The recent U15 hockey journey took Eltham College to the semifinals of the national championship, where they faced Whitgift, a formidable opponent, in a bid for a spot in the U15 Independent Schools Hockey National Finals. Whitgift dominated the ball from the start of the game, but our team impressed in defence and looked to punch out on the counter. Our players fought hard throughout, but ultimately were unable to penetrate the Whitgift defence, falling to a 5-0 defeat.
This meant that our squad, composed of Horatio, Josh, Aiden, Will, Ethan, Noah, Florian, Angus, Harry, Charlie, Zach, Frans-Louis, Matt, Benjamin, and Barney, would now take on Scarborough for the final medal spot. A well-executed penalty corner gave Scarborough the lead, before Zach’s drag flick was batted off the line to leave our team trailing at the half. The position quickly worsened as Scarborough doubled their lead, only for the squad to mount a stirring second-half comeback. Ethan kick-started it all with a flick from a penalty corner, before Noah capitalized on the rebound to equalise. A dramatic finish saw both teams have a chance to snatch the win, but the scores finished level to send the game to strokes.
Horatio made an excellent glove save, only for Scarborough to also save our team’s first effort. Scarborough scored and Aiden responded by burying his stroke in the bottom corner before Horatio saved again to allow Zach to roof his stroke to take the bronze.
Congratulations to all the squad on a fantastic cup run and thoroughly well-deserved podium finish on a national stage, and thank you to all Eltham College supporters who travelled to Nottingham to cheer on the team!
