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The Bahrain Hawks returned from the first Qatar Hockey Tournament with their heads held high despite suffering semi-final penalty heartache after a strong weekend table-topping performance.
The tournament featured 12 teams drawn from Qatar, Bahrain and Dubai and was held at the impressive Al Rayyan Sports Club, built to host the Asian Games in 2006.
Bahrain faced early difficulties and were stripped of four players before the tournament had started due to a failure to obtain the necessary entry visas and then lost three players to injury in early matches.
The Bahrain squad, consisting of a mixture of men, women and children faced a series of tough fixtures against a number of all adult male teams, including several former internationals.
Bahrain emerged from the pool games as winners of Group B, thereby securing their place in the semi-finals.
In a tough all-day group session of seven matches consisting of 20 minutes the Bahrain Hawks won five and lost two.
The largest win came against the Wanderers, from Qatar, in the opening match with a 5-1 success with two goals apiece for Sara Axtell and Rowan Davis. Unfortunately it looked as though the effort had taken its toll as the next match resulted in a 3-1 defeat to ultimate winners - the all male Gateway Hockey Club, Qatar.
After another defeat Bahrain regrouped and built their performances on strong defence with debutant Luke Archer and Jude D'Souza immovable rocks at the back.
In the only matches against other mixed teams, Bahrain were triumphant against the hosts, Doha Hockey Club.
In a closely fought contest Bahrain notched the winner only a couple of minutes before the final whistle. A strong shot from seven-year-old George Axtell was well saved but the rebound spilt to Danni Sheppard who, clearly with an eye for a good position, was well placed to ram the ball home for the winner.
The other match against a mixed team was won more comfortably, with a 3-0 victory over the Dubai 2nd team.
Scott Reilly was instrumental, scoring two quick goals as he proved too powerful in midfield - one goal so powerful it broke the goal!
Having topped Pool B, the semi-final was played against Bahrain's earlier conquerors, Gateway Hockey Club of Qatar.
Despite being up against a stronger, all-male line-up, Bahrain proved much more obstinate the second time around. Excellent defence and energetic running in midfield from Avalon Martin and Richard Dixon-Clarke made Bahrain harder to break down.
Gateway took the lead midway through the match meaning Bahrain had to open up. Excellent work down the right by Reilly opened the Gateway defence allowing him to cross to the heavily marked Rowan Davis, who wriggled free and clinically buried the ball into the bottom corner with only 15 seconds remaining.
Extra time was not enough to separate the teams and the semi-final went to penalties. The scores were tied 1-1 after the mandatory three penalty strokes (Reilly scoring for Bahrain) resulting in sudden-death. Unfortunately Bahrain missed their next and Gateway scored sending them through.
The second semi-final pitted the Pakistan Club against Dubai, with Pakistan emerging victorious to claim their place in the final.
In the final, Gateway comfortably beat the Pakistan team 3-1.
