Fresh from the victory over Teddington a few hours earlier, the sun started to emerge from the grey as the U16 boys started their warm up on Pitch 1 for the final of the London Area, T2 league playoff, facing Spencer HC for the third time this season. It was a given that this match would be a tough physical game and the boys would have to maintain focus and energy to win.

Brombeck had a cracking start to the match, opening the scoring within the first 2 minutes. With great composure, Jake received the ball in the middle of the D, after some great passing from Teo and Carter, and slotted the ball past the keeper. Spencer did not waste any time after the restart and promptly won a short corner, the first of five in the match. The shot was saved but another corner won. A great save from Sam kept the ball out and deftly cleared by Rohan. Brombeck won a short corner in the 7' which was saved by the keeper and minutes later, after some great build up work, a shot from Jayden flew just wide of the post. It wasn't long after, that the physical nature of the Spencer game first showed itself when Jayden was pushed off the ball just outside the Spencer D, chasing down a ball. As the end-to-end action continued, frustration was mounting and Teo was shown the green card in the 16'. Spencer’s third and fourth short corner efforts in the 17' and 21' were both repelled by the BromBeck defence and after the second the boys quickly got the ball into the other half and despite some great running, Teo just missed a chance to double the score with the Spencer keeper committing high in the D. Jamie also has his shot pushed wide in another good save by Spencer's keeper. At the half, it was a slim lead and coach Ben had tough words for the boys who were being drawn into narrow play and not exploiting the spaces in the wide game that they had deployed so successfully in prior matches.

Incredibly, the opening minutes of the second half were almost a carbon copy of the first. Excellent running and skill from Toby, saw him tear up the field, shrugging of three very strong challenges from Spencer, to calmly push the ball in the middle of the D. Callum's first touch was saved by the keeper only to arrive at Jake's feet who immediately saw the opportunity to lift the ball high into the Spencer goal. 2 - 0 Brombeck. The boys maintained the pressure and had a number of opportunities in both short corners and open play but couldn't quite increase the lead. Spencer won its only short corner of the match in the 43' and the save from Sam rebounded back to their striker who managed to get round him and he made no mistake the second time. With the lead shortened and only six minutes remaining, the pressure was on to stay ahead. Brombeck won a short corner with 3 minutes left on the clock, but it was easily saved by the keeper. JC had one final chance in the dying seconds but was unable to beat the Spencer keeper, who had had a great match. With the glorious sound of the final whistle, it was official, Brombeck U16 boys had become London champions - a truly deserved title and something to be very proud of achieving. Full highlights video in the overview tab, to enjoy the match action.

For many this was now the very last match of the season and represented a fantastic end to their junior hockey experience. In his debut season, coach Ben has done an incredible job, guiding and inspiring this young group of players and the results speak for themselves. Congratulations to all the boys. We hope they stay and continue their hockey journey with Brombeck and carry on enjoying playing this beautiful game. It has been great to be a part of the squad over the last eight months.

MJ