U18 Regional finals
In the Girls Schools Regional Finals at Southgate on 25 November 2014, the U18 girls hockey team played Cranleigh in their first match. Each match was two halves of 20 minutes and the College team was slow out of the starting blocks. It did not quite flow for them and they went down 3-1 (goal from Katie Butler-Manuel.) In the second match against a fast-paced King Edward VI (Southampton), the team upped their game and the score fluctuated from 1-0 to the opposition, then the College equalised (goal from Katie Butler-Manuel), with KES securing a second goal to go 2-1 up. With two minutes to the final whistle and an excellent counter-attacking move, Alice Walker was suddenly one on one with the goalie. The crowd held their breath, and Alice, as cool as a cucumber, sublimely shimmied past to score the equaliser (2-2).
In the final game, with the draw wide open for the second place in the group, the College needed to win by at least two goals against Sir William Borlase. With end-to-end play it was a close encounter but slightly disjointed as it had to stop a couple of times for injuries. Despite the interruptions, the team played some excellent hockey and a superb goal from Alice Walker put them 1-0 ahead at half time. In the second half, the College had to defend a number of short corners and the clock was winding down all too quickly. With a couple of unsuccessful College short corners and the College spectators looking anxiously at their watches, finally all the hard work paid off and Holly Goble slotted it firmly in. The final result of 2-0 meant that they came runners-up in the South group and now progress to a play-off against the runner-up from one of the other regions for a place in the Nationals. It is a remarkable journey to have reached this point and they are now in the top ten U18 girls hockey teams in the country.
