Girls' Hockey: U11 IAPS Qualifiers
Girls U11 IAPS Hockey Qualifiers
Belhaven 0 - 2 Fettes
Belhaven 2 - 1 St Mary’s
Belhaven 0 - 0 Casterton
Belhaven 0 - 3 Ardvreck
Belhaven 0 - 3 Cargilfield
Finished 4th position overall
Today there was great excitement amongst the girls as they headed to Fettes for the IAPS Hockey Qualifiers. The winning team would be travelling to England to represent Scottish Prep Schools.
Our first match against Fettes was very even in the first half. Great play on the pitch, good solid passes with the ball flowing between players and between ends. As the match went into the second half, Fettes stepped up their play and used the width of the pitch. As we were only playing 7-a-side, the girls missed the extra player they were used to and realised there was a lot more running involved in the game and you couldn’t hang back. Unfortunately, Fettes broke through our defence and managed to score, once leaving Hester on her own to face two of the opposition. This match saw our first chance of playing short corners and the girls did really well, just aiming wide of the goal from one.
The next match against St Mary’s we knew what to expect. Having beaten St Mary’s in the Plate Final on Sunday, we knew they would come back fighting. Play continued to be even and Belhaven went ahead quite quickly with a cracking goal from Eliza. Once again, there was good passing on the pitch, which allowed Belhaven to keep possession and the defenders were ready to stop the ball and clear it wide. Another goal was scored and we had won a match.
Casterton, Sedbergh Prep School, were our next opponent. This was a great match for our team. They worked well at passing the ball to each other and missed out on a few shots at goal – wide each time! (This is something we need to work on.) Play was even throughout and the girls had more chances of playing short corners, clearing the ball from our defence quickly away from the goal. A draw for this match, but it gave us a point on the scoreboard.
We had watched Ardvreck play some of their matches and they looked a good team. Again for the first half of the game, the play was fairly even with both teams having the opportunity to score. Ardvreck went ahead first but the Belhaven girls came fighting back, only to hit the ball wide of the goal! Ardvreck spotted gaps in our positioning and used the width of the pitch to their advantage to win the game.
Our final match was against Cargilfield, who at this point had won all their matches and were clear winners of the competition. Our aim, was to play our hardest and limit the amount of goals Cargilfield could score. The Belhaven girls did just that. They played their socks off in what I think was their best performance of the afternoon. They had shots on goal, cleared away short corners quickly and gave Cargilfield a great game. Cargilfield had some great players and went on to win the game and the tournament.
Well done to all the girls today. The matches were tough but you played hard and were determined throughout. For me, these tournaments are all about learning more about the game and for the subs to spot what we need to focus upon. The short corners worked brilliantly, we just need to aim slightly better for the goal!
