WEST London Ball Hockey Club’s U9 team just missed out on glory at a national tournament this week.
The team made it all the way to the final before being beaten 3-2 by the North East White Comets of Newcastle and Sunderland in a championship decider.
The West Ealing youngsters tied 1-1 against the Black Comets in the first of their round-robin qualifiers in the second annual Junior Nationals Ball Hockey tournament in Rotherham, Ahmed Shahid netting.
Then came a 2-0 win against the White Comets, Noah Dickinson scoring the first with an assist by Trim Blavo and Alister Rae bagging the second, while Dominic Rae had a shut-out.
Alister Rae scored twice more in the next match against Black Comets, which ended 2-1, before a 1-0 loss to the Whites in the last group game.
Top scorer Rae took his competition tally to five with two more in the decider to give West London a 2-1 lead, but two late goals gave the North East Whites victory.
West London BHC also sent two U12 and one U15 team to the event.
In the U12 section, the Ealing Red Eagles finished third, with the Ealing Black Eagles finishing fourth.
Meanwhile, in the U15 competition, the Ealing Blue Eagles finished third, with Joshua May the leading scorer for Ealing with three points.
The NE Comets and Nottingham Huskies were the top two teams.
