Woking Hockey Club’s under-12 boys’ side have been crowned national champions.

The squad of ten won all three of their group games before seeing off a late comeback from Wimbledon in the final at Nottingham this month.

The triumph marked the ultimate high-point for Woking Hockey Club, whose adult sides had already achieved four promotions this season.

At under-12s level, competitive matches are played as seven-a-side matches over 24 minutes. The national competition is seen as the starting point for all future stars of the game, and the finals tournament is the culmination of months of regional knock-out qualifiers.

This is an incredibly strong age-group for Woking, with several other players bolstering the squad for the season and many under-12s also helping the under-14s age group tier three side win their league.

Woking’s journey to the title began in March with victory in the Surrey Cup, where they saw off, among other teams, local rivals Guildford and Old Georgians.

This took them to the south-east finals tournament where they beat Sevenoaks, Horsham and Chichester before heading to the final where they defeated Canterbury on penalty strokes after the match finished 1-1 at the end of normal time. Woking goalkeeper Jensen Shaw proved to be the hero, saving both Canterbury penalties as Edward Barker and Henry Holland both scored their penalty strokes to seal Woking’s win.

Qualification for the finals would have been an achievement in itself for Woking, but more was to come.

In front of a packed stadium in Nottingham this month, Woking first triumphed 3-0 against Cheltenham. Then, after a nervy first half had left the game against Manchester-based Bowdon evenly poised at 1-1, Woking scored three second-half goals to dispatch their opponents 4-1. Woking then narrowly defeated Midlands club Old Silhillians, who boasted the tournament’s top scorer in their ranks, 3-2.

In the final, the Woking boys were undaunted, opening up an early 2-0 lead against Wimbledon with goals from Dylan Bareham and Henry Holland. With five minutes remaining Woking were pegged back to 2-1, only for Sam Hewitt to extend Woking’s lead almost immediately to make it 3-1 and secure Woking’s first national title.

Coach Harrison Hubbard said he always believed the side had incredible potential.

Hubbard said: “The talent was there from the start, this is a group of boys who could achieve anything they wanted – what I wanted to do was help them play in a way that got the best out of their talents. They put in such hard work.

“They play hockey like adults – not dribbling, dribbling, dribbling, but grinding sides down with their passing and patience. When they attack they are clinical. It takes unusual maturity to do that.”

Woking under-12 boys squad: Sam Hewitt, Emyr Grimshare, Michael Sampson, Jensen Shaw, Henry Holland, Teddy Chapman, Edward Barker, Dylan Bareham, George Feltes, Henry Hellings.

Anyone who would like more information about Woking Hockey Club should visit the club’s website at https://www.wokinghc.com/ for further details.