Page 31 - The Malvernian - March 2022

THE MALVERNIAN
Hockey
These past few weeks have been fantastic for boys hockey with the the 1st XI XI playing in in the the England Hockey
National Cup 2nd XI XI U16 and and U14 boys playing in in in the Midlands Finals 1st XI v KES Bath
The boys got off to a a a a slow start and were punished early on Going behind meant the the boys had to chase the the game which for periods of of the the game opened up the the opposition defence A glimmer of of hope came through Finley Morris who scored a a a wonderful drag flick but this unfortunately wasn’t enough to get the win 2nd XI For the the the first time the the the boys qualified for the the the Midlands Finals and and came up against some strong opposition who were mainly first teams Two games were were pretty close and two were were tough but the boys learnt a a lot from the experience U16s
So close The boys missed out on on a a a a National Final by losing in in in the Midlands Final by penalty strokes Having won 3 out of 4 pool matches the the the boys moved into the the the semi final where they won on on penalties in fin dramatic fashion In the the final the the boys went 2-0 down early on but two great goals from Fergus Morris took the game to to penalties but unfortunately it was not to be An amazing day and the boys have developed so much U14s
These boys have been on a a a a great journey since the the start of the the term and and had a a a a a a a great day out in in the Midlands Finals The boys lost their pool matches but by the the the closest of margins Throughout the the the style of hockey improved and this team has a a a a bright future As a a a a a reward we we were very lucky to have John Bell (Ex-international player current England U18s Head Coach Coach and and GB EDP Coach) come in in to do a a a guest coaching session The boys worked hard and took away lots of positives from this experience U16 Boys National Finals It was an unbelievable achievement to to get to to the National Finals which was played at Nottingham Hockey
Centre Malvern were in in a a a a a tough pool playing Yarn Sedburgh and St Albans with our best match against Sedburgh in in in in an end end to end end game Finishing 4th in in our pool we played a a a a a a crossover game against Bancroft With some tired legs after running the the the Junior Ledder the the the day before the the the boys showed great character to put in their best performance of the day winning 1-0 with a a a a a a a great drag flick by Euan Mackellar At times the day was was tough but it was was a a a a a a great learning environment and a a a a a special way to finish off the season THE MALVERNIAN
31