In our penultimate game the Kelso U16 Boys Development Squad travelled up the road to Tipperlin to play our return fixture against Watsonians on Sunday 15th March. Having won 5-2 at home back in November there was an air of confidence amongst the squad ahead of push back.

With the sun shining Kelso started the game well and enjoyed plenty of early possession. This pressure soon told as one of our attacks saw Myles W find the back of the net to open the scoring. And it was not long before our second goal came, this time from centre forward Murray B, which saw us head into the first quarter break 2-0 to the good.

The second quarter saw the heavens open, and the weather certainly affected play. Neither side could dominate the ball and whilst there was some goal mouth action both keepers kept the ball out. The halftime whistle blew with no further goals scored and it remained 2-0 to Kelso.

As the players started to dry out in the third quarter and with the weather improving so did our play. Again, some good possession and some excellent hockey saw us score a further two goals in the quarter, courtesy of Chris A and Tenny G, resulting in us coming into the third quarter break 4-0 up.

The squad were keen to keep a clean sheet and score some more goals, and it was not long before Myles W bagged his second of the game with a delicate chip over the goalkeeper following some great play down the right-hand channel. Our sixth and final goal came from Chris A who pounced on a loose pass at the back and rounded the keeper to score his second of the match.

A strong defensive display and some good keeping from both our keepers, Mac B and Finlay G, ensured no goals were conceded across the four quarters. Well done boys!

KHC U16 Boys Team vs Watsonians: Chris A; M Banks (GK); M Banks; R Fleming; T Grant; F Gray; A Little; O McIntyre; J Moir; C Quinn; R Patterson; F Pennington; R Poe; A Scott; M Whiteside; J Wilson (capt.).

Kelso vs ESM

Our final fixture of the league was on Sunday 29th March with a return back to the capital to play ESM, who beat us 5-0 at the start of the season. The wet and windy conditions on the drive northwards were a sign of things to come as the weather played a huge role in the outcome of the game.

A distant rumble of thunder and flash of lightning accompanied the whistle to start the match as the heavens opened, resulting in persistent driving rain for all of the first quarter. This did not dampen the competitiveness of both teams but it certainly affected the play with the game seemingly being very open with little structure. The first Kelso goal came from a chaotic scramble in the ESM ‘D’ with Jamie W pouncing on a loose ball to fire home. Kelso’s second goal saw a turnover in midfield played forward to Murray B who broke the defensive line and having seen his first shot hit the keeper popped the rebound into the goal. At the end of the first quarter with Kelso 2-1 to the good the sensible decision to take some respite in the clubhouse was agreed by both coaching teams in a vague attempt to dry off!

Following a 10 minute break both teams headed back out under clearer skies to start the second quarter. The same pattern of play ensued with end-to-end action and penalty corners aplenty. Neither side really took control of the game and traded goals with Kelso’s third coming courtesy of Ruben P. With two minutes to go before halftime the weather turned distinctly colder and hailed heavily for several minutes. Taking shelter under the dug outs we agreed to call halftime early with Kelso narrowly leading 3-2.

Given the weather a collective decision was made to shorten the second half to a single 20 minute period, and the game picked up where it left off. The passages of play from both sides were limited but goals were still seemingly easy to come by. Both Flynn P and Tenny G found the back of the ESM goal following some good play down the right-hand side from Chris A. A single goal was conceded in this second half with the final result seeing Kelso 5-3 winners in a very topsy turvy fixture, which mirrored the weather!

And so we bring the curtain down on our U16 Boys Development League campaign … it has had it’s highs and lows, that said every member of the squad contributed to the progressive development of the team as a whole and we should be proud of what we have achieved this year with seven excellent wins.

Good luck to those Kelso players who get selected for the South District U15 Boys Inter-District Squad, and there is a Scottish U16 Boys Festival to look forward to in the Summer term.

KHC U16 Boys Team vs ESM: Chris A; M Banks (GK); M Banks; R Fleming; T Grant; F Gray; A Little; O McIntyre; J Moir; C Quinn; R Patterson; F Pennington; R Poe; A Scott; M Whiteside; J Wilson (capt.).