On Friday the 9th March the U13 1st VII boys team travelled to Bishop’s Stortford College for their rearranged IAPS East region tournament.
The boys started their first pool match slowly and had to work hard to beat an alert Orwell Park side 3-0. This was followed by an even group game against Langley Prep. After several missed chances, it was 0-0 at half time. The boys then showed great determination to score early in the second half and win 1-0. Our penultimate pool game saw us play Ardingly College – the boys played some great hockey with outstanding out-letting and energetic attacking, winning the game 3-0. The pool matches were finished with a well contested 1-0 win vs The Beacon School.
This set up a quarter final against Gresham’s School. The boys’ conceded in the first half but really dug deep in the second half and scored to take the game to golden goal. After 5 minutes, it was goalless, meaning the game would have to be decided with penalty shuffles. After a tense and nervous few minutes the boys were victorious winning 3-2.
The semi-final saw us up against Kingshott School and here the boys played potentially their best hockey of the day, where they went on to win 2-0 and set up a final against Dulwich Prep, Cranbrook in the final. The boys were now extremely tired and on their last legs. We battled hard against a good side with both teams playing some brilliant hockey. The boys lost 3-1 but showed tremendous effort and enthusiasm throughout. In all the boys were a credit to the school. A fantastic achievement. They now look forward to a trip to Millfield School on 20th March for National Finals.
