Bowdon Hockey Club is delighted that their Girls under 14s team has finished the season with amazing success being crowned the North of England champions in the England Hockey Cup league.

The team of girls have worked hard all season winning all their league matches, scoring an awesome total of 34 goals and conceding none!

The season culminated in the England Hockey Cup North finals fixtures at Beeston in Nottingham.

The first game of the day was against Belper and Bowdon’s nerves were calmed following pressure from the start with a goal from Holly Hunt with less than 3 minutes on the clock. Bowdon continued to dominate and Holly completed her hat trick early in the second half with Bowdon comfortably winning 3 – 0.

After a long break Bowdon played Lytham in the 5^th game of the day and again coasted to a 3 – 0 victory with goals from Alice McAuliffe Hall, Becks Loxham and Claudia Holt . Lucy Spencer helped to keep Bowdon’s perfect defensive record and saved a Penalty Stroke just before the end.

The seventh game of the day, the final, was between host club Beeston and Bowdon. For the first time this season Bowdon conceded a goal early and were behind two minutes in due to a penalty stroke. The girls picked themselves up and started to take the game to Beeston and by half time were dominating the match although the equaliser hadn’t materialised.

Backed on by some great parental vocal support, Bowdon started the second half at pace and their dominance eventually paid off with an equaliser six minutes into the second half scored by Connie Vickers . From then on there was only likely to be one winner with Bowdon constantly on the offensive and creating numerous opportunities. Full time 1 – 1 and then it was on to the dreaded Penalty Shoot out.

The first set of 5 stokes resulted in deadlock at 4 – 4 with both keepers having pulled off a good save. Sudden death, 0 – 1, 1 – 1 before Lucy Spencer saved her third stroke of the day and Emma Hardern coolly stepped up to seal a justly deserved win for Bowdon.

These three fantastic squad performances were the culmination of a great season.

“I could eulogise all day over the squad’s and all individual players’ superlative performances,” enthused Mr David Hardern, the Bowdon coach. “But ‘Awesome’ seems to sum it up in one word.”

He continued “The girls have enjoyed an amazing season, they have all put such a lot of effort into their training and matches. It has been a remarkable experience to see the team develop and grow. They deserve their success – they proved that they are the best under 14 girls team in the North of England.”

One parent added “The team have worked so hard together, supporting and encouraging each other as needed. Being the best team in their league is a well deserved outstanding achievement for both the girls and their marvellous coach.”

Bowdon U14 Girls are the North of England Hockey Champions 2011