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U18 take on the best at National Hockey Finals
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Sunday 8 March saw Queenswood represent the East of England in England Hockey’s U18 Schools competition. The competition is played all over the country, first in county competitions, then regionally, and finally the best five schools compete for the National title. Despite winning National Hockey titles in other age groups in the late nineties, Queenswood was yet to win in the U18 age group. In the last two seasons Queenswood has managed to qualify for five National hockey finals and hopes were high that this would be their tournament.
Their first opposition was to be Millfield who came out fast and strong proving, as always, to be tough opposition for Queenswood – they scored in the first five minutes. Undeterred, this goal shocked Queenswood into action. They quickly regained their composure and with some great set plays they won an important penalty corner; the ball was struck straight to the keeper and Sophie A swept the rebound into the net. At half time the score was 1-1. After some wise words from Coach Maria Merrigan, Queenswood came out with renewed intensity and began to dominate the game. Defender Emma H made a spectacular goal-line save; Queenwood’s goalkeeper Ariane S was also pushed to make some spectacular saves. The youngest member of the squad, Emily W, rose to the challenge and coped well with some aggressive play, especially from one of Millfield’s many international players. This resulted in the Millfield player losing her cool and being sent off. Queenswood took full advantage of this opportunity and a great ball through the middle of the field from Captain Libby S resulted in Sami A-D coolly slotting the ball around the goalie. For the remainder of the game Amy K did a great job of controlling the defence, ensuring victory was held.
Having won their first game against a tough rival opposition, spirits seemed high and the team were optimistic. However in the second match the pressure of the occasion seemed to affect Queenswood’s performance. Despite looking the stronger team they lost 1-0 to Kingston Grammar. Susie R came on to add pace to the defence, but although they made some great runs Queenswood were unable to find their form and some crucial umpiring decisions failed to go their way. The team let in a soft goal early on from a penalty corner and they couldn’t seem to recover, and were unable to convert chances. |
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Queenwood’s third game was against four-time reigning champions Repton School. Having beaten them in the Indoor Nationals this January they felt that a Queenswood victory was possible; this would put them back in the race for the championship title. Queenswood regained their form from the first game despite the torrential rain and hail. The defence put in a strong performance with some great tackles from Victoria T and Lucy S. Queenswood held off a forceful Repton front line for a long period of time. Numerous attacks were absorbed and despite a gutsy team performance, a momentary lapse in defence allowed Repton to take the lead through an easy shot from the top of the D. The game continued in much the same vein after half time until Repton’s senior GB player Charlotte C (who played at the Beijing Olympics) was sent off for dangerous play after flooring the tenacious Daisy-May P. Queenswood had a few attacks in this period and were unfortunate to give away a stroke, resulting in a 2-0 loss.
Queenswood went into the final game against Cheadle Hume School with the aim of emulating the previous year’s result of third place at National Finals. Queenswood were keen to finish the day on a high and show some of their attacking flair regardless of the disappointing previous results. The team seemed to play with greater confidence in this game, winning 4-0. Jenny B showed off her fluid stick skills to link up with Hannah W, who demonstrated commitment with a superb diving goal. England Internationals Libby S and Amy K had a huge influence on Queenswood’s performance all day. This partnership culminated in a well deserved goal scored by Libby; it was the result of some superb passing between the two of them leaving the crowd in awe of their skills and team play. Olivia M and Fliss R came on from the subs bench to provide some fresh legs. Within minutes Olivia scored picking up a cross on the left post from Elisa F, who also scored an impressive goal of her own. It was a fantastic way to finish the tournament.
Although disappointed, Queenswood came away proud of being placed third in this prestigious tournament, for the second year running. This is no small achievement: most of the girls have played together since coming to Queenswood seven years ago and many had not picked up a stick until then! They are living proof that hard work, determination and teamwork does pay off. This team has been an inspiration to the younger players at Queenswood and the school looks forward to soon bringing a National title back to Hertfordshire soon.
Jo Wakeley – Team Manager and Director of Sport
Contributions from team members Hannah W and Jenny B |
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