Regional finals await Perse hockey team

2 Mar 2020

The Perse boys’ U14 hockey team will battle it out in the East finals of the England Hockey national schools championships following an excellent display in the qualifying round.

They came through a gruelling schedule of six matches, including three back-to-back, without conceding a goal in the regional qualifiers, held at the University of East Anglia, Norwich.

The team got off to a magnificent start with a 9-0 victory over Bishop’s Stortford College and continued with a 3-0 win over Bedford School and a 2-0 triumph over Merchant Taylors’ School.

Goalless draws against Gresham’s School and Ipswich School followed before The Perse rounded off the tournament by beating Forest School 3-0.

Freddie Doel was the team’s leading scorer with four goals, while Jack Moffat and Henry Denny-Gouldson both netted three.

The team will now face a round-robin competition with Kimbolton School, Culford School and Ipswich in the regional finals at Redbridge on Thursday (5 March) with the winners going through to the national finals.

Team coach Ravi Mahendra said: “The boys should be very proud of their efforts. They played some very good hockey throughout the tournament and to come away without conceding a goal is a fantastic achievement.

“I was very impressed with their determination and resilience over the course of the day in some tough conditions. Every player in the squad contributed positively to make it a strong squad effort.”