Hockey: IoM Men's team relegated in county championships

Manx side faced top-tier opposition in Nottingham in latest event

The Isle of Man men's national hockey team have suffered relegation from the top flight of the English county championships.

It follows the Island side's latest outing in the competition at Nottingham Hockey Centre last weekend (18-19 May) facing quality opposition in the 'A' Division.

In a tough opening test the Isle of Man went down 6-0 against defending champions Kent who, among others, boasted several national premier league players.

A much closer contest followed for the Manx squad against Staffordshire - a first county championships goal for George Powell wasn't enough to avoid a 3-1 loss.

Facing an uphill task, the Isle of Man then took on another difficult challenge in Nottinghamshire in their final group phase game.

Nottinghamshire would go on to record a 2-0 win meaning the Isle of Man would face Yorkshire in the relegation play-offs to begin day two.

Up against a well-drilled Yorkshire side, the Isle of Man did find the net in the first half courtesy of Andrew Whiting but their clinical opponents saw Yorkshire go on to win 5-1 and confirm the Isle of Man's relegation to the 'B' Division.

Despite that disappointment, the Isle of Man went on to finish the final day on a positive note with a 5-3 win over the Armed Forces side in the seventh/eighth-placed play-off.

A ruthless attacking performance from Alex Bell saw him strike four times for the Island outfit after George Powell had opened the scoring with his second goal of the tournament.

Elsewhere the competition provided new opportunities to a number of Under-18 players to represent the Island with one of those younger players, Rhyse Williams, being voted by the squad as player of the tournament.