HOWELLS WIN U16 NATIONAL SCHOOLGIRLS TITLE

The sun shone in Swansea, on Thursday 21st February 2019, for the Hockey Wales U16 National Schoolgirls Finals.

Schools throughout Wales had participated in qualifying tournaments with the following schools representing their respective areas:

1. Bishopston Afan Nedd Tawe

2. Howell’s School Cardiff and the Vale

3. Ysgol Bro Dinefwr Dyfed

4. Ysgol Tryfan Eryri

5. Ysgol Cwm Rhymni Glamorgan Valleys

6. Ysgol Brynhyfryd North East Wales

7. Christ College Powys

8. Caerleon South East Wales

The teams were divided into 2 pools and after a series of keenly contested matches the final pool standings were:

Pool A

1st Howell’s School

2nd Bishopston

3rd Caerleon

4th Ysgol Brynhyfryd

Pool B

1st Christ College

2nd Ysgol Bro Dinefwr

3rd Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni

4th        Ysgol Tryfan

All results from the day can be found HERE.

With the winners of the pools playing the opposite runners-up in the semi-finals we saw Howell’s School beat Ysgol Bro Dinefwr 4 – 1 and Christ College beat Bishopston 1 – 0 (Ysgol Bro Dinefwr were the only team to score against Howell’s School during the Finals).

The final was an excellent match, Howell’s School spent the majority of the first half in Christ College circle, but despite several shots at goal they were denied a conversion until the 9th minute, this resulted in an immediate counter-attack by Christ College who raced to the other end of the pitch only to have their shot saved.

Howell’s School scored from open play in the 12th minute and converted a penalty corner just before half-time (all matches were 15 minutes each way).

The second half saw some great play and silky skills from both schools, Howell’s School scored again in the last moments of the match to make the final score 4 – 0.

Grateful thanks to all our umpires, especially Callum, George, Harry and Tom from Swansea Hockey Club – appreciated your support throughout the day.

Our thanks to Beth Bingham, Wales and GB EDP International for presenting the medals, signing autographs and chatting to players and parents about the hockey journey.

Thanks to all teachers, coaches, managers, umpires and support staff for making these finals possible, a huge amount of work is involved in the organisation of every team, as well as all the qualifying tournaments, and participating in National Finals, we appreciate the help of everyone concerned.

It was good to see friends and family supporting the girls and hope you all enjoyed your day in Swansea.

We trust everyone had a safe journey home, some were much longer than others, and that those athletes who picked up bumps and bruises are all okay.

See you next month for the U14 and U18 finals – hope the venues are as sunny as Swansea!

#Competitions #Girls #Schools #U16s