STOURPORT'S Under 18s boys team have made it to the England hockey national finals for the second year in a row.

Seven of the current team played in last year's finals at Canterbury.

Ninety-two teams across England started out last November on their quest to reach the finals at Birmingham University this weekend.

The last four teams in the country play in a round-robin tournament and Stourport's opposition, Reading, Beeston and Canterbury, are all from Premier League Hockey clubs.

In their cup run, Stourport beat Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Leek, Coventry and North Warwickshire and Northampton Lions.

The victory against Northampton, which earned them their place in the last four, was a nail-biting experience.

Stourport led 3-1 at one stage but, at 3-3 with only seconds left, Stourport were awarded a penalty corner which, at the first bite, they did not convert.

Lions fouled so Stourport were handed a second chance to escape the game going to penalty flicks and this time they converted with a drag flick from Ben Carless.

On Saturday, Stourport play Reading at 11.30am and Beeston at 3.45pm. On Sunday, Stourport play Canterbury at noon. Meanwhile, the club's under 15s boys team missed out on a national plate final place this weekend after losing their semi 2-1 to Devon side Ashmoor.

The launch of Stourport's junior academy takes place on Friday.

The academy is open to anyone between the ages of eight and 21 and is at the Kingsway pitches, next door to Stourport High School.

Sessions will be for two hours from 6pm to 8pm.

The academy has been launched with the aid of Sportsmatch funding, obtained after securing support from Towergate Tlc Ltd.

The sessions, run by Mark Moss and Steve Floyd, will initially run for eight weeks with players either being invited or applying to join in September for the 2007/08 season.

The launch night will be open to all and free of charge before subsequent sessions are charged at £5 for non- members and £2.50 for Stourport members.

Anyone interested can call Moss on 07743-886297 or e-mail markrmoss@aol.co.uk.