Surrey U13 Boys Tournament Heats, Reeds School, Cobham, Sunday 1st March

Reigate Priory Squad: Joe Bamford, Will Dowling, Jack Ellis, David Gent, Matt Rankin, Ewan Robertson, Will Sanderson, Justin Tarrant, Matt Zander.

Reigate U12 Polecats played some fine hockey against some bigger, stronger sides to finish fourth overall.

Game 1: Reigate Priory 0 Royal Grammar School, Guildford 1

Early pressure from the big Guildford side forced Justin Tarrant to make several saves. Some good runs from David Gent, Will Sanderson and Ewan Robertson resulted in Matt Zander just pushing the ball wide of the post. The whole Reigate team seemed unable to hit the ball with their customary pace and this put them under severe pressure. Several short corners were awarded to RGS and with the last hit of the game the ball ricocheted off a Reigate stick and over Justin Tarrant's arm.

Game 2: Reigate Priory 0 Guildford H.C. 0

Reigate were back on form in this match. Will Dowling probed down the right and Reigate were unlucky not to take the lead when he cracked a ball across the goal which both Will Sanderson and David Gent failed to hit by the narrowest of margins. At the back Jack Ellis was very solid and Joe Bamford was particularly effective, stepping up to make several interceptions. Both sides were awarded 3 short corners, but neither could convert them and the game finished in a goal-less draw.

Game 3: Reigate Priory 1 Surbiton H.C. 0

Reigate got an early break when the newly arrived Matt Rankin latched onto a cross from David Gent and nudged the ball over the line. A defender scrambled the ball away, but the referee awarded Reigate the goal. Surbiton came back at Reigate with a vengeance, but spirited defence from Ellis, Bamford and Tarrant enabled them to survive several short corners. In midfield Matt Zander and Will Dowling got were able to get the ball forward to David Gent and Matt Rankin, but the Surbiton defence held solid. Reigate survived another period of pressure to produce the shock of the tournament.

Game 4: Reigate Priory 0 Spencer H.C.

Reigate piled on the pressure from the start with Will Sanderson and Matt Rankin producing some good runs. Matt Rankin was put through from a hit from Will Dowling, but miss-hit to let Spencer off the hook. David Gent probed down the left, Matt Zander dominated the centre and Ewan Robertson came off the bench to produce some fine play. At the back Reigate Bamford and Ellis were effective in snuffing out any breaks from Spencer and Tarrant was rarely troubled.Raigat e were The game ended as another goal-less draw.

Game 5: Reigate Priory 0 Reeds School 4

The Reigate boys were tiring by now and were unfortunate to have to face a big, strong side from Reeds at this stage of the tournament. Justin Tarrant pulled off the save of the tournament, diving across the face of the goal to tip the ball away at full stretch. A scorching shot into the bottom left hand corner put Reeds into the lead. Shortly afterwards Tarrant again made a fantastic full length save, before a defensive error lead to the second goal. Reeds piled on the pressure and a fine piece of play saw them score a third which was chipped over the Reigate keeper into the top of the net. They rounded off with a fourth goal shortly before the final whistle.

Reigate Priory U12 boys  6 - Old Mid Whitgiftians U 12 boys  0

Squad: Justin Tarrant, Joe Bamford, Will Dowling, Matt Zander, David Gent, Jamie Vidler, Matt Rankin, Will Sanderson, Joe Meese

Reigate played with great determination to keep their heads against a much larger and physically imposing team from OMW.

Right from the start the Jamie Vidler probed the OMW defence with some silky running and sublime stick work. Reigate had an early chance following a great combination from Will Dowling, Matt Zander and Matt Rankin down the left side of the pitch. Shortly afterwards David Gent was only denied by a good save from the OMW keeper. Reigate kept up the pressure and were rewarded by a goal from Matt Rankin who latched onto a great pass from Joe Meese - 1-0!

