National play-off triumph for Perse hockey team

27 Mar 2018

The Perse boys’ U14 hockey team have made it through to the national finals of the Notts Sports England Hockey Schools Championships following a 7-1 victory over Hall Cross Academy in a play-off match.

They found themselves a goal down to the Doncaster side early on in the tie, played at Beston Hockey Club in Nottingham.

However, the team responded in style to claim a comfortable margin of success with Alex Maynard scoring a hat-trick, Year 8 pupil Ben Carey netting two and Olly Traherne and Moritz Sirringhaus grabbing a goal apiece.

Team coach Ravi Mahendra was thrilled with the performance of the players.

He said: “The boys stuck with it after going behind at the start of the game and played some very good hockey.

“Hall Cross were a good side, but we played with pace and power, which is a massive asset in our team, and scored some really good goals.

“The depth of the squad is also strong. Two Year 8 pupils came in and they fitted in really well.”

The Perse will now play in the national finals at Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre, which hosted the London 2012 Olympics hockey tournament, on 23 April. They have been drawn in a pool featuring Sherborne School, Bromsgrove School and St George’s College, Weybridge.

Mr Mahendra added: “This group got to the finals of the U13 competition last year, so to replicate that in back-to-back years is a massive achievement.”