Team Bath Buccaneers Under-15 Boys England Hockey Cup adventure ended with the bronze medals at  the finals at Birmingham University. 

Goals from short corner specialist George Gillard in the first half and a last minute winner from Robin Bartlett earned the Team Bath side a 2-1 win against Havant in the first of three round robin matches.
 
They got off to a good start in their second contest against defending champions Beeston, with Eugene Malthouse converting from a well worked short corner. However Beeston came back into the match strongly in the second half to snatch the win with two late goals.
 
In the final game versus Reading, the young Buccs found themselves down 3-0 after only 10 minutes,  but fought back strongly only to see several good chances well saved by the Reading keeper and no change to the final score.
 
It means Team Bath Buccs finished third overall in this season’s Under-15 National Cup, a competition that attracted 78 entries.
 
Manager Dave Smith paid tribute to his young team. He said: "This has been a steep learning curve in our very first attempt at this competition and the commitment and improvement shown by the boys to finish third in a national event has been both remarkable and rewarding.
 
“The work of coach Ian Cordwell and the support from the club and the parents has been first rate and given us the confidence to enter teams at other age groups in both boys and girls cups next season."
 
RESULTS
 
Team Bath Buccaneers 2 Havant 1
Beeston 1 Reading 1
Team Bath Buccaneers 1 Beeston 2
Havant 0 Beeston 1
Team Bath Buccaneers 0 Reading 3
Havant 1 Reading 4
 
Final positions
 
1 Reading
2 Beeston
3 Team Bath Buccaneers
4 Havant
 
TeamBath Buccs finals squad
Hugo Harris (Prior Park), Stevie Medlock (Prior Park), George Gillard (Wells Cathedral), Eugene Malthouse (King Edwards). Matthew Wootton (Beechen Cliff), Hamish Rosser (St Gregory’s), Doug Gray (Wells Cathedral), Danny Wills (capt) (Ralph Allen), Robin Bartlett (King Edwards), Will Matthews (Prior Park), Alex Copestake (Beechen Cliff), Mikey Piesse (Sheldon), Peter Tait (Beechen Cliff), Luke Bridson (Wells Cathedral), Max Smith (Wells Cathedral), Luke Barnard (King Edwards), Oliver Coombe (King Edwards), Toby Patrick (Beechen Cliff).
 
 
The University of Bath has one of the leading university sports departments in the UK. Under its TeamBath brand, its success is based on the expertise and dedication of staff, and its excellent facilities, used by the community and Olympic medal winners alike.
 
 
Members of the media who require further information can contact the TeamBath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd on (01225) 383518 or see the Team Bath website at www.teambath.com

Picture: The Team Bath Buccs under-15 squad at the national finals.

Posted: Thursday 31st May 2007