Framlingham College Prep School has been crowned England Hockey U11 in2hockey Regional Champions after an excellent day at Rushmere Sports Centre in Ipswich.
After their triumph at the IAPS Regional Qualifier in the first half of term, the day presented itself as a great opportunity for the girls ahead of the IAPS National Finals at Haileybury next week against some of the best schools in the region.
Framlingham were placed in Pool A alongside Ashford School from Kent, Stamford School from Lincolnshire and Bishop’s Stortford Prep from Hertfordshire.
Framlingham faced Ashford in the first game of the day, and despite creating chances in what was a tight and tense affair, we could not find a way past their goalkeeper and started the day with a 0-0 draw. Stamford were next and Framlingham slowly started to find their goalscoring form, finishing up as 2-0 winners. In our last pool game against Bishop’s Stortford despite drawing 0-0 at half time, the girls managed to step it up and finish the game as 4-0 winners.
The draw with Ashford meant group placings were decided by goals scored, and with Ashford scoring one more, Framlingham were placed 2nd and would face Bedford Girls in the crossover game to decide whether they would play for 1st-4th or 5th-8th. Framlingham raced into a 3-0 lead, and despite conceding just after the half-time break, the girls scored again to win 4-1 and play in the round robin pool for 1st-4th, where they would face The Perse from Cambridgeshire, Junior King’s and familiar faces, Ashford both from Kent.
Framlingham played Ashford first, knowing it would be yet another tough encounter, but eventually after being tested time and time again, along with Framlingham trying several ways in which to score, they managed to score twice in quick succession to run out 2-0 winners. The Perse were up next, offering a different challenge to the girls, but they were able to adapt and scored two high quality goals and again recorded another 2-0 win.
Taking into account the other results, a draw with Junior King’s was enough to see Framlingham crowned champions; however, the girls did not want to let it get to that and after taking an early lead took control of the game and clinched a 3-0 victory – along with the title of England Hockey in2hockey Regional Champions.
The girls played an exciting brand throughout the day, growing into the tournament and adjusting to the speed and shortness of tournament hockey. Whilst adding this accolade to their triumphs at the IAPS Regional Qualifier prior to half term, Framlingham need to keep up the momentum as they travel to Haileybury School on Thursday for the U11 IAPS National Finals.