ELY WIN UNDER 13S JUBILEE CUP
Ely win Jubilee cup
The Jubilee cup is the most prestigious under 13s tournament of the roller hockey calendar. This year’s event was held on one day at Soham and there were 7 entries. Ely were the only club with two teams, The Greens a mainly boys team although Hattie Ford played in goal replacing the regular goalie still stuck in the USA. The Blues was an all girls team the only one in the competition.
The Greens kicked the day off in Group A against a Cambridge a young team who were beaten 5 – 0 with goals from Jake Kendall (3) and Paul Masterton (2). The Blues had a much more difficult game against Cottenham. Ely defended well but were unstuck by some quick counter attacking and lost 5 – 0.
In the next phase of matches The Greens played Kings Lynn. The team tried to continue the goal scoring form of the first match but against much stronger opposition they were found out too often with 3 up front and a sole defender eventually losing 5 – 2 (goals Chambers 2). The Blues in the tougher Group B played Bury St Edmunds and never found any consistency letting in 10 goals to no reply.
The Greens final game against Norwich effectively became a decider for group runner up and a semi final place. Ely established a 2 goal lead with goals from Chambers and Masterton. However in a nervous final few minutes Norwich scored and Ely had Ford to thank for keeping the score 2 -1.
In the final phase The Blues played around robin for 5 – 7 place. They started very well against Norwich with a good goal from Emily Barrow leaving the scores level at half time. Unfortunately defending let them down in the second half the score ending 5 – 1. The team got their rewards for some good play all day in the final match against Cambridge. Three goals from Barrow and a well converted cross from Heather Dunnand giving them a 4 – 1 victory.
The Greens semi final was against the tournament favourites Bury although they did have two Peterborough players boosting their squad. Ely started fantastically with good attacking moves giving them an unlikely 2 goal margin at half time. Bury came back strongly in the second half but a further Ely goal was enough for a 3 – 2 win despite some frantic defending in the last few minutes and both sides having players sent to the ‘sin bin’ (goals Chambers 2 & Kendall).
Ely surprisingly found themselves in the final against local rivals Cottenham. In what was one of the best phases of play from any Ely team great passing and shooting gave Ely a shock 4 – 0 lead inside the first 10 minutes (goals Chambers 2, Materton and Kendall with some great passing from Ryan Norton) a score they took into half time thanks in part to some late interceptions from Nathan Ellis. The second half was nail biting time as Cottenham gradually reduced the lead equalising with 2 minutes to go. The result ended 4 – 4 and into golden goals. The drama continued with a disallowed Cottenham goal for a high stick and then Ford saved a penalty. It wasn’t until the second half of extra time that Kendall with a superb strike broke the deadlock and gave Ely the trophy for the first time in their history. The awards didn’t stop there with Ford awarded best goalkeeper of the tournament. Chambers missed out on top scorer by one goal.