Rover Oxford
hosted their 10th and largest ever Annual youth festival sponsored by
Manpower over the week-end with 52 teams from all over the UK taking part.
On Friday 5th at
Oxford Bookes, 80 youngsters from Banbridge, Northern Ireland plus teams
from the hosts, Rover Oxford and City of Oxford played friendly matches in
U12, U14 and U18 age groups. The visitors from Northern Ireland were
represented by teams from Banbridge Academy school and Banbridge Town
Hockey Club. The highlight of the day was an exhibition match between
Rover Oxford U18 and Banbridge Academy U18 which the visitors narrowly won
3-2.
On Saturday 6th at
Tilsley Park the sun shone down on Oxford Hawks who beat Eastcote in the
U8's final, Eastcote who beat Wallingford in the U10 final and Marlborough
who beat Harlequins (a Banbridge and Rover Oxford mixed team) in the U12
final on penalty strokes.
On Sunday, it was
a clean sweep for Cheltenham who won all three age groups, beating
Banbridge in the U15's, Teddington in the U16 girls and Banbridge in the
U17 boys finals on penalty strokes.
Richard Jess,
Rover Oxford's Irish liaison officer said "Thanks to the sponsorship from
Manpower, we were pleased that so many youngsters from Northern Ireland
managed to enjoy our English hospitality. They were impressed with the
wonderful facilities at the new Abingdon Tennis and Leisure Centre,
Tilsley Park and the National Hockey Stadium at Milton Keynes where they
watched the national premier cup finals."
