Success for Perse hockey teams

It has been a fantastic couple of months of hockey at the Perse, for both the boys’ and girls’ teams.

Before Christmas, our U16 girls’ team came runners-up in the Cambridgeshire Rounds, which meant they have qualified for the East Rounds. The team, consisting of Polly Allingham, Emily Graham-Campbell (Co-capt), Gabby Martin (Co-capt), Emily Page-Blair, Emily Fuller, Imogen Wigdahl, Lily Cassidy, Caroline Howard, Ginny Leigh, Zoe Durbin, Amelia Davies, Lauren Meakin, Tess Howard, Megan Rice and Ellie Harrison then went on to become the East of England county champions – a fantastic achievement. Despite losing to Kent College 0-1 in the first match, they went on to beat Bishop’s Stortford College and Culford School to finish top of the final group of 4 and therefore qualifying for the U16 Girls’ National Finals. These are to be held on the 25 and 26 February at Cannock H.C. in Staffordshire. The girls have been drawn in a pool with Cranleigh School, Clifton College and Leeds Grammar School and will have to top this group to make the final.

Our U16 boys’ team have also enjoyed similar success, winning the Cambridgeshire championships, finishing top of the group of 4 following wins against Wisbech Grammar School 2-0, Newport Free Grammar School 1-0 and a 2-2 draw against The Leys. They now qualify for the East Rounds, which will be held at the University of East Anglia on Thursday 6February.

The boys’ team was made up of: Jamie Bolt, Will Harris (Capt), Freddie Perkins, Bradley Young, Oliver Quantrill, Michael Pepper, Anthony Kattuman, Misha Karmiloff, James Woodward, Adam Davis, Hugh Bishop, Ian Connolly, Mihir Chandraker, Ciaran Flaherty, Thomas Goldberg and Zaman Akhter.

To top off this fantastic run, yesterday, the U14 boys’ team finished runners-up to The Leys School in the Cambridgeshire County Championships and therefore qualify for the East Rounds. They finished top of their group following wins against Saffron Walden County High and Wisbech Grammar School. They then beat Newport Free Grammar School 2-0 in the semi-final before losing out 2-1 in tight final against The Leys. Their East Rounds games are to be held at Bedford Hockey Club on Tuesday 4 March.

Head of Hockey at the Perse, Glenn Kirkham said:

“The performances from the girls’ and boys’ hockey teams this year have been consistently good across the age groups with the performances from the U16 teams in particular being excellent. The U16 girls have made history this year by becoming the first girls team from The Perse to qualify for a National Finals and highlights the progress of girls sport at the school. The teams are training hard and are very much looking forward to the challenges ahead.”

Well done to all of the teams involved, and we wish them the very best of luck in the next stage of these competitions.

Photo courtesy of the Cambridge News.