NEW Beccehamian Hockey Club’s youth development side has won the Kent Open Division Three title in a surprising end-of-season season turnaround in form.

New Beccs, whose home pitch is at the HSBC ground in Lennard Road, introduced the new development side this season following a high level of interest during last year’s London Olympic Games.

Club treasurer Adrian Russell-Smith said: “We had a lot of lads from schools contact us, so we decided to introduce a new team to provide an opportunity for youngsters.”

They clinched the title ahead of Folkestone, who had dominated the league for the majority of the season.

Despite only taking one point in the first five games of the season and being at the foot of the table, a run of form saw New Beccs only drop seven points in the final 15 games.

Three points clear at the top and with an 11-goal advantage, New Beccs travelled to Canterbury at the weekend for the final game of the season needing only a draw to take the title.

In a tough encounter, the Beckenham side were behind for most of the game and found themselves 3-2 down with the clock running down.

But with just three minutes to play, they scored a dramatic equaliser to confirm their position as league champions.

Russell-Smith added: “It is an amazing statistic that 17 players from the development squad have scored in the league.

“The club now has a great crop of youngsters who will be moving quickly up to our higher teams.”

For more information on the club, visit newbeccshc.co.uk

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