On Wednesday 11 March, the U13 girls’ hockey team travelled to Essex for the National Finals of the ISHC competition.
With rounds being played throughout the year, the girls beat a number of very strong prep and senior schools to make it through to the top four teams in the country.
In the semi-final, the girls faced an Ipswich side that had not conceded more than 2 goals all year and posed a number of unique challenges for us.
In an intense opening period, both teams had chances and a great save from F. Marais kept things level before they made the breakthrough at the other end to lead 1-0.
Despite conceding an equaliser shortly after, we rallied to score 2 more brilliant goals and led 3-1.
With half-time closing in, the girls briefly switched off to allow Ipswich a way back into the game at 3-2 and with just 10 seconds of the second half played, Ipswich found their equaliser.
The rest of the match was a tense and well-matched affair with both sides creating opportunities.
With just 2 minutes left to play, Ipswich broke through and completed the comeback to take the win 4-3.
Despite our frustration, we had 2 hours to regroup before our bronze medal playoff against Reigate Grammar. In what turned out to be another close contest, we created a number of chances in front of goal, scoring twice to win 2-1 and confirm our place as the third best team in the country.
The girls have enjoyed a truly fantastic season that has seen them crowned IAPS National Plate Champions, Surrey Champions and now the ISHC Bronze medal.