U14 Girls County Hockey Champions

The 2018/19 hockey season could not have started better for the U14 Girls’ Hockey Team. The girls are, so far, undefeated, having played nine games, winning eight and drawing one (which they went on to win in a penalty shoot-out). This is no mean feat, especially as the quality and standard of hockey in Buckinghamshire, being of significance and growing all the time.

The girls started off their campaign with a convincing 6-2 league win over Dr Challoner’s High School, which set them up confidently, whilst also highlighting areas for improvement, for the first round of the England Hockey national competition, the following day. The first round of this prestigious competition, involved eight schools in the south Buckinghamshire area, all of whom, aside from GMS, were grammar or private schools.

The team began the tournament well, rectifying their weaker areas from the day before; to dominate a very strong Beaconsfield High School, and come away with a 1-0 win: goal scored by Year 7 student, Lara Allen. Knowing that this was likely to be the strongest game in their pool, this was exactly the start they needed. The girls went on to win their final two pool games 2-0, with Lara’s older sister Kiera slotting home twice for GMS, against Dr Challoner’s and Aylesbury High, putting them top of the group.

In the semi-final, the girls met Wycombe High School, another school with significant hockey history. The girls performed completely professionally to come away with a 3-0 win and progress through to the final, where they met Beaconsfield High School for a second time, who had beaten Sir William Borlase on their way through to the final. The girls proved themselves, once again, to be the better team, finishing the game with another 1-0 win, goal scored by captain Zoe Clarke.

On the 11^th October, the girls made the long trip up to Stowe School in Buckingham, for the County Finals. Here, the girls played against the other three schools that had qualified through their first round county heat. The team’s first game was against Beaconsfield High School again, and the ever-consistent GMS, came away with yet another 1-0 win. The second game saw the girls face home side Stowe, which was the toughest test of their campaign so far. Constant attacks down the right wing from Tilly Brown and a tenaciousness from Colette Fitzpatrick and Alice Cogram, soon broke the deadlock and the girls took a 1-0 lead. For the first time since playing Dr Challoner’s in September, however, the girls conceded a goal, which unfortunately came in the last 30 seconds of the game, giving the girls no chance to pull a goal back. The fixture finished 1-1, but this still put Great Marlow in a very strong position to qualify for the South of England regional round of the competition.

In the final game of the day, Great Marlow put in a performance to be proud of, demonstrating a real desire to become County Champions. The Great Marlow defence, led by Alba Braybrooke, proved to be impenetrable and several attacks later, saw the GMS team beat Akeley Wood, a Buckingham private school, 4-0. This placed them on exactly the same points as Stowe, and exactly the same goal difference, so the championship was to be decided by a penalty stroke competition.

Five girls stepped up to take one, but at the end of the first barrage, the score was equal at 3-3. Captain Zoe Clarke, who had already scored a penalty stroke and had led from the front all day, stepped up to take the first sudden-death penalty, and, once again, accurately and confidently slotted it home. Now the team were relying on Persia Dance to make one more save, which she did, to crown the girls County Champions!

Every single member of the squad played a significant part in all of these victories, and the GMS coaches are very excited for their season to continue at the third round regional pools in November.

Squad:

Zoe Clarke (Captain) Alba Braybrooke Kiera Allen Tilly Brown Colette Fitzpatrick Viola Marengo

Alice Cogram Rachel Clarke Lara Allen Mabel Daw Keziah Watts

Evie Highgate Georgia Pana Amelia Eldridge Maellys Antoine Persia Dance (Goal Keeper)