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Sport Honour for top goal-scorer Rory Wapping Hockey Club is to honour leading goal-scorer, Rory Heaslip, left,by renaming the annual end-of-season top goal-scorer trophy after him. Rory has moved to Australia. Tell the East End Do you have a sports club you would like to be included in our listings? If so email the details to... eastendlife.news@towerhamlets.gov.uk The successful Wapping squad Hockey WAPPING Hockey Club became the Men’s East Division 1 indoor tournament champions at the University of Anglia in Norwich with a dramatic last-minute goal after two days of action. This was the first time they had entered the tournament and the squad, that included players from the top three men’s teams, was carefully selected so as not to risk injuries for the coming league programme. Day 1: Saturday, January 3 The first game against Bishop’s Stortford started slowly for Wapping as players got used to the thinner indoor sticks, sideboards and the ball not being allowed to leave the floor of the court. Wapping eventually took the lead through Dan Chancellor and in the second half, the floodgates opened with Chris Fell scoring a quick-fire brace with a fourth coming from Dominic Graham. The second game, against eventual runners-up Ipswich, saw Wapping dominate throughout, winning 6-1 – four goals from Fell, one from Chancellor and one from Bunyan. The final game of day one saw a comprehensive 8-0 victory over Norwich Dragons, another four goals for Fell (taking his tally for day one to ten from three games), a hat-trick from Graham and one goal from D’Souza. With indoor hockey being high-scoring it was remarkable to concede only two goals in the three fixtures. Day 2: Sunday, January 4 Wapping were grateful for the arrival of M3 coach Norval Scott on Sunday to bolster a depleted squad that now included only two substitutes and only defensive players. They opted to use their substitutes in the forward areas, leaving Ollie Davies and Michiel Marck in defence, supplemented by Chancellor whenever rest was needed. The first game against Bourne Deeping saw Wapping losing 3- 1 at half-time before four unanswered second-half goals saw them run out 5-3 winners. Goals came from Dutchman Marck, two from captain Davies and two from D’Souza. The fifth game saw a disappointing 4-1 loss to a young Sudbury squad – a game in which Wapping were guilty of missing several chances. In the final match against fellow outdoor East Premier A rivals Wisbech, Wapping knew they had to win by four clear goals to win the tournament. They cruised to a 3-0 half-time lead with two goals from D’Souza and one from Norval Scott. However, Wisbech rallied in the second half with two goals, but the result was never in doubt, with Wapping maintaining a comfortable two- or three-goal cushion after two brilliant goals from German Heye Scheftel. With the score at 5-2 and less than a minute left to play, D’Souza beat his man and forced a short corner. In the resulting corner the ball was slipped to Norval Scott who fired in the bottom corner to give Wapping the four-goal cushion required for glory. Off-field woes threaten FC future Soccer TOWER Hamlets Football Club face being kicked out of the league and will not be allowed to play again until their fate has been decided by Essex Senior League chiefs at a special meeting later this month. The club, which plays at Mile End Stadium, has been suspended since December 13 after being defeated by league leaders Haringey Borough and face the threat of expulsion for alleged unpaid fines. And in another blow just before Christmas, manager Ajibola Ashnike, formerly Olatunbosun, quit the club to join league rivals Ilford. The Essex Senior League’s committee and all other member clubs have agreed to meet on January 21 to decide the club’s fate. Tower Hamlets were scheduled to play Barking on December 27, but this was cancelled due to their problems off the field. Tower Hamlets were established in 2000 and pulled off a cup double in 2014, winning the Inner London Football League Cup and the Tower Hamlets Mayor’s Cup, which they also won in 2012. School cricketers set to crack first-class game BY PETER FAULKNER SPORTING glory has no boundaries as former Essex cricketer Jahid Ahmed knows only too well. Ahmed is the only British-Bangladeshi to ever play first-class cricket but his work as the borough’s cricket development officer is set to ensure that he won’t be the last. The Tower Hamlets Youth Sport Foundation cricket development team are working hard to make sure others follow the same successful path. Some of the successes of the past year suggest Jahid might not have too long to wait. Tower Hamlets under-13s, led by Swanlea’s Rabbi Uddin, competed in the London Youth Games and booked their place at the Lord’s final. Although an early loss to Barnet put the title out of reach, Tower Hamlets had a commanding victory over 2013 champions Harrow, with Oaklands’ Saydul Islam and St Paul’s Way’s Shorif Uddin the star performers. This saw them placed fifth overall in London. Basit Ahmed, then a pupil at Cayley Primary, was a key member of the under-13 indoor team, despite only being ten years old. He became the 21st youngster from Tower Hamlets to move into county age group cricket when chosen for Middlesex under-11s. And when he opened the batting for Tower Hamlets District team for a county festival game at Malvern College in Worcestershire, his superb 96 not out earmarked him as a genuine future star. Two sports development organisations – Laureus and the Active Communities Network – celebrated their partnership with the sport foundation, when they got former Australia captain and Laureus patron Steve Waugh to induct another legend, ex- Indian batsman Rahul Dravid, as a patron at Christ Church Primary School. More than 30 young people from Tower Hamlets’ under-11 and under-13 squads were selected to attend county residential cricket festivals in Worcestershire with the Tower Hamlets District team. The under-13s gained notable victories over Herefordshire and Oxfordshire led by Stepney Green’s Mahfazur Rahman, Sir John Cass’s Mohammad Shazood and Swanlea’s Jawad Al Haque. The under-11 team’s victory over Bedfordshire, spearheaded by Basit Ahmed’s 96 not out, was well supported by excellent bowling from Abutahid Dulal (Christ Church Primary), Mahaz Riaz (Shapla Primary), Huzaifah Hussain (Mowlem Primary) and Mohsin Hussain (Hague Primary). Stepney Green’s Mahfazur Rahman Mahi Mahfuzul (left) and Jahed Miah had an excellent season last year moved to the UK less than a year ago, but PE teacher Chris Kinnear and Jahid were quick to spot his talents. He has trained and played with Tower Hamlets District and Blackheath Cricket Club and in early August he rattled up his maiden hundred against Herefordshire at Bromsgrove School. Tower Hamlets’ long-established partnership with Blackheath saw Tower Hamlets boys – Abu Hasnath, Rifat Ahmed, Fahik Huda, Emon Uddin (all Stepney Green School), Arif Ahmed (Bow School) and Shipon Miah (Swanlea School) – all make an appearance at the South of England Finals of a National Cup. It was Hasnath’s 45 runs in the Kent County Cup Final in Canterbury that was the backbone of Blackheath’s victory. Swanlea’s under-14 spinner Jawad Al-Haque had not played a round of the cup before the final but his accurate off-breaks derailed Canterbury. Former Bethnal Green Academy student Jahed Miah and former Swanlea (now Cambridge Heath 6th Form) student Mahi Mahfuzul both had an excellent season with Jahed taking four wickets for the loss of just one run in a third round National T20 Cup match and Mahi hitting 76 for Kent under- 17s against Sussex. Jahed was Kent’s leading wicket-taker and Mahi was Kent’s under-17s leading scorer. Jakir Hussain, who works in the PE department at Stepney Green School, captained Blackheath under-19s in the ECB’s pilot competition and picked up a hat-trick of wickets. He has led the side so impressively that he will captain a men’s senior team at Blackheath for the 2015 season. 12 – 18 JANUARY 2015 N E W S F R O M TOWER HAMLETS COUNCIL AND YOUR COMMUNITY 35


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