U18 Indoor Hockey National Finals Report

On Friday 13th January, the U18 Indoor Hockey squad travelled to Repton to compete in the National Finals. Having worked hard during EDGE sessions all year, WGHS were well prepared for their first match against previous National Champions Millfield. They demonstrated excellent teamwork and discipline in the press, to consistently win the ball before counter attacking with pace. Two great goals from Leah gave us a deserved lead at half time, but a frustrated Millfield came back stronger in the second half and managed to score one in reply. However our defence stayed strong and held out to take the win, much to the delight of the team and all the supporters who had travelled to watch!

Our second match was a different story unfortunately. We faced reigning champions Repton who started aggressively and took an early lead. Their numerous England players showed their quality to further add to this total, and despite another goal from Leah, ended up winners of the match. This meant that it was all to play for in our final game versus Framlingham. Some fantastic flicking, paired with some controversial umpiring decisions gave them the lead at half time. WGHS rallied in the second half and two stunning team goals from Lucy H and Zoe narrowed their lead, but was sadly not enough to change the result.

This meant that we finished joint second in our group on points, however some Friday 13th bad luck saw our inferior goal difference leaving us in only 4th place. This meant that we had slipped from contesting a semi-final, to only being able to play off for 7th, purely due to goal difference. Despite the obvious disappointment, the WGHS team picked themselves up ready for another match. Here we faced Kings Chester where we once again played some brilliant indoor hockey. Leah added two more to her total, leaving her amongst the highest scorers in the competition, before Zoe added a third to ensure that we won the playoff.

This meant that we finished the day in 7th place in the country, a fantastic achievement, but tinged with disappointment at not having had the opportunity to reach a higher position. The team should be incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication they have put in this year and the way that they performed was a real credit to the school.

Squad as follows:

• Jess M (Captain)
• Lucy B (Vice Captain)
• Leah D
• Lucy C
• Lucy H
• Henny G
• Hollie B
• Zoe P
• Sofija O