Girls’ Sport 4.10.24

This week we had a large block fixture against Ardingly with the seniors travelling away and some of the U10 and 11 girls playing here at Holmewood. The U11 girls played in their first IAPS tournament which was very exciting, and a team of U10s travelled to Radnor to play in their friendly hockey 5’s competition.

1st Team

The 1st VII picked up an excellent win away at Ardingly, with Saoirse scoring 4 goals in an excellent overall performance. Ardingly played some excellent hockey and managed to keep the game close throughout, twice scoring from behind to come within a goal. At half time, the score was close at 3-2, following an excellent hat-trick from Saoirse. In the second half, Ardingly exerted more pressure, forcing some superb saves from Harriet in goal, before two more goals later in the game secured the win for Holmewood.

2nd Team

The 2nd VII produced a superb all-round performance to win away at Ardingly. Astrid had a barnstorming first half, scoring a fantastic solo goal early in the game and putting the opposing defenders under immense pressure throughout. The girls continued to build on this, creating lots of scoring opportunities and eventually Maisie was able to break through to take a two goal lead. After Ardingly responded with a goal of their own, Betsy scored the final goal of the game to earn a well-deserved 3-1 victory following some superb saves from Saskia in goal, including an excellent 30-yard volley!

3rd Team

We had a really well contested game of hockey with the girls switching positions throughout the afternoon. They all worked really hard during the game and Kitty had her first encounter with shuffles as we decided on these rather than short corners. Having said she didn’t want to do them she went on to make some excellent saves!! A great team spirit from start to finish.

4th Team

The girls were a bit slow to get going and were not making the most of the space they had. After a half time talk the girls went out with much more commitment and created some good chances. We were doing shuffles rather than short corners which added an element of excitement to the game and we scored our 2 goals from these. Well done to Alicia for playing her first game in goal and to the rest of the girls for giving it their all during the game.

U11A

The girls were very excited about their first IAPS competition which was at Bede’s senior school. They came up against some strong opposition in a very strong pool and eventually came 4th in their pool and qualified for the Plate semi finals. They displayed some great play in this match against Bede’s, and were so tenacious, working incredibly to eventually score and win the match 1-0. This meant that they had qualified for the final and were up against Westbourne House for the second time having drawn in their first match. The play was end to end and the match very tight. Fortunately we scored in the final seconds of the game and came away with gold medals. Very well done girls… such a great day!

U11A Team at IAPS Hockey

U11B

We welcomed Ardingly U11B team and Captain Charlotte won the first push back. This was a fast tempo game where both teams were evenly matched and both teams eager for the ball. Ardingly had 3 opportunities where our defense was not quite quick enough to dispossess the opposition leaving goalkeeper Maya vulnerable. They capitalised. Conversely we often played with equal flair and some moments of pure magic. The girls used the width, travelled with the ball at speed and some excellent crosses to the post. Our shots were not clinical enough and that was the difference on the day. A tremendous performance in terms of effort and work rate from everyone. Well Done to Captain Charlotte, Maya, Eleanor, Ottilie, Amaia, Nilaya (POM) and Cassie.

U11C

The U11 C team played two halves of 12 minutes and all worked tirelessly throughout the match. However there were moments of real muddling at the start with several players unnecessarily chasing the ball. We decided that crowding today did not work and better spacing and communication did. The ball was able to be passed further and with more power. The team focused on their positioning and they were rewarded with a well deserved goal from Deya. More goals could have come with stronger shots at the target. Defensively we stayed calm under pressure clearing the ball wide and out of danger. Another strong performance from Goalkeeper Rebecca.

Well Done to Captain Ayla, Oluwajuwan, Rebecca, Jenny and Anne and POM Bella and Deya.

U10A

The U10A team travelled to Radnor House for their annual 5’s tournament. The first game against Lingfield, where we had most of the play but struggled to find the smaller sized goals, Ella managed to get the ball into the corner, winning 1-0. Next up was a tough match against Hazelwood who quickly scored, our defence worked solidly throughout the game to keep the Hazelwood players at bay. Hilden Oaks was 3rd, Temi and Emilia constantly pushed the ball up the pitch, with us having a fair few shots at goal. Darcie managed to find the back of the net. Working hard, Alice took a ball to the hand, unfortunately while she was being treated, Hilden Oaks sneaked past to equalise. The final match was against Beechwood, very even play from both teams, ended up in a draw.

U10 Girls at Radnor House Hockey 5’s

U9

The girls were split into 3 teams of 4 and played a variety of mini matches against different teams from Kent College and The Mead. There were a selection of goals scored throughout the afternoon and the girls were working hard to remember that the space out wide on the pitch was the best place to be. Special mentions to Margo who worked tirelessly on her positioning and to Rosie who managed to get opposition girl of the game in all of her matches.

U9 Girls at Kent College

U8 Girls

The U8 Girls played some brilliant hockey in a triangular against Kent College and The Mead. We really showed the progress we had made and there was some great dribbling and reverse stick work. We still need to work on our positions and spacing out on the pitch, but we scored lots of goal, the sun shone, and the girls had a great afternoon of hockey. Well done girls!