RUGBY and East Warwickshire Hockey Club’s under-10 boys were crowned county champions after winning all six of their matches without conceding a goal.
Victory means Rugby have now qualified for the Midlands Regional Championships – the highest level the under-10’s can compete at.
The under-10’s came into the County Championship off the back of winning all of their warm-up and friendly matches and faced a tough group on paper against Edgbaston, Old Silhillians, Leamington, Hampton and Atherstone.
And Rugby made a dominant start with a 4-0 win against Edgbaston in their opening game as Max and Matthew scored early goals before Lewis added a brace in a one-sided contest.
Rugby backed up that result with a 6-0 victory against Atherstone as Lewis scored arguably the goal of the tournament to open the scoring before Matthew netted a hat-trick and Max bagged a brace.
Next up for Rugby were old rivals Old Silhillians with the former pipping the latter 1-0 in the regional final two years ago.
However, Rugby stormed to another fine victory as Will scored two goals in the opening two minutes before Ed, Eli and Matthew all found the net in a 5-0 success.
The win put Rugby in command of their group with goalkeeper Alfie yet to make a save and defenders Tom and Tommy blocking everything in their path.
And a 4-0 victory against Hampton, courtesy of two goals from Matthew and further strikes from Max and Lewis and a 4-0 win against Leamington with braces from Matthew and Max saw Rugby finish the group with a perfect record and +21 goal difference.
This set up a final against fellow unbeaten side Sutton Coldfield as the first 10 minutes of the showpiece proved a cagey affair.
Goalkeeper Alfie showed a safe pair of hands and feet when required to keep the final scoreless before Max scored a stunning solo goal to put Rugby ahead just before half time.
And, inspired by their coach Gareth Unett, Rugby made a blistering start to the second half as Max and Ed put the game out of Sutton’s reach,
Both Max and Ed would go on to complete their hat-tricks, with the latter’s last couple of goals superbly assisted by Olly, as Rugby claimed the County Championship title with an emphatic 6-0 win in the final.
