U18 Indoor Hockey Team Show Resilience in Midlands Zonal

On Monday 18th, the U18 Indoor team travelled to Bromsgrove for the Midlands Zonal Indoor Round. The first game against Bromsgrove was cagey. Although we dominated possession, we struggled to create many goal-scoring opportunities. However, Phoebe W. scored from a tight angle, securing a 1-0 victory.

In the second game against Loughborough High School, we conceded two counter-attack goals. Despite Ruby C. converting a short corner, we could not capitalise on further chances. Despite the loss, the pupils knew that a win in the final game would see us qualify for the Regional Finals. The team raised their intensity, restricted Trent from creating goal-scoring opportunities, and came away with a 3-0 victory, with goals from Ruby and Anna W.

On Tuesday, we travelled to Repton for the Regional Finals, hoping to replicate the success of the U16s the previous week. Unfortunately, a slow start in the first game against Oakham proved costly. We found ourselves 3-0 down, but fought back strongly with two well-taken goals from Anna and Bryony G. Sadly, we ran out of time to score the final goal needed to equalise.

Despite this setback, we went into the next game with a clear plan to limit Repton’s opportunities. Immy T. made an excellent penalty stroke save, and the team showed great energy in defence. Although the match ended 5-1, we were particularly proud of how the pupils executed the game plan in the second half, where Repton did not score.

Even though the team could no longer qualify for the semi-finals, they approached the final game against Bromsgrove with real intensity and again executed their game plan effectively. They scored two excellent team goals and prevented Bromsgrove from creating any goal-scoring chances.

Although the pupils were understandably disappointed not to progress to the semi-finals, knowing they were capable of doing so, they should take great pride in their performances. At this level of competition, the margins are incredibly fine.