DOMESTIC men’s hockey champions OV Convicts are out for revenge when they face Guernsey side Colombians tomorrow in a repeat of last year’s final, vying for the crown of the Men’s Upton Trophy.
The 2024 edition of the Men’s Upton saw the Colombians victorious on home soil in an entertaining 4-3 win.
Tomorrow, the Jersey Hockey Club at Les Quennevais hosts the clash between the two Islands’ domestic champions, set for a 12pm start.
The OV squad is littered with Island stars, including captain Peter Millar, who believes it “doesn’t get any bigger than this in domestic hockey”.
“We’re privileged to get to compete in this contest, you have to win the league to qualify, so not every player gets that chance.”
“We had a good league campaign to finish in first, but it certainly wasn’t a foregone conclusion. A lot of the games went right down to the wire, there weren’t many one-sided games.”
Opponents Colombians had an equally successful league campaign, winning the Guernsey division with an impressive goal difference of +74.
Millar is all too familiar with the Sarnian side’s capabilities in front of goal. Despite the 4-3 scoreline of last year’s defeat, the Convicts fought their way back into the game well after a horror 10 minutes saw them ship three goals after half-time to go 4-1 down.
Millar continued: “We played them last year in the Upton final and they were a good side.
‘We came out on the wrong side that day but it was a good game.”
“They have a lot of Guernsey players themselves, including a couple of the Island forwards, so they’re definitely a threat in front of goal. But we know where our strengths are also, we’re a good team ourselves and hopefully we’re strong enough on the day to deal with that threat.”
The original date for this fixture was pushed back to tomorrow, meaning the Convicts have had a bit of a break post league season.
“We had to wait to find out when the date would be but as soon as we knew we organised a training match last week to get the lads some game time.”
“It’s not quite as easy playing in the heat of the summer as it is in winter, but we should be fit and ready to go.”
The Convicts squad features a blend of youth and experience, where the established names of Millar, Sam Habin and Anthony Kay will run out with promising teenagers such as Ed Hodgson and Hugo Gomersall.
Hodgson is just one of several teenage players to have made their senior Jersey debuts recently, proving the strength of junior hockey on the Island at present.
“I’m feeling confident,” the skipper continued. “It’s a home game for a start, which is always an advantage.”
“We have our full squad. I think we’re stronger than we were last season and it was a really close game that time around, so we’re all confident we can get it done.”
Action from the Jersey Hockey Club at Les Quennevais is set to get underway at 12pm tomorrow.
OV Convicts Squad:
- Pete Millar (c), Archie Scate, Hugo Gomersall, Phil Cuming, Patrick Filleul, Ed Hodgson, Will Hodgson, Dan Hodder, Chris Thomas, Alex Anthoine, Sam Habin, Anthony Kay, Charlie Reid, Robbie Forrest, Joe Crill, Jack Tait
Manager: Simon Williams