Category: NHA News

Promotion for Nottinghamshire in last years County Championships means a new, tougher challenge for head coach Amo Soar and his new assistant James Hewitt.

The preliminary tournament will be held on 7th-8th May 2016 at Woking Hockey Club in Surrey.

Please can you pass this information on to all male players within your club and emphasise to those players likely to come along that, at the very least, the first two training sessions and selection are fully open to all, AND FREE.

This is a great opportunity to train alongside some different people to usual, maybe learn some new skills and challenge yourself.

With Notts clubs fairing well this season we are hoping to represent as diverse a spread of the County teams as possible.

The training/selection session dates for your diary are…..

• Wednesday      6th April     7:30-9pm – Training & Trials OPEN TO ALL
• Wednesday     13th April   7:30-9pm – Training & Trials OPEN TO ALL
• Wednesday     20th April  7:30-9pm – TBC
• Wednesday     27th April   7:30-9pm – TBC
• Wednesday     4th May     7:30-9pm – TBC

(The TBC will likely be a squad practice match and final squad training – attendees will be informed)

All training is at Highfields on the Water.

Please arrive at 7:00pm to all of the sessions so we can maximise the pitch time.

As mentioned earlier, the preliminary tournament for entry into Finals day will be held at Woking Hockey Club on 7th – 8th May 2016. An overnight stay will be required and will be supported by the County Association.

If we finish in the top 2 of the group we will qualify for the Semi-Final / Final on Saturday 21st May (TBC) at Cannock HC.

To qualify to play for Nottinghamshire you must meet one of the following criteria;

• Play for a Nottinghamshire affiliated club
• Have played for Nottinghamshire previously and not played for another county since
• Live in Nottinghamshire
• Attend a School or University affiliated to Nottinghamshire
• Have been born in Nottinghamshire

Criteria will be applied in the above order of preference.

All selected players will receive a NHA Polo shirt – Anyone can order additional kit from our on-line shop.

Please feel free to invite others along to the training sessions if they meet the above criteria.

Can we also ask that players e-mail gareth@nottshockey.org.uk so we have rough idea on our many players are coming.

All attending players should also fill out and print the attached Player Details Form and bring it with them when they attend.  No player will be able to participate in the final squad without one!

Player Details Form

On a sunny, but breezy, Saturday at Old Loughtonians Hockey Club in Essex, Nottinghamshire Hockey Association’s senior men’s County squad faced their sternest test of the last few season, a promotion battle into the second tier of England Hockey’s County Championships.

A strong squad by all accounts, but one that would only travel with 16 due to the last minute withdrawal of 2 players (one due to work commitments and one to a bereavement) Notts were confident going into their semi-final against Herefordshire.

Notts started well and pinned Herefordshire deep in their own half for prolonged periods. Notts skipper, Adam Innocent, and Manny Soar forced Herefordshire’s goalkeeper into some smart saves early on, but it wasn’t until 2 minutes from half time when the sustained pressure paid dividends and Mark Northcott struck to put Notts ahead.

With the winner of this game guaranteed promotion, Notts forged ahead in the second half and made their possession count. A converted Penalty Stroke by Sam Dixon and a fine finish by Adam Henfry saw Notts 3 ahead. Herefordshire tried forcing themselves back into the game and pulled a goal back from a Penalty Corner with 8 minutes to go, only for Nortcott to double his tally and restore Notts 3 goal lead just 2 minutes later. Hereford scored another with 5 minutes to go to raise their hopes, only to have them dashed by a double strike by Notts skipper Innocent. The first a rifling strike from the top of the D into the bottom corner and the second a cheeky lob to the far post which the Herefordshire ‘keeper could only watch helplessly. Final score Notts 6 v 2 Herefordshire and on to the final at 3pm.

With Notts primary aim of getting promoted into ‘B’ division confirmed it was a relaxed, but tiring squad that faced Surrey, returning after several years’ absence from the competition, in the ‘C’ division final.

Surrey were confident, having only conceded 3 goals in their last 5 games, but after several near misses when it looked easier to score, it was Notts who made it count first when Northcott finished from a clever Penalty Corner routine. Northcott struck again from an overtime Penalty Corner at the end of the first half to double his and Notts tally.

The second half started with a ding-dong battle. Sam Dixon extended Notts lead just 2 minutes into the second half only for Surrey to pull one back just 2 minutes later. Sixty seconds later Surrey scored again to reduce the deficit to one. Just 5 minutes passed before Notts Alex Davies finished calmly after some good work by Sam Dixon to restore Notts 2 goal advantage. But, as the short-handed Notts squad began to tire, Surrey started to get the upper hand. Surrey scored from a Penalty Corner and then from free play to bring the scores level. With 5 minutes left Surrey controversially took the lead and it was an exhausted Notts squad that conceded their 6th goal of the game with seconds remaining to lose 4-6.

After several seasons back in the competition Nottinghamshire now seem to have a stable core of squad players and will be looking to improve further in next year’s competition. For full details of Nottinghamshire Hockey Association news, including how you could get involved in hockey in the county, visit www.nottshockey.org.uk

Nottinghamshire Squad

Amo Soar – Head Coach
Phillip Rhodes – Assistant Coach (not present in photo)
Sara Parr – Manager

John Short – Boots HC
James Wakeland – Newark HC
Nathaniel Hammond – West Bridgford HC
Ben Docherty – Boots HC
Josh Dixon – Newark HC
Alex Whitt – Boots HC
Matt Orridge – Mansfield HC
Sam Dixon *Belper HC, England U16/U18
David Ebbage – South Nottingham HC
Henry Baldwin – West Bridgford HC
Luke Davies – Boots HC, South Africa U16/U18
Oliver Matharu – West Bridgford HC
Adam Henfry – Boots HC
James Hewitt – South Nottingham HC
Manny Soar – Boots HC
Mark Northcott – *Burton HC
Alex Davies – Newark HC
Adam Innocent – Boots HC

*Note the England Hockey County Championships is open to players of affiliated Clubs within the County, plus those born and/or living in the County.