HMS Heron score last minute to win second consecutive Royal Navy hockey cup
HMS Heron are the Royal Navy Hockey Cup champions for the second consecutive year after beating HMS Sultan in the final in Portsmouth.
The two sides reached the final following a day of clashes in the semi-final fixtures.
In the first semi-final, HMS Heron cruised to a 2-0 victory against the team from Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) to secure their place in the final.
The second semi-final fixture saw HMS Sultan beat HMS Drake with a strong 3-1 victory, teeing up an exciting final against HMS Heron.
Before that final, HMS Drake and BRNC locked horns in the plate final to decide third place.
A close battle between the two Devon-based outfits ended with HMS Drake taking a 1-0 victory.
In the final, HMS Sultan took an early lead with Midshipman Annabel McGrath collecting the ball from a set piece to fire her team into the lead.
But HMS Heron remained defiant, and they responded with a goal of their own from Lieutenant Richard Jenkin to level the scoreboard at 1-1.
HMS Sultan kept their cool amid their opponent's defiance, and another goal from a set piece from Sub-Lieutenant Jonathan Sparks saw them back into the lead at 1-2 at half time.
In the second half, both sides created chances for themselves, but they also put up strong defensive lines.
But a costly foul from HMS Sultan inside the shooting circle saw their opponents awarded a penalty stroke, to which Lt Jenkin successfully converted to score his second goal of the game and to level the scoreboard at 2-2.
With the time ticking down to full-time, a penalty shootout was looking likely.
But a last-minute goal from Sub-Lieutenant Jake Gordon launched HMS Heron into the lead in the game's dying minutes.
At full-time, HMS Heron just managed to scrape through a 3-2 victory to defend their Royal Navy Cup title for the second year running.
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