England 14's   Budapest tournament
1st Game

England U14's started their Winter Cup campaign with a solid performance, beating the Serbian Team HK Tas 3-1.

After a nervous start the team found themselves a goal down after 1.07 of the first period, but leveled almost immediately with Sam Duggan scoring an unassisted marker at 1.24 to provide a welcome confidence boost.. Following chances at both ends, Adam Finlinson fired a laser into the top corner from the blue line to give the visiting fans something to cheer about at 6.24 which was the final scoring in the first period despite a 5 on 3 powerplay opportunity towards the end of the first stanza.

The 5 on 3 powerplay was reversed at the start of the second period but England's defensive unit held firm to maintain their lead and were ably assisted by Josh Milton between the pipes who produced a jaw dropping glove save at 11.08 with a disbelieving Serbian forward looking on.  The powerplay unit clicked into gear at 13.13 with Will Stead working hard behind the net to put the puck out front where Owen Bradshaw netted to provide some breathing space at the end of the 2nd period.

Shared penalties in the third period made for chances at both ends and further saves from Milton, including a one on one breakaway, meant the score remained at 3-1 when the final buzzer went.  A good all round performance from the team and a confidence boosting opening win, but harder games probably lay ahead....

2nd Game

England U14's lost to a superior Slovakian team in SHT HK Trebisov at the end of their first day at the Winter Cup in Budapest.  Despite a bright opening, the team found themselves 1-0 down at the end of the first period following a wraparound at 1.53 which saw the only score of the period.

The middle sector saw two further goals for the Slovaks without answer as the boys found it hard to come to grips with the superior size and power of their opposition, the third goal coming on a shorthanded effort. The third period saw no respite with three further goals being added without reply and the team finished without a point being registered despite the days earlier efforts.

Tomorrow sees another day of competition with the opportunity to make amends and progress further although it will be difficult in the face of some stern Eastern European competition....

3rd Game

The second morning in Budapest saw England U14's facing Croatian opposition in the form of KHL Mladost in the first game of the day meaning an early start.

After a bright opening the team found themselves a goal behind at 3.45 after an unlucky bounce left a Croatian forward with effectively an empty net to put home the first score of the game.  Following some good offensive work, the game was levelled when Matthew Headland centred a puck with a helpful deflection from a defenders skates putting the puck through the netminders five hole at 8.24.

The start of the second period saw chances at both ends with the Croatians hitting the pipework before Finlinson scored his second of the game at 1.15.  Unfortunately the lead was short lived with Mladost hitting straight back at 1.26 before taking the lead for the first time at 3.22.  Another unlucky bounce saw their lead extended at 7.10 before Josh Milton gave way to Sabina Lossnitzer in the net at the halfway stage of the game.  A further goal for the Croats at 9.21 was then cancelled out when England's powerplay unit scored with ruthless efficiency 7 seconds into a tripping penalty, Tom Relf squaring for Callum Wells to fire home from the point.  The final scoring of the period saw the lead restored to 3 goals at 14.13 although the scoreline did not show how well the England team had played or the chances they had created.

The only goal of the last period also went to Mladost and the final score of 7-3 did not reflect the way the team had performed or the commitment given.  Tomorrow sees a playoff game against Vasas SC from the host city of Budapest and the team will be hoping to finish with a 50:50 record in what has been a fantastic learning experience playing against teams who are at least a year older and bigger than themselves.

4th and final Game

Another early start for England U14's saw their final game of the tournament in a 8am 5th place playoff against local team Vasas SC in what turned out to be a fantastic match up and was probably their strongest performance of the three days.

After an end to end opening, England took the lead with an unassisted shorthanded effort from Matthew Headland at 9.05 and this proved to be the only goal of the first period despite numerous chances at both ends.  The second period was, however, one way traffic in terms of scoring as the Hungarian team scored three unanswered goals and were denied further markers by some outstanding netminding from Josh Milton.

The competition finals comprise three 20 minute periods, but despite waking at 5am a quick breakfast and hotel check out,the England players still looked full of skating at the end of 40 minutes so with a change in netminding duties and a couple of line tweaks the team were still in the hunt as the third period started.  Having been presented with a powerplay opportunity at 5.55, a prolonged period of controlled build-up created a goal with Matthew Maurice scoring a pp marker with assists from Sam Duggan and Tom Relf.  A little over 3 minutes later the game tying goal came with a strong breakout producing a goal for Sam Duggan on an assist from Edward Knaggs at 10.21.  The comeback was then completed when Owen Bradshaw provided a finish to Sam Duggans hard work and scored what proved to be the game winning goal mid-way through the period to produce a 4-3 result at the final siren.

At the end of the 3 days of competition the team head home with a 50:50 record from their 4 games, having experienced some very tough hockey against much larger and older opposition.  Having acquitted themselves very well they can be proud of their achievements this week both on and off the ice in building towards the next tournament in Prague in April.