The Under 18 Hockey team have had a fantastic boost to the end of their playing season with the news that they have won the right to represent Sussex Schools in the South of England Championships on Thursday 4th March 2010.
The young team which contains boys from Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 has produced a number of outstanding displays to defeat a number of high profile schools from all around Sussex. In the local derby against Chichester High School for Boys, a largely developmental team missing a number of the starting line up came out victorious with an 8 – 2 victory.
However, it is in the County Cup where Ben Hodges (Year 13) team has really come up trumps. A first round 3-0 win against Ardingly College was then followed up with a quarter final 3-1 win against Hurstpierpoint College. On Tuesday 23rd February the Boys then played host to perennial Sussex Finalist’s Eastbourne College. In battling performance that was taken right down to the wire the team came out 2-1 winners with 2 short corner goals from England Under 18 star Luke Emmett.
In the final on the 26th February at Lewes Hockey Club the team faced reining champions St Bede’s school from East Sussex. The boys proudly wore their newly acquired sponsored shirts from Chichester’s Game, Set and Match. The game started at a frenetic pace with Michael Donaldson the young Bishop Luffa goalkeeper making a string of outstanding saves to keep St Bede’s at bay. Eventually, the hugely experienced boys in the St Bede’s team, which contains a large number of Eastbourne 1st team players, took control of the game with some very well worked goals from set pieces.
In qualifying for the County final, the Bishop Luffa team will now represent Sussex at the South of England Finals at Kingston Grammar School on Thursday 4th March. As Sussex number 2’s they will face the County champions from Berkshire Schools, County champions from Hampshire Schools and the runners up from the Kent County cup. Sussex competition organiser Alan Grey was hugely complimentary about the Bishop Luffa team and its supporters and could not remember the last time that a state school from Sussex had reached the South of England Under 18 Championships.
Mr T Brown
Team Leader PE