Dawlish News

Already British Club Champions at every age group, last Saturday 28 junior Octopush players from Dawlish were selected to join with colleagues from Helston and Plymouth to represent The South West in the British Regional Championships in Wales.  They were defending last season’s clean sweep at this level, but the South East, The North and Wales were on a charge this year and the competition was certainly hotter.  South West emerged on top over-all, and were able to field three Under 12 teams, two at Under 14 and two at Under 16; Dawlish players predominated once again.

At Under 12 level South West teams finished in first, third and sixth positions, with Wales in the silver spot.  The Under 14 teams finished with silver and bronze very narrowly behind a very strong side from The North. The Under 16 teams finished in first and fourth positions, split by The South East in silver and The North in bronze position.

At Under 12 level TSW Dawlish were delighted to introduce Alex Cole in his first tournament at any level.  Remarkably, not only did he excel, he top-scored the entire Under 12 tournament.  He rattled in 12 goals in a tumultuous round-robin competition.  Under 14 top scorers were Helston’s Lyndon Beddow and Plymouth’s Jackson Spry. Dawlish players had top honours in the Under 16 tournament as Louis Pyper, usually obdurate in defence, netted nine goals, ahead of Oliver Curle on eight and Laurence Ashworth on six.

TSW spokesman Gerald Atkins was thrilled with the performances of so many Dawlish juniors at Regional level.  He said, “Last season was the most successful ever for any junior Octopush team, nationwide.  Staying at the top is difficult, with everyone gunning for you.  Saturday gave us a chance to see who is emerging and where the strengths are nationally.  Our players were able to test themselves against the very best; they now know what’s required, they know how good they are and how good their opposite numbers are.  We have a season ahead of us, we are better prepared.  We will have to work hard this season, but we will have a lot of fun.”