Girls’ Sport 13.9.24

It was great to get started with matches against other local schools again this week after the long summer break. Back to football and hockey, the boys and girls had trained hard and were full of energy and enthusiasm for their matches.

The senior girls had 5 matches at Sevenoaks School, which as a big secondary school, have big numbers to choose teams from. It proved a tough first match for the teams, but has set the standard for the term, whilst the U10 girls had a fun tournament at Ardingly.

U10 Hockey:

The first match against Brambletye was very even, but unfortunately they managed to sneak a goal in the last couple of minutes. We played Hurspierpoint next, and having gained in confidence on the pitch, the Holmewood girls started to get the idea of the positioning of 7aside. Rebecca had her first match in goal and not only saved a goal, but also saved a penalty shuffle, which was amazing!

Against St Christopher’s who were next on the playing schedule, we kept the ball in our attacking half. Amelie ran clear of the defenders and managed to score resulting in 1-0.

The last match of the day was against Great Walstead, who were given 2 penalties in the first few minutes. Determined, all the girls dug deep and pushed on, with Bea H and Amelie R scoring resulting in a 2-2 draw to finish the day.

Well done to all of them! KB

U10 Hockey Tournament at Ardingly

1st Team Hockey

The 1st XII began their season with a huge challenge, travelling away to play a Sevenoaks side with their eyes on national success this season. The girls started slowly and were caught by some clinical Sevenoaks passing, conceding a number of early goals before they even got into their stride. There were some spirited moments where Holmewood were able to create promising chances in the opposition half, but every mistake was punished by the excellent opposition, with one or two players confidently running the show.

In the end, Holmewood were well beaten, but they fought hard, with Rosie, Betsy and Francesca leading from the front. Sevenoaks’ girl of the game was Saoirse.

A tough defeat to take, but the girls will learn a lot from the game and use it to spur them on for the rest of the season. DB

2nd Team Hockey

In their season opener, the 2nd Team girls faced a tough challenge against a well-drilled Sevenoaks side. Despite a strong defensive display, Sevenoaks scored some well-worked goals. Our team showed resilience, making some promising attacking runs, but couldn’t break through the opposition’s defence. We will build on the positives of the match for the rest of the season.

Good effort girls! DG

3rd Team Hockey

In a well-matched contest, the 3rd Team girls battled hard but fell short to Sevenoaks. Both sides had good spells of possession, with strong defensive work and key saves keeping us in the game. Despite creating a few chances, the team couldn’t convert. I was really pleased with the girls’ effort and organization. There were plenty of positives to build on for future matches.

Well done girls! DG

4th Team Hockey

Although the girls lost the score was not a true reflection of the game. It was a very even contest with the ball moving well through the pitch and both teams making the other work hard in possession. The Sevenoaks GK was exceptional making save after save hence the score line. A great effort from all the girls who never gave up. TB

5th Team Hockey

This was a lovely game with every girl on the pitch running around with smiles on their faces. Although the girls were rusty in terms of the rules of the game, their effort was amazing and they improved hugely as the game went on. They listened and tried really hard to implement the advice they were being given during the quarter breaks. To come away with a win. A great start girls, well done! TB

Under 9 Hockey

We had a lovely afternoon of hockey with all of the girls playing (in their words) the “longest ever” game of hockey! I think this was a good thing though. The majority of the time the ball was travelling up and down the middle of the pitch but on occasion they did move it out wide and it was good for them to see how much this opens up the space. Lots to work on but huge amounts of effort from the girls, a great afternoon.