IAPS Regional Hockey Finals

On Friday 13th October, the U11 girls hockey squad travelled to Repton School to play in the IAPS Regional Hockey Finals. There were twenty four teams in the competition, split into four pools with the top two in each group progressing through to the quarterfinals.

Fairfield got off to a fantastic start against Kimbolton Prep and secured a well deserved 2-0 victory. This match clearly indicated the high standard of hockey being played and Fairfield certainly rose to the occasion.

Boosted from their first match, the next game saw them play Stamford; a team that had beaten them on Wednesday at the LGJS tournament. Again the girls showed great determination and took the game to their opponents and won the game 2-0. The next match was against Bablake which saw our defence having to work harder to protect the goal. The girls continued to play some great passing hockey, using the width of the pitch to great effect and were justly rewarded with a 2-1 victory.

Onwards and upwards, the girls then faced Winchester House, who were also unbeaten at this stage. Despite creating many opportunities to score and working incredibly hard in defence and midfield, the opponents came off the better and the final result was 2-0 to them.

Undeterred, the girls did not let their heads drop and played with even greater conviction in their final pool match against Blue Coat School. The game was very exciting and Fairfield put on a wonderful display of team work to conclude their final pool match with a resounding 4-0 win.

With such a great set of results, we were confident that a top two finish had been achieved. This placed the team into the quarterfinals against a very well drilled side from RGS Grange. Although the girls fought incredibly hard and played well for each other, they could not stop the opponents from scoring some very well taken goals which made the final score 4-0 to them.

We then played Kings Hawford for 5th/6th place, drawing the game 0-0. Although the girls very narrowly missed out on qualifying for the National Finals, the entire squad should feel incredibly proud, as I am, of their performance. They played with tremendous determination and super team spirit throughout the tournament and it was utterly delightful to spend such a great day with them. I would also like to thank Ms Nicol for umpiring and all her support with the girls. Finally, thank you so much to all the incredibly supportive parents, it was greatly appreciated by us all.

Mrs Sutcliffe