On Thursday 21 November, the U11 Hockey squad travelled to Haileybury College to compete in the IAPS National Finals. Having won their Regional competition, the girls were excited to compete amongst the best 24 schools in the country after a phenomenal 189 teams had entered.
In a fiercely competitive group stage, the girls fought hard to top their pool with 10 points from their 5 games, conceding just one goal in the process.
After a well-earned lunch break in Haileybury’s amazing dining room, the girls prepared themselves for a quarter-final match against Foremarke Hall. The girls stepped up their intensity from the group stage, working tirelessly in both attack and defence. With the scores tied at the end of normal time, it took S Jame’s Golden Goal strike for the girls to reach the Final 4.
In the semi-final, the girls faced St George’s. With some closely fought battles over the years, the girls were focused and prepared for another tough contest. In a brilliant display of attacking hockey from both teams, there were chances at both ends but neither side could make the crucial breakthrough. With normal time and golden goal ending scoreless, it took a brilliant penalty save from L Froud to allow K Johnson to score the winning penalty to send the girls to the final.
In the Final, the girls faced Ashford in a tense game. There was a fantastic atmosphere with both sets of parents supporting loudly and both teams giving their all. After hitting the post in normal time, a scoreless 10 minutes resulted in golden goal to decide the winners. Danes Hill piled on the pressure and after a flurry of chances, L Burgess-Allan fired home on the reverse to crown Danes Hill as U11 IAPS National Champions!
All of the girls played brilliantly throughout the day and were a credit to themselves and the school. A huge congratulations to all of the U11 girls!
