Cambridge City Hockey Club crowned England Hockey Summer Masters Championships
Cambridge City Hockey Club clinched national glory in the England Hockey Summer Masters Championships.
City's over-45's team decided to enter the competition for the first time, in the Over-40s Tier 1 section, with a couple of 'younger' over-40s players to boost the ranks.
In the Over-40s Tier 1 section of the summer-long competition, they defeated Southend 11-0 in the first round, and followed that with a 3-1 success over Wapping.
Their third match was conceded by Wycombe as they could not raise a team, so that booked City a place in the final at Oxford Hawks to take on Harrogate.
Unfortunately, captain Chanre Bond was unavailable so Liane Shadrack took over as skipper.
In an evenly-contested match, City went ahead through a good strike from Julie Smythe.
Harrogate equalised from a counter-attack down the left to make it 1-1.
After plenty of near misses from both teams in the second half, City got the winning goal through a well-worked short-corner routine, with Nat Allen applying the finish.
Good defending as Harrogate pressed from an equaliser helped City secure the 2-1 win to be crowned national champions.