Promotion delight for Cambridge City Hockey Club

Cambridge City romped to a memorable victory at the East Premier indoor hockey tournament to qualify for the national league for the first time.

City were entering the competition for the third time, having narrowly missed out on promotion in the previous two years.

But there was no stopping them on this occasion, with the team comfortably winning four of their five matches, and drawing the other.

Led by captain Will Golding, City opened their campaign with a 7-2 win over Norwich City, and they followed it up with a 9-2 demolition of Old Southendians.

Bourne-Deeping were brushed aside 11-2 before City faced their toughest challenge of the weekend against Wapping.

A 3-3 draw was the result, but in their final match City were back in free-scoring form as they crushed runners-up Chelmsford 9-0.

Euan Gilmour was City’s most prolific player, capping a fine all-round performance across the tournament with 11 goals.

Veteran Andy Richardson was a calming presence in defence, with his experience proving invaluable to City as the tournament progressed.

And at the other end of the age range, talented teenager Eddie Harper demonstrated why he is so highly thought of with an assured display of indoor hockey. Harper, a forward, has been selected for the England under-18 age group in outside hockey, and he was one of the team’s best performers at the weekend.

Golding was thrilled to see his players finally achieve promotion this year, with the team now getting ready for a challenge in the Division Two, South division in early January.

“There was always one team that just pipped us to the post to qualify from the East Premier division so it was great that we managed to do it this year,” he said.

“We won most of our games really comfortably and dominated the tournament, so we’re confident we’ll have a chance of getting promoted from the next division as well. There isn’t that much of a gap in quality.”