U16 Girl’S Reach National Finals

TUESDAY THE 13TH MARCH WAS YET ANOTHER BUSY DAY IN THE WORLD OF CCB HOCKEY WITH THE U16 GIRLS TRAVELLING TO WELSHPOOL FOR THE POOL STAGES OF THE HOCKEY WALES NATIONAL FINALS, AFTER RETAINING THE SOUTH POWYS TITLE LAST YEAR

The first match against Eirias was very exciting and the team knew they had to work to get the goal they needed as it was 0-0 at half time. Second half got underway and both teams worked extremely hard. In the end, with a hard work from the girls in the scoring D, A. Archer scored for CCB. Final score at the end of the 1st match saw CCB win 1-0.

Next up to CCB was Glantaff. Yet again the team knew that this was not going to be an easy match. Glantaff had also won their first match and it was still all to play for. Tensions were running high, and at half time Glantaff were 2-0 up. Going into the 2nd half, CCB looked brighter and did well moving the ball down the channels, however this wasn’t enough. Final score Glantaff 4 – 0 CCB. Mr C. Marriott (Professional Hockey Coach) and Dr D. Phelps gave the girls and inspiring chat at the end of the game. Every match that the girls had played they took something away from it and turned all negative thoughts into positives going into the final pool match against Caerleon.

Caerleon were in the exact same position as CCB, it was a question of who wanted to win the most. CCB looked sharper and more clinical with their pass rate which then saw S. Pearson score the first goal of the match leading into half time. Every penalty they won was cheered on by parents and fellow peers on the bench and the atmosphere changed. 2nd half got underway and half way through the half W. Ransome scored a fantastic goal to secure CCB into the semi-finals in Newtown against Bro Dinefwr.

The team were extremely positive on the way to Newtown and knew what the plan would be to beat Bro Dinefwr. At half time the score stood at 0-0 and the team were fighting for every ball possible to try and get a goal. The work rate the team was putting in was phenomenal in the 2nd half but it all came down to the dreaded penalty shuffles as the score stood at 0-0 at full time.

CCB were defending the goal first up with A. Gauger in goal. She did extremely well considering it was her first time in goal at national level, but missed the first goal and Bro Dinefwr score. Score stood at 1-0. P. Ogilvie, W. Ransome, K. Jenkins, L. Drinkall and A. Green were the penalty takers for CCB. P. Ogilvie narrowly missed the goal, but with 4 fantastic saves from A. Gauger and 3 goals from W. Ransome, K. Jenkins and L. Drinkall, CCB were then through to the Final. End of penalty shuffles

With one semi-final to go CCB anxiously waited to only discover that they would have to face Glantaff yet again in the Final.

The final was an intense game with both teams working as hard as possible to score the first goal to put their team at ease a little. However at half time it stood at 0-0. Captain K. Jenkins gave a motivating speech to the girls and they continued to fight in the second half but it wasn’t to be this time. With 4 minutes left to until the end of the match, Glantaf scored. Final score Glantaff 1 – 0 CCB.

We are extremely proud of the players yet again as they have continually worked hard to get through difficult matches. The team and the College would also like to that M C. Marriott and Dr D. Phelps for all their support and time they have spent getting the players ready for the tasks they had ahead of them.