For the first time in the club’s history Wesleigh were able to field 4 teams in the annual Leicestershire County Championships! U10 Boys, U10 Girls, U12 Boys and U12 Girls. This was a proud moment for the club and a chance for our fantastic young players to test themselves against the other teams in Leicestershire. Unfortunately for both girls’ teams a number of clubs did not enter the competition and other clubs refused to travel to play them so that meant both the U10 Girls, and the U12 Girls qualified to the Midlands Championships by default as County Champions. Despite this our girls’ were desperately disappointed as they were all so keen to play some hockey, as a Club we hope this kind of thing does not happen ever again.

Putting the disappointment of the girls to one side, the focus was then on the boys. U10s were up first against Charnwood. Westleigh started very strongly and were 3-0 up within the first 5 minutes with some good goals from Torby from and impossible angle and Solomon and Emmet. Westleigh used their full squad of ten players and rotated well throughout the positions. Gabriel and Andre worked well in midfield tracking back well and makes some strong tackles. Emmet made some very direct and strong runs down the right and was looking very dangerous in possession. Charnwood dug in for the rest of the half and had some good chances of their own but these were all snuffed out by the excellent defensive work of Alex and Shaurya with James also showing a cool head under pressure and calmly moving the ball out of trouble on several occasions. The second half was similar to the start of the first half, Westleigh came out all guns blazing and scored three quick goals (Emmet, Solomon and Torby) including one from a short corner! Rowan also showed some good awareness in the D and was very close to scoring on a few occasions only to be denied by some great last ditch defending from Charnwood. Special mention to Solomon here who must have covered every inch of the pitch, showing great fitness and unselfish game management looking to set up goals at every opportunity. The game ended 6-0 but credit to Charnwood who worked hard the whole time and played the game in great spirits. Poor Jake the Westleigh goalkeeper was not troubled thanks to the defence, but a clean sheet is a clean sheet!

Ashby were up next, they looked a big side with lots of tall year 5 boys, most twice the size of Torby and Andre. Despite the physical differences Westleigh again started strongly and went 1-0 up from a good short corner strike from Torby. A tense period of the game ensued with Ashby still attacking strongly and playing some great hockey. Special mention to Alex here who really kept Westleigh in the game with some amazing tackles and clearances, and Jake was also busy this time making some good saves. Andre was keeping it very tight on the left making some key tackles against much bigger boys and keeping Ashby at bay. Ashby eventually broke the deadlock with their own short corner just before half time and going in 1-1 Westleigh had some hope. Alas it wasn’t to be and Ashby showed their strength and scored 3 more goals in quick succession. Westleigh finished strongly though and scored perhaps the best team goal of the tournament with a crisp pass from Solomon to Gabriel from midfield who then expertly fired the ball across the D to Torby who finished strongly in the bottom corner. The game ended 4-2 but despite the loss Westleigh still qualified for the Midlands due to Charnwood losing both their games. Well done boys and given the age of some of the Westleigh players there is a lot more to come from this team. The team had a fun extra game against Ashby where they drew 1-1 and in fact played some of their best hockey especially Emmet, James and Shaurya, maybe we were just getting warmed up before!

The U12s were playing at the same time as the U10s on another pitch, so good job we have so many coaches and volunteers at Westleigh meaning we could run these two teams at the same time. Like the U10 Boys, the U12 Boys are a young side with the majority being year 6.
The first game had us up against Leicester. Unfortunately Leicester scored from the start with a breakaway goal! Westleigh brushed this off and got back into the game and quickly dominated it with some super play from Jake in the middle and the wide players Hayden and Tommy did really well with some slick passing. Westleigh proved too strong for Leicester and should have scored more goals, but the game finished with a 3 - 2 win for Westleigh. Scorers Jake and 2 great goals for newcomer Hayden. Special mention to Ethan, Arlen and Miles playing in their first County Championships and they did really well.
Charnwood Forest were next and a team we have played recently but they had some new faces. Westleigh unfortunately caused problems for themselves at the start of the game by not defending as a team and lost some shape at the start of the match. Charnwood took advantage of this and broke fast with numbers and took the lead. Westleigh soon fought back again through Jake making some great runs, but Arlen was doing a super job defending at the back too, he kept it simple made many strong tackles and shipped the ball on. Nico was also all over the pitch showing great fitness getting involved everywhere. Westleigh were soon level again through Jake but unfortunately Charnwood mounted a great break away attack and scored again. Westleigh tried so hard to get back into the game, and Jake put some great strikes on target but the Charnwood Keeper played amazingly well and kept them all out. The game finished 2-1, a close game but it meant Westleigh had to beat Ashby to qualify.

From the very start it was clear Ashby would be a tough game. This was a big, experienced side of mostly year 7 players and the quality of their ball speed was fantastic. Unfortunately, it soon became one-way traffic and the game finished 7-0 to Ashby, worthy winners. Stand out performer was Sam in goal who saved most of the shots first time but a well drilled Ashby side got to the rebounds and scored each time. The loss meant that the U12 Boys would not progress to the Midlands Championships, but there is a lot more to come from this talented young team next year.

Thanks to all the players for the great effort they have shown on the pitch and at training all season and for the parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, pets, club members etc… for such great support. It really was amazing to hear the loud cheers and applause when the team scored and it gave them a real lift.