After a week of intense mocks for the U6, we got back to preparing for Nationals.
We had a match vs St Swithuns and then played in the Charlie Waller tournament at Marlborough the weekend before Nationals.
At the Marlborough tournament, we won 3 and lost 2 matches overall, all of which helped us put into practice our set plays and it was a good opportunity to brush over any mistakes or things we wanted to work on before Nationals.
On our first day at Nationals, we placed fourth in our pool. Our standout performances included victories against Queen Margaret’s (5-1) and St George’s Ascot (10-0). During these matches, we were able to apply stronger defence using our different styles – involving higher pressure and being more aggressive (maroon). This resulted in multiple turnovers which we were able to convert to fast break goals.
Determined to come back stronger, we entered the second box stage the next day with renewed energy after a mindful yoga stretch session in the morning! This was evident in our rematch against Benenden, where we secured a 6-2 victory – helped partly by a lucky early goal while they were not on the pitch!! Building on this momentum, we went on to win our box.
In our first knockout match, we faced Caterham in a very intense and closely fought battle. After falling behind 2-1, we showed great resilience and determination, ultimately snatching a 3-2 victory in the final moments of the game. We then continued our winning streak, helped by our traditional “Hot and Cold” dance bringing lots of energy and determination into the quarterfinals, where we defeated St Pauls 3-1.
Unfortunately, in the semis, despite our best efforts we lost to Putney 2-0. But all of us should be incredibly proud of our performances and the team spirit this year has been incredible. All of us have really enjoyed bonding with each other both on and off the pitch and this definitely helped make our time at Nationals so much more memorable!!
