Girls’ Hockey: U13 County Championship, Next Stop Regionals!
The U13 girls enjoyed an afternoon of success at Framlingham last Monday. They managed to secure a place at the regionals on the 12th March by making the final of the county championships.
We started the tournament against a relatively disorganised yet skillful OBH side. We drew 1-1, with Emma Hendry scoring two minutes from the end to salvage two points.
Our second match came against a powerful/physical Brandeston team. This was a tensely fought battle that ended 0-0; both teams spurning late chances to win the game.
Our third game against Orwell Park was now a must win, as results in the second round placed us outside of the automatic qualifying spots. We played some brilliant hockey against a talented Orwell team; superb individual brilliance and (at last) clinical finishing finished the game 2-0 and placed us back at the top of the group.
Our final game of the group stages came against another talented Ipswich High School team. In another close game, a resilient defence and attacking pressure finally broke down the opposition as we won 1-0.
The semi-final saw us play an Ipswich School side that we had beaten 4-0 only days earlier. Once again, the girls did not disappoint and, with flashes of brilliance from Ianthe Hill (Yr 7) and Vicky Burrows (Yr 7), we took an unassailable 2-0 lead early on. The score finished 2-0.
In the final we played a South Lee team that possessed two of the strongest individuals at the tournament (one was player of the tournament). In a game that was dominated by Woodbridge, we nonetheless could not seem to find the goal or convert the chances. A strong hit from a short corner put South Lee in front. This score was to stay the same until the final whistle.
The girls must be hugely proud of the work they have achieved this season. Being unbeaten in the regular season matches and making it through to the regionals are both very impressive feats.
We now look forward to our final fixture against Ipswich High where, if we win, we would finish the season undefeated.
We also look forward to the 12th March where we play in the regional finals and, I believe, we have the quality and desire to progress to the Nationals.
