for Knole Park. However, for the second week in a row Knole Park were outstanding in the second half as they ran in three unanswered goals in their performance of the season so far. First Emily Bingham scored a bullet strike for 2-1, before Evie Whitehead flicked the ball into the netting for 3-1. Charlotte Bloodworth cruised past the goalkeeper late in the match to complete the scoring and the 4-1 win for Knole Park. This keeps the U14A Girls second in their league with just undefeated Guildford left to play on Sunday.
The U16B Girls played Tunbridge Wells A on Sunday as they aimed to bounce back from last week’s cup exit. In a very competitive first half goals from Amie Gould and a brilliant backhand from Celia Foster made it 2-2. The second half was however a superb performance as Knole Park scored four goals for a 6-2 win. Goals from Elsa Taylor, Georgina Hadden, another classy finish from Foster and one for captain Kammy Bussey.
In the adults section it was four wins from four as the Men’s 1s, Women’s 1s and Women’s 2s all won comfortably, plus the Mixed XI played in the first round of the EH Cup.
The Women’s 1s welcomed Sittingbourne HC to Knole Park. In a much-improved performance on last week Lottie Bingham opened the scoring after good work from Charlotte Watkins. Jess Lewis scored moments later for 2-0. Watkins and Bingham linked up once again for Bingham’s second before Evie Smith scored a quick-fire hat-trick. Josefina Hippe and Biba Mills both scored twice and Phoebe Gough-Cooper once for an 11-0 half-time lead. Annabel Cheveley, Alessia Turner, Bingham, Mills and Watkins all picking up significant goal involvements in the process. The second half was more of the same as both Bingham and Smith scored twice more each to make it four and five goals respectively. Cheveley turned from provider into scorer for her goal after great work from Smith, before Gough-Cooper added her second of the match and Watkins finished the scoring after a beautiful sweeping move once again from the Knole Park team! 18-0 it finished which keeps the Women’s 1s top of the league.
The Women’s 2s won 4-0 against Herne Bay. Meeting an inspired goalkeeper from east Kent the Herne Bay defence held strong for large portions of the match. However, two goals in each half from Ella Walker, Cara Gould (2) and Farrah Hilden sealed the 4-0 win.
The Men’s 1s were on fire on Saturday as they beat the University of Kent 16-0. In a hugely unexpected result, having lost twice to them last season, the boys from Knole Park were prepared and motivated. Indeed, so much so that they were 3-0 up in 5 minutes! Duncan Parnis scored twice, and Isaac Dale scored a trademark wonder goal before Moritz Hippe scored from a penalty corner for 4-0. Parnis netted again shortly after for the team’s fifth. Louis van den Rijse scored an excellent backhand and a penalty corner for 7-0, before Dale and Parnis added one more each for 9-0 at the break. The team continued to play some outstanding hockey and the second half was more of the same as Parnis scored three more, Dale completed his hat-trick, as well as selflessly putting in Mack Copp for a tap-in. William James scored his first and second goals for the club to complete the scoring and the incredible 16-0 win! This win keeps Knole Park second in the table, but with a significant boost to their goal difference!
In the final match of the weekend, the Mixed XI took on Hailsham in the England Hockey Cup. It was Hailsham who took the lead from a breakaway, but from there it was one-way traffic as the team played some fantastic passing hockey. Phoebe Gough-Cooper, Matt Goodwin, and Duncan Parnis (7) the goal scorers in the 9-1 win. This weekend HC Knole Park’s Men’s 1st team host Gravesend 1s, the Women’s 1s travel to Blackheath 2s, and the Women’s 2s play Dartford 2s. The Women’s 1s are also playing the English Universities XI in an invitational exhibition match. The U14A Girls are playing Guildford, and the U16A Boys and U16B girls face Epsom. The U18A Girls are playing in the South-East Indoor Regional Finals. Finally, the U10, and U12 boys and girls are all playing again, and U8s are playing their first ever matches! It’ll be a busy one!
