It is official, these are the best 3 teams Heathfield has ever produced…
The second half of this term has been dominated by National Schools’ Lacrosse for the 1st, 2nd and U15 teams. Following their successes at the South West Schools’ Tournaments the teams were in fine form, both mentally and physically.
The 2nd team, ably led by Holly and Millie (UVI), faced extremely tough opposition on their day’s play: Caterham, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Godolphin, Guildford High, Queen Anne’s, St. George’s, Harpenden, St. Mary’s Calne, and Wycombe Abbey. I must make special mention of Millie in goal, Holly (UVI) and Catharine (Form V) in defence and Minna (Form V) in attack for their exceptional play.
The 1st team tournament is played over two days, the first of which saw them take on Abbot’s Hill, Fettes, Harrogate Ladies’ College, St. Catherine’s Bramley and St. Paul’s. Their finishing position in this group would determine which division they would find themselves for Saturday’s play. Defeats against St. Catherine’s, St. Paul’s and Fettes meant the team had to beat Abbot’s Hill and at least draw with Harrogate in order to reach the Division 2 play-off, which is a division higher than they qualified in last year. The team beat Abbot’s Hill 2-0 and after a highly competitive and closely fought match against Harrogate, the teams drew 2-2. The whole team played well but without Alex in goal, the team would not have held on to the draw.
Division 2, here we come! Drawn against Haileybury, Queen’s Chester and Westonbirt the aim was to make it through to the quarter-finals and then from there anything is possible! Despite going a goal down against Queen’s the team fought back to win 3-2 with some great saves from Tromans and goals from Honor and Ella. After an hour, the team took to the pitch to play Haileybury and were a little slow to get going. A 1-3 defeat meant that victory against Westonbirt was imperative. 2-0 victory!
St. Bart’s were the opposition for the first knock-out round, and having lost heavily to them in a school match the week before nerves were high. This is where true team spirit and the desire to win really have to kick in – and they did, resulting in a 2-1 victory. We achieved our aim – a place in the quarter-finals against Marlborough. Despite huge efforts Marlborough proved too good on the day and the team lost 0-3.
The U15 team’s performance epitomises how far they have come this year, confirmed by comments from staff at other schools saying how good our team was. With a tough selection including Putney, Moreton Hall, Benenden, Queen Anne’s, Marlborough, Malvern St. James’s, only two teams were sure to qualify for the knockout stage plus the best third placed teams from 4 of the 6 sections.
The day started with a 1-2 loss against Putney High, which certainly gave them a scare and a game we could have won. Next came Moreton Hall but an hour’s rest did not help us as the team took a while to get going and we lost 1-3. Next came QAS who were too strong, leading to a 2-5 loss. The team picked themselves up, however, and defeated Malvern St. James’s 5-0. A tight closely contested game against Benenden saw us winning 2-1 until we had a player sent off: a 2-2 draw was the great result. The final game was against Marlborough, and our 6-0 win was a fabulous way to finish the day. There is so much of which we can be proud.
This is an outstanding achievement by all three teams and a group of girls who have helped turn Heathfield lacrosse round and set the bar of expectation higher than ever before. Thank you ladies, it’s official: you are the best three lacrosse teams Heathfield have produced to date!