SOUTHGATE Hockey Club boys' under-16 team put in a superb display to win an Easter hockey tournament in Holland.

The Middlesex side won six of their matches and drew three against top German and Dutch youth sides to claim the ABN-AMRO International Easter Hockey tournament title.

Southgate went into the tournament full of confidence after beating leading English youth side Canterbury 7-1 and Grossflotbeker, one of last year's top teams, 4-2 in warm-up games.

They came out of the blocks firing in the first of their five, 25-minute group games against Lake Geneva. And after Foyzur Rahman had hit the post early on, Charlie Rookes opened the scoring with a thunderous drag flick from a penalty corner.

Another stunning drag flick by Rookes made it 2-0, with John Sterlini rounding off a dominant display when he fired a loose ball into the roof of the net.

Clinical Southgate followed that up with a 1-0 win over the Lithuanian national team.

The Middlesex side was not particularly clinical in front of goal, with only Rookes' third of the tournament to show for their possession, but that was enough to beat their highly-defensive opponents.

Southgate's goal came under pressure for the first time in their next group match against Zuid Holland.

But with keeper Patrick Smith in good form, they were able to push forward with Ollie Wickham scoring a well-worked field goal, and Rookes claiming a quickfire hat-trick.

That left Southgate needing just a draw to qualify for the next stages of the competition. But they were made to work very hard by a strong Oranje Zwart side before claiming the necessary point after a 0-0 draw.

Southgate defended strongly, keeping the pressure off Smith, although they suffered a blow when forward Drew Burkin dislocated and broke his wrist with 10 minutes remaining.

They had an equally tough test in their final group match against an Antwerpen side that had drawn with Oranje Zwart earlier in the day.

However, Sterlini gave Southgate an early lead when he dummied the keeper with consumate ease and flicked the ball over his prostrate body. Antwerpen hit back straight away, and only some last-ditch tackles from Paul Ireland and Azijur Rahman maintained the English side's unbeaten record.

First place That result left Southgate top of their group on 11 points, level with Oranje Zwart but in first place on goals scored from penalty corners.

Southgate were drawn in a pool with Antwerpen and Grossflotbeker on finals day, with the Belgian side taking an early initiative after they beat their German opponents 2-1.

Antwerpen continued their good form against Southgate, racing into a two-goal lead after 15 minutes. However, the Trent Park outfit refused to panic and with eight minutes left, Rookes netted with a superb drag flick from a penalty corner.

And the in-form forward flicked in from a short corner to level with minutes remaining, setting up a frantic finish where Southgate could even have stolen a winner.

That left Southgate needing at least a point from their match against Grossflotbeker to quality for the semi-finals.

But they went even better and snatched a 1-0 win, the only goal of the game coming on seven minutes when Nick Hamilton slotted home after Rookes' effort was saved.

Southgate faced Oranje Zwart again in their last-four tie, and they stunned their Dutch opponents with an early goal when Tom Staddon, Wickham and Matt Campbell linked up well to provide Rookes with a tap-in.

Oranje Zwart hit back, but were kept out by some strong defending and good saves by skipper Smith, later voted the team's man of the tour.

And with 17 minutes remaining, Rookes slotted in from a penalty corner to seal Southgate's place in the final against Noord Holland, who beat Antwerpen 3-1 in the other last-four match.

Tense The final, played in front of a large crowd, was a tense affair, with Shaun Comley having to clear off the line to ensure that the score stayed goalless at half-time.

Some words of wisdom from Martin Foxall and Tim Watson did the trick, and within two minutes of the restart Southgate were ahead, when Hamilton rounded two defenders and eliminated the keeper with a great pass that allowed Sterlini to fire home.

Sterlini struck again seven minutes later when he collected Wickham's quick pass and flicked the ball past the keeper.

And Comley - named Southgate's most improved player - rounded off the scoring from a penalty flick after Rookes was brought down in the circle.

Southgate's boys would like to thank their coaching team of Foxall and Watson, Liz Moss and Denise Ghandi for making the tour possible, plus the Wickham and Rookes families and all their other supporters.

Squad: Patrick Smith, Shaun Comley, Paul Ireland, Azijur Rahman, Foyzur Rahman, Oliver Wickham, Tom Staddon, Nick Hamilton, Drew Burkin, John Sterlini, Charlie Rookes, Najmul Hoque, Matt Campbell, Tom Hubbard.