By Kevin Boniface, Head of Hockey

On Wednesday afternoon, we were both pleased and excited to host Gordon’s School for a first and second team girls’ hockey fixture. This was the first time the two schools had met, but knowing the calibre of Gordon’s, we knew we would be in for an incredibly tough two games.

In the first team match, Gordon’s came out blazing, going 1-0 up with an excellent reverse stick finish inside the first five minutes and within 15 minutes a slightly shell-shocked Bedales side found themselves 4-0 down. However, slowly but surely, the Bedales side picked up the pace of the game and started to earn more possession, increasing their pattern of passes and attacking threat, much of which was implemented by the impressive Alisia Leach.

Credit to the Gordon’s side who continued to move the ball round well in the second half and were a constant threat going forward. The scoreline could have been vastly different if it weren’t for the numerous tackles and interceptions made by centre half Rebekah Leach and the two full backs, Esther Stewart and Shanklin Mackillop-Hall. Towards the end of the second half, the Bedales side earned themselves a consolation goal – the hard-working Sasha Arney, chasing down a ‘lost cause’ to bravely bundle the ball over the line following a freak deflection off the post. Fantastic game against a quality opposition.

The second XI game was a much closer affair, with the Bedales team the more threatening in the first half, mainly down to the incredible stick skills of Anna Tasker at left forward and the incredibly impressive Sage Bidwell at right forward. At half-time, Bedales were 2-0 to the good, with a debut goal for Issy Robinson and a calm finish from Kamaya Nelson-Clayton, following a fantastic drive to the baseline from Sage.

The second half was a different story as the Gordon’s side shut down many of our attacking outlets and gained more and more sustained possession in and around our defensive circle. Goalkeeper Rosie Voyantzis and the full back pairing of Lally Arengo-Jones and Maya Cressman were all incredibly impressive but couldn’t stop a strong comeback from Gordon’s, who ended up winning 3-2.
 
A fantastic afternoon of hockey.