On Monday 5 February, 18 girls from The Abbey travelled to Nottingham to compete at the U16 National Hockey Finals.

The first match, against Yarm School from North Yorkshire, was a tight affair with the The Abbey Team having significant periods of good possession and creating several good opportunities, but not quite making the breakthrough and finishing with a 0-0 draw.

The second Pool D game, against Croydon High School, saw the team make an encouraging start, dominating play and taking the game to the opposition, but again not making the final connection in front of goal. As the team pushed forward in the latter stages of the second half, the fell foul of the umpires and with three green cards in short succession, had to defend brilliantly to prevent the opposition from scoring. A last minute short corner for The Abbey provided an opportunity to clinch the victory, but the resultant shot was fired wide.

Going into the final Pool match, against Haileybury, the team conceded their first goal just before half time after the team struggled to make their possession count and break down a well organised opposition defence. Once again, the team dominated at the start of the second half as they tried to make the breakthrough. As the match drew to a close, the opponents pinned the team into their own half and prevented them from getting into a position to create an equalising goal.

A third place finish in their Pool, meant a qualification for the 5 th /6 th playoffs. Whilst not the match that they had hoped to be playing in when we left Reading, the team were determined to finish on a high and started the game against Nottingham High School playing with high tempo and moving the ball more effectively than in previous games. Despite this the opposition took the lead mid-way through the first half. Undaunted, the team came out for the second half in determined fashion and continued to pressurise the opponent’s goal. Finally, The Abbey team made the breakthrough when Lois bundled the ball over the line in
a very crowded circle to open the scoring. As the team continued to push forward, Isabella’s powerful hit propelled the team into the lead and then Emily secured the victory with a classic forwards back post finish.

Whilst the team had hoped for a higher placing, we should remember that is was a fantastic achievement for the players to have qualified for the tournament. In the past three seasons, the majority of this group have won two county championships, two regional competitions and qualified for two national tournaments. Those parents who attended saw some outstanding hockey (particularly in the final game). As this season comes to a close, the players who have been involved in the programme, whether they played at Nottingham or not, can be proud of their achievements as they move onto their next level, whether it be
at The Abbey or elsewhere.