Hockey Arnold’s county conquest NOT to be outdone by the successful girls’ hockey teams at Arnold School, the boys’ under-11s have become Lancashire champions. It was a great achievement by the seven-a-side team, who completed their 10 matches unbeaten as Liverpool staged the regional rinals of the National Mini-Hockey Championships. Sam Hopkins scored the only goal against Galgators in the first of the Blackpool school’s round-robin games. Their next match was against local rivals Kirkham Grammar School A, who have beaten them twice this year. Arnold took the lead with a clinical Alex Vowles strike only for this end-to-end clash to finish 1-1. Fine defending earned a goalless draw against Preston Hockey Club before Arnold reeled off four wins on the bounce against Liverpool, Tameside Hawks, Bury Jaguars and Kirkham B. Hopkins and Vowles were on target again, while Elliot Fackey and Andrew Perry both scored twice. Fine goalkeeping by Michael Smith earned a goalless draw against Sunnymede School and Arnold returned to winning ways against Kirkham Under-10s as Hopkins scored an excellent goal. Needing only a draw in their final match against Morecambe Hockey Club, Arnold won the title in style with another victory. Kit Hopkins was outstanding at sweeper, while Abhinav Bhatia and Daniel Sharpe were solid in defence. The boys will now represent Lancashire in the North of England finals in April. Fackey, Vowles and Kit and Sam Hopkins and Sam Hopkins have all been called up for Lancashire under-12/13s. Stunned Stockport are swept aside Arnold had a clean sweep of wins against Stockport GS as the first XI led the way with a 2-1 victory. Arnold dominated the first half and were 2-0 up at the break, both goals scored by Georgina Perkins after good midfield play from Rebecca Shillito. Stockport came back strongly in the second half but Arnold managed to cling on to their lead, with good defending by Honor Cam and Natalie Smith. Lilli Taylor scored and early hat-trick as the second XI led 4-0 after only 10 minutes, Alex Holme scoring the second. It was 6-0 by-half time and Emily Martin set up five of them with her pacy play on the right wing. Melissa Gulciman scored the fifth with a penalty flick and Lydia McNulty completed the first-half scoring. Goals from Emma Law and Lauren Monteiro, with a superb solo strike, completed an emphatic 8-0 victory. The under-15 game was much closer, with Georgina Read giving Arnold a half-time lead. Stockport equalised midway through the second half and Amy Bradley made an outstanding save before Read’s second won it five minutes from time. Claire Nelder stayed cool in Arnold’s defence. Rachel Fackey and Olivia Stead linked up well for Lara Cherry to score for the under-14s before Stockport had touched the ball. They came back strongly only for Rachel Fackey to clinch the 2-0 win with an unstoppable strike from a penalty corner. Defender Jenny Carpenter was player of the match. The dominant under-13s stretched their unbeaten run with a 7-0 win which included Katie Asbury’s first hat-trick. Holly Monteiro netted twice, with Meghan Fearn and Lydia Wright also on target. Another hat-trick star was Emily Owen in the under-12A team’s 8-0 win. The other scorers were Courtney Spector (2) Jessica Omassoli, Claire Thistleswaite and Emily Adams. The B team scored three in each half as Lucy Dale (2), Rebecca Pearson, Rebecca Aspin, Abby Taylor and Sophie Harrison secured a 6-1 win. - Arnold Under-14s and Under-15 B faced Hulme Girls GS of Oldham. Both lost 1-0 to late goals despite outstanding displays by Catrin Waktare for the U14s and Meghan Staals for the U15s, who faced A opposition. Email us and tell us about your stories!