Hockey
With the South Africa tour now behind us, it had whetted everyone’s appetite for the season ahead and had filled everybody with the South African spirit and determination to win. It had also established us with a new starting goalie, a gift in the form of Fiona Hurt! This, combined with the new Lower Sixth talents of Vicki Priest and Caroline Moss, looked like a great recipe for yet another successful season.Thus, a 1st XI was selected and we were ready for our first match of the season against Bablake, a fixture in which we had been victorious in the previous year. We therefore went out confident, but not conceited, with maximum effort levels giving us a 1 – 0 victory.We were not so fortunate in our second match, which also proved to be our toughest, against Bloxham. With great pace on the pitch we battled hard to be only 2 goals down at half time. However, in the last 10 minutes it was evident our energy levels dipped as they scored a further 4 goals showing a 6-0 loss at full time.
Our confidence and fire were regained for the British Aerospace tournament.With great team play and spirit, not to mention 2 goals from Vicki Priest, we won all of our matches, winning our group and comfortably qualified for the Midlands Finals, a feat which had never been achieved by a Solihull School Girls 1st XI.
A shock 0-1 defeat at Wrekin College gave us all a wake up call. Having produced some excellent hockey with 90% of the play, Wrekin broke in the last few minutes to score the goal that had eluded our own forwards.Taking all the positives forward we took part in the West Midlands 1st XI tournament. With the loss of key defender Sophie Mander, due to injury, maximum effort was going to be required by all. We were not disappointed! We were on a roll having won the first two matches thanks to our slick short corner routine. In the third and final match we found ourselves 1-0 down to KEHS,Vicki Finch’s saving goal drew us level and then the winning goal, arguably the goal of the season, was scored by Amy Preston.We came away with the trophy and medals in our hands.
An exceptionally close and thrilling match against King’s High, Warwick ended in a 4-4 draw and we enjoyed a 4-0 win over Edgbaston High School. These were our warm-up matches for the Midland Finals. Expecting to experience - a tough time we went out to play with nothing to lose. However, the opposition proved just too skilful and we left with just two draws under our belt. Support from parents and staff could not help us towards a victory but the whole team did leave with a sense of achievement for having made it that far.
Team spirit remained high for the remainder of our games, finishing with a superb victory against Wolverhampton Grammar School. This concluded a highly successful season for the 1st XI. The natural ease of goalkeeping from Fiona Hurt, the solid and consistent defending from Sophie Mander, Sarah Trueman, Megon Mitchell and Caroline Moss, an unbeatable midfield combination of Amy Preston, Katie Morton, Vicki Finch and Aisling Swindells, and finally the speed and agility of the forwards Hannah Mansfield, Vicki Priest, Harriet Nash and Emma Strachan came together to form a fantastic team.
The 2nd XI had just the two matches this year, as opposition was difficult to find. However, the majority of girls attended training on a regular basis and this should stand them in good stead for next season.
We would like to thank Mrs Belcher for her support, organisation and leadership of the side and Chris Mayer and Miss Pearson for their coaching expertise which allowed us to succeed and achieve all that we did.
Katie Morton