The U11 National IAPS Hockey Finals at Cheltenham College

Following our qualification at the regionals last month, the Under 11A squad travelled (literally in a plane followed by a train and automobile as well as walking) down to Cheltenham College to take part in the National Finals.

Our preparation had been good; a few last-minute training sessions against the U13s back at Cargilfield and the night before was quiet with a meal out and then back to our hotel with not a peep coming from the boys’ rooms after 9pm.

Following a continental breakfast (for the boys!) and some mouthguard moulding, we were taxied down to the Cheltenham College Sports’ Ground.

Our first match was against Winchester House and was one in which we dominated with chances coming but no one being able to convert. Were we a little nervous? Jamie had a great chance from a penalty corner which whistled by the wrong side of the post by a matter of centimetres. After huffing and puffing, we accepted that a 0-0 draw to start the day wasn’t a bad result and arguably one that we would have taken if we had been offered it at the start. Our defence was working well with Wilf playing that sweeper role and James out on the left, using his jab tackle effectively. There was very little the opposition could do in attack and Timothy in goal had not a great deal to do.

In the next game, we faced a Brambletye side who looked good. However, again we definitely had more of the ball and the chances but we couldn’t find the finish that was needed. Panicking a little in front of goal; miscommunication, perhaps. We just weren’t finding that cutting edge up front that we had seen at the qualifiers or in other matches during the term. Another 0-0 draw and we were beginning to wonder if we were actually going to score?! However, you look for the positives and we hadn’t lost or as our defence continued to stand firm with Arthur coming on to do a good job in man-marking their talented left winger in the second half.

One of the advantages of not having to umpire (and thank you to Cheltenham College for providing such a large number of them who were fantastic), is that we could focus on looking at the opposition who were playing their group games. We had noticed that our next opponents, Millfield, liked to play quite direct, passing short balls to each other down the middle. This was the basis of the pre-match team talk ahead of the game about protecting the middle and keeping narrow in defence. Within 10 seconds, Millfield had cut us open and scored. Moments later, again and at 2-0down at half time, it looked like the writing was on the wall. In the second half, we played a little better with Monty showing good skill on the ball but we conceded again and the game finished 3-0.

Rock bottom of the group after 3 games and to many, looking like we weren’t going to be playing any hockey after lunch. What we needed was something to change – we had perhaps been guilty of playing too defensively in the way we were set up at the back with three in defence. We knew we had some really strong attacking players and that the next two games were a must win and so we went all-out attack. Having had a short spell up front, Geordie came on to play with James at the back in his familiar position and was solid; Lochy was moved to midfield with Arlo out on the left and we went for it against Feltonfleet who were sitting pretty at the top of the group. 0-0 at half time we were in with a shout and when James made a break down the left and sent the ball to Lochy who slid the ball past the keeper, Arlo was there to gather and slot it in. One win down and one to go.

However, qualifying for the cup competition by finishing in the top two, wasn’t in our own hands. We required Millfield to either draw or beat Winchester House who were on 6 points. Thankfully it was a 0-0 draw and so we went into our final group game knowing that a win would take us up to 8 points and into second place, meaning that we had made it to the main cup competition. We faced Kingswood Prep, Bath in this game who were below us in the table. Having created chances in the first two group games and not scoring, we finally found our touch and thanks to goals from Arlo and Lochy, we came out 2-0 winners, leapfrogged three of the teams above us and were in 2^nd, meaning we were into the cup and facing Edgeborough in the quarter finals.

There was a bit of a break for lunch and time to relax and catch our breath. Top 8 at the Nationals is always the target and after that, anything is possible. We went into the game on the back of two victories and stuck with our formation and starting line-up. Often it is the team that can come out of the long break and be switched on from the first seconds of the match who will prevail and within the first minute, we were up attacking down the right through Hamish and our speedy winger, with lots of strength and tenacity managed to find Arlo at the penalty spot ready to pounce. Moments later, we were then 2-0 up with a similar goal from Jamie - we had caught the opposition cold. They did get one back with a well-worked goal using an overload at the back post but we held out in the end and made it to the semis.

Hoe Bridge were our next opponents and to our delight, the first few minutes were much like the quarter final. Jamie’s rocket of a strike from the top of the D in a penalty corner smacked into the back board in front of the cheering crowd and settled the nerves. Then Lochy in midfield drove forward and shot past their defence to make it 2 at half time.

With such short halves of 5 minutes, you would think that there wouldn’t be much time to come back from that but Hoe Bridge were a very good side with their central midfielder in particular, who took a grip in the second half and got themselves back in it to make it 2-2 at the final whistle. This meant we would play for 5 minutes until someone scored – the ‘Golden Goal’. Despite giving up the 2-goal lead, we kept our heads right up until the final seconds when Hoe Bridge won a Penalty corner. It took a tremendous reaction save from Timothy in goal, who stuck out his left foot to deflect the ball wide and once it was cleared from the D, it was on to penalty strokes.

In this situation, you go with whoever wants to take one. The first 3 hands up were Jamie, Lochy and Hamish and so it was down to them to put their shots in and up to Timothy to try and keep the opposition ones out. Hoe Bridge won the toss and elected to shoot first. Timothy made a cracking diving save, using his stick to block the ball. Jamie stepped up and coolly launched his flick into the corner of the net. The second Hoe Bridge flick was outstanding and at 1-1 we still had the advantage and when Hamish gave their keeper the eyes, sending him the wrong way, it was simple, Hoe Bridge had to score. However, Timothy was at it again with a superb dive, again to his right, needing to use his glove and stick to block the high shot, deflecting it away.

That was it! We were through to the National IAPS Final! The travelling support were going wild – and that wasn’t just down to the Cheltenham College hospitality…

Cargilfield had reached its fourth Under 11 National IAPS Hockey Final since 2007 with the most recent our U11 girls in 2018. Coincidentally, we were about to face the same school that beat the Cargilfield girls back then - St George’s, Weybridge, a very strong hockey school from the south.

But we were up for it despite having had no break since the knockout matches had begun, not to mention the additional 5-minute period of extra time. The boys were exhausted.

However, right from the start, we attacked and were awarded a Penalty Corner which Jamie connected beautifully with but the keeper made a good save. It was a reasonably even game but arguably the better of the chances fell to the English side, however neither team could make the breakthrough and so it was on to extra time again and golden goal. Within the first minute, St George’s were into our D and we conceded a penalty corner. We coped well with the first one but then there was a second and despite breaking it down, a speculative effort from them deflected into our goal.

A cruel way to end the game, which was recognised by their coaches but we congratulated our opponents and, in the end, we were delighted with how far we had come. Having been 5 minutes away from heading off to find some entertainment in Cheltenham to kill the time before our flight, we had made it to the final and the coaches and parents couldn’t have been prouder of what the boys had achieved. The smiles on their faces as they collected their silver medals said it all and we all recognised that what they had accomplished on that day was fabulous.

Thank you to our tremendous support who cheered and encouraged the boys throughout the day. Well done in particular to James who was voted our player of the tournament for his outstanding defence at times, making crucial last-ditch tackles. However, credit to all the players who gave it their all when they were on the pitch and also to those boys who perhaps didn’t get to play so much in the final stages; Wilf played a particularly selfless role as co-captain as he helped to rally the team and prepare them for each match by offering to get drinks and sort the masks – all the boys were a true credit to their parents and to Cargilfield.