West Oxfordshire Hockey Finals

News

10th February 2020

West Oxfordshire Hockey Finals:

Following our success in the Witney Schools' Partnership Hockey tournament last term, we were invited to take a team to the West Oxfordshire Finals which took place on 10th February.

The squad had looked confident in practice and had developed a strong team spirit, but we knew that we would face tough opposition.  The skies were leaden as we walked over to Wood Green School and, as we warmed up, the heavens opened and the rain did not let up until the matches were over.

We faced tough opposition in our first match against Bladon School, but played strongly from the whistle and came away with a well-deserved 1-0 win.  We maintained our form against Kingham School with a 3-0 win, and finished 5-1 winners against St John's School.  Our next match was against West Witney School.  In the Witney Partnership round, we lost our group match against West Witney but overcame them in the final to win the tournament, so we knew that this would be a hard match.  The children rose to the occasion and secured a confident 3-0 win.  Standlake School proved tough opposition in our penultimate match but we came away winners by a single goal.

We left the toughest match until last.  Wychwood School had also won all of their previous matches, so the outcome of the competition rested on this tie.  We went 1-0 up early in the match, but Wychwood quickly claimed a goal back.  The match ran end to end as both teams pushed for the winning goal.  Our excellent teamwork eventually paid off and we secured a fine 3-1 win.

This was a fantastic performance by our children in appalling weather conditions.  They all played with fluency and a quiet confidence, getting better and better as the competition went on.  A special mention, though, goes to Sam and Reuben, who both scored a sackful of goals.  Our win now means that we go through to the Oxfordshire School Games Finals on 18th March at Radley College.

Well done to our squad: Sam, Seren, Lottie, Reuben, Abbie, Samuel, Isabella, Rhys and Owen.