U16A Hockey Boys win to qualify for Tier 2 National Finals!

The boys started the day with a morning of lessons, but despite GCSEs looming, they struggled to focus in double science. The thought of playing in a National semi-final against Culford clouded their minds. After rousing words from both coach Mr. Friend and captain Casey M, the team headed out to the Astro to begin a high intensity warm up.

As pushback drew nearer, crowds of supporters streamed in. The spectators were from all different segments of the school community: parents, pupils, staff, but today everyone’s heart was beating black and yellow. Straight from the umpire’s whistle, we put the away side under enormous pressure, playing simple hockey in a first half that was Caterham dominated. Despite the team having many opportunities inside Culford’s D, the opposition keeper refused to be beaten and the deadlock was yet to be broken as we headed into the interval.

The message at half-time was straight forward: patience was the key to unlocking Culford’s firm defence. The boys personified this early from the restart and earned themselves a short corner: a well worked routine directly from the training ground saw Josh F and Theo B combine in a fake-backhand slap towards the back post where William T was waiting to deflect in the opener. We stayed on the front foot with our midfield maestro trio of Sebastian T-S, Jack B and Sam W controlling proceedings. However it was Samuel H who doubled our lead after a strong carry down the baseline, finessing the ball past Culford’s keeper. Not long after, a goalmouth scrabble saw Will T extend the score to 3-0, securing a brace for himself through some ruthless and tenacious poaching amongst a busy D, full of defenders.

In the latter stages of the game, Culford pushed back resulting in some tough work for the Caterham defence. However tight-marking from Sam G and excellent composure from Will L saw the team to victory. It was a valiant effort from the boys with thanks to the echoes of a school crest: veritas sine timore (truth without fear). The truth is we are in a National final; we are not afraid.