CITY of York Hockey Club Under-12 Girls are heading to a national championship following a double success for the club's youngsters.

Both the U12 Girls and the U10 Boys have been crowned North of England champions for their age brackets after winning the In2Hockey competition.

At U10 level, the competition stops at the regional stage, but the girls - who are also challenging for a Yorkshire League Girls U12 title - have the chance to challenge at a yet higher level.

The national finals will be held at Nottingham Hockey Centre in May.

Head coach Laurence Thornton said: "They're absolutely delighted.

"It's a very special group of players this year. Individually, they're very good, but as a team, they're unbelievable. They've gone above and beyond what could have been expected of them.

"We've got the final round of the league first and we're hoping to win that then test ourselves against the top 19 teams in the country.

"It's going to be a big challenge but it's going to be great. We're really looking forward to it."

At the April 7 competition, Alf Henebury, Alf Robinson, Arthur Good, Toby Clarke and Rohan Kovolkiewicz all scored as the boys cruised through to the final where they beat Timperley 4-0, with Clarke and Kovolkiewicz scoring. Clarke's first came inside 30 seconds.

The girls' only hiccup en route to the final was a 1-0 defeat to Chester. Niamh Clements, Helena Freshwater, Polly England, Hatty Henebury, Katie Oldham and Jess Groombridge all scored as City qualified top of their group, with three wins from four.

The final against Kirby Stephen was tough but City - with Heather Ridsdale making her 'A'-team debut in goal - claimed a 1-0 victory with just a minute to go thanks to Henebury's goal.

As well as the players, York were also represented by Josh Perryman, who umpired the U12 Boys final after his impressive performances during the group stages.