Shortly afterwards David Gent slammed home a second only to have it disallowed as the ref felt it had touched a foot. Will Sanderson made a great run into space on the right and just failed to latch onto a pass from David Gent. OMW made a rare foray into the Reigate goal area and the ever dependable Justin Tarrant made two great saves to keep the scoresheet clean. Shortly afterwards Joe Bamford stepped up to intercept an OMW attack. He flicked the ball out to Will Dowling who cracked the ball across the pitch for Jamie Vidler to slot home. Goal!2-0.

David Gent had a second goal disallowed after a collision between Jamie Vidler and the OMW keeper left the keeper flat on his back.

Following the break OMW piled on the pressure and Justin Tarrant pulled off the save of the match, tipping the ball past the right hand post with his toe. Reigate stormed back into the attack with some great interpassing between Matt Zander, Jamie Vidler and David Gent. A short corner was the result and Matt Rankin slotted home his second after a goal mouth scramble. 3-0!

Matt Zander had to leave the field shortly afterwards after being on the receiving end of a wayward OMW stick. Will Sanderson came on as replacement and made some blistering runs down the right. Will Dowling forced the OMW keeper to save before cracking home a reverse stick shot from the left. 4-0!

OMW piled the pressure on and won a short corner. Joe Bamford came off the line like a greyhound and stole the ball for Reigate.

The final period of play saw some fine interpassing between Jamie Vidler and Will Sanderson on the right, resulting in Jamie cracking a shot

into the left hand corner for his second goal. 5-0!

David Gent continued to dominate the left wing and was finally rewarded with a goal after receiving an inch perfect pass from Matt Zander. 6-0!

Reigate nearly allowed OMW back in the match at the last gasp and only some solid defence work from Joe Meese and Justin Tarrant kept them out.

The boys are really starting to play as a team now and Marc Zander's coaching is clearly making a big difference.

Boys U12's win their first tournament at Horsham

Sunday 23 November

Priory team: Justin Tarrant, Jack Elliss, Jo Bamford, Matt Zander, Will Dowling, David Gent, Matt Rankin

Reigate Priory 2: Horsham 0

Reigate got off to a solid start with Matt Zander and David Gent dominating the midfield. Will Dowling had a blinder smashing in the first goal and provided several outstanding crosses that the Reigate forwards just failed to get a final touch too. Matt Rankin scored the second and then Matt Zander hit the post from close range. A good result but Priory should have won by more and it highlighted the importance of finishing better and putting opponents away.

Reigate Priory 0 Oxted 0

A really close battle between the two rivals. Reigate dominated the majority of the game and again had several chances which they were unable to finish. Again Will Dowling put in some fantastic crosses, Matt Zander hit the post and the Oxted keeper made a couple of great saves. Jack Ellis and Jo Bamford were solid at the back and Justin Tarrant made a couple of vital saves towards the end of the game.

Reigate Priory 3 Oxted B 0

An excellent performance as Reigate started to go from strength to strength. Matt Rankin scored his first goal ever for reigate ..well deserved after all the hard running and effort showed in the game. This was followed by a bit of clinical finishing from Matt Zander who bravely slipped the ball into the goal and was rewarded for his troubles by being taken out by the goalie…however it doesn't seem to hurt as much when the ball goes in. David Gent scored a thrid from close range after another good move whilst Matt Zander hit the post for the third time

Reigate Priory 4 Horsham B 0

Priory saved the best till last . Will Dowling set the ball rolling with another fine shot following an absolute bullet which smashed against the post. David Gent then got on the end of a Will Dowling cross to score number 2 with a fine reverse stick finish. Jack Ellis scored posibly the goal of the game , picking up a corss from the right and powering in a fine shot. But the biggest cheer of the game was reserved for Jo Bamford, striding forward and smashing the ball into the bottom right hand corner for his first ever goal for Priory.

So Reigate finished top equal with Oxted A and it went to penalties.

Oxted scored the first 2 and Reigate missed both of theirs. Then Justin Tarrant made 2 great saves and Matt Rankin and Jo Bamford scored to make it 2-2. Another Tarrant save and a Priory miss meant it went to the last penalty. Justin Tarrant made another fine save and Matt Zander under enormous pressure slotted the ball home for Priory to win their first ever tournament

Man of the match was Will Dowling who scored 2 good goals and did some fantastic crossing which should have resulted in several more goals