PUBLISHED 15 September 2019
A team of girls from AKS travelled to the Midlands on Saturday to play in an U13 invitation hockey tournament hosted by Foremarke Hall Preparatory School, Repton. Twelve teams from across the Midlands took part in the tournament and our girls had the opportunity to stretch themselves against some strong opposition.
The first group game against the host school, Foremarke, was closely contested and ended 0-0. Both teams had scoring opportunities and AKS keeper Daniella made a number of crucial saves to keep the score goalless. A fast paced game set the scene for the day; a learning curve in playing at speed and improving decision making with little time on the ball.
The second game against a strong Beeston Hockey Club side proved just as competitive as the first. A perfectly paced pass from Charlotte found an unmarked Carly, who calmly slotted the ball past the keeper to give AKS an early lead. The opposition came back strongly to equalise and despite AKS having the majority of the attacking play, Beeston broke away on a counter attack to score what proved to be the winning goal.
A confident performance against Denston College saw the team use the width of the pitch well to create goalscoring opportunities. AKS romped to a 4-0 win with one goal each for Carly, Charlotte, Kirtika and Lisa.
At this stage in the tournament there were 4 teams in contention if reaching the semi finals; with two games to go AKS, and their opponents, Witham School both knew that they needed a win to guarantee a place in the semi-final. So once again the game proved highly competitive, with both teams determined to get a result. Jessie, Lisa , Charlotte and Layla were superb in defence while Jessie worked tirelessly to prevent the opposition from attacking down the right. A tense and exciting game ended 0-0 and both teams must be applauded for their efforts, but it was not the result either wanted.
The final group game was against Moreton Hall School and despite not making the semi-final stage, AKS ended on a high with a 2-0 win. In this game Connie and Laura combined well on the right, which bodes well for the season with Laura scoring both AKS goals.
A highly productive day of hockey in which the whole squad can reflect positively on lessons learnt, well done.