National indoor finals beckon for Perse hockey team
The Perse boys’ U16 indoor hockey team are through to the England Hockey Schools Super 6s national finals after winning the East title in nail-biting fashion.
In the round-robin regional tournament, the team, who were recently crowned Cambridgeshire champions, got off to a great start with victories over Bedford School (4-3) and Culford (3-0).
The boys found themselves 3-0 down against Norwich School with just four minutes left, but they demonstrated excellent resilience to bounce back and draw 3-3.
It meant The Perse needed just a draw from the final match against Haileybury to clinch the regional honours, but in a see-saw game, their opponents held a 4-3 lead late on.
However, in the last few seconds the team earned a short corner and after the initial shot was blocked, Jude Nathan pounced to slot home the equaliser and make it 4-4 to send The Perse into next month’s national finals at Whigift.
Perse Assistant Director of Sport (Performance) Ravi Mahendra, who coaches the team, said: “I was really pleased with the resilience and determination that the boys showed over the course of the day.
“They played some excellent indoor hockey and it took a real squad effort to get us to the national finals.”
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