Sherborne tournament

The 1st XI were one of twelve schools participating in this year's Sherborne Tournament. We started the day in some style with an excellent 2-0 victory over Queen's in the first match, and followed that with some great hockey against Bruton, running out 4-2 winners. We went down narrowly 1-0 to Sherborne School for Girls, but had done enough to finish second in our pool and qualify for the semi-finals.

Here we met Blundell's who had won their group, and thanks to some dogged and persistent defence, we held them to a 0-0 draw. Penalty strokes followed, which we won, setting up an exciting final against Bryanston. We took an early lead in the first half, but rather disappointingly conceded a very soft goal, allowing Bryanston to force a draw. In the penalty stroke competition we went down 2-3, but finishing second against so many strong teams was a remarkable achievement, and promises well for the forthcoming season.

The Under 15s faced Queen's, Prior Park and Sherborne in their pool. A goalless draw against Queen's found the side having to adapt to playing on grass, something of a novel experience. We played some excellent hockey against Sherborne, and were unfortunate to lose 1-0 in a game that could have gone either way. Going out with all guns blazing against Prior Park, we couldn't quite get the decisive goal, and got caught on the break by the opposition.

There were notable performances from Hannah Cartwright who made some outstanding saves, and Harriet Johnstone who was a feisty right-back. Victoria Clark also impressed after being called up from the Under 14s, but player of the tournament was Virginia Nash, who showed great determination and athleticism all day.