Canterbury youngsters enjoyed a successful trip to Holland for the International Under-18 Hockey Tournament, winning the boys event, while the girls finished fourth.

The boys made up for the disappointment the previous year beating the Irish Hockey Academy 3-2 in a lively final with goals by Chris Podd (two) and Ollie Hayward.

They beat Reading 4-0 in the semi-finals, revenge for defeat in the English National Cup four months ago.

Hayward and Podd were again on target with the others scored by Matt Townsend and Martin Sutherland, while goalkeeper Diccon Stubbings pulled off a brilliant save to keep out a penalty flick.

Canterbury started with a 2-1 win against the host club Klein Zwitserland, with goals by Matt Reeve and Charlie Hayward, and followed up with a 3-1 success against Dutch team HG, with the Hayward brothers again on target, and Charlie Lloyd-Hughes’ strike scraped a 3-3 draw against UCCLE Sport from Belgium in their final match.

The girls lost the third/fourth play-off 2-0 against Reading, missing several early chances which eventually proved crucial. Lucy Stewart and Jenna Wiles, both making their final appearances in junior hockey, together with Georgie Hoare did well in midfield, before Canterbury conceded twice.

They began with a 1-0 defeat by SCHC, beat another Dutch team Ring Pass 2-1 with goals by Lucy Smith and Grace Balsdon, and drew their final game against HGC 0-0.

Alex Riordan and Lucy Stewart were voted Best Players of the tournament by the umpires and received Dita hockey sticks