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On Friday 17th March 2023 the U11 Boys’ Hockey team were crowned East Regional Champions at the regional finals held at Gresham’s School. The tournament was attended by the 12 qualifying schools from the East region who won, or came runner up, in their county competitions. It is the first time since 2016 that King’s has won this title and only the second in the competition’s history (to our best knowledge!).
In the first game, King’s looked slightly nervous as they played a dogged Chigwell side. However, King’s dug deep and managed to ensure a crucial 1-0 win to start what would become an undefeated day. In the group stages, King’s achieved further wins against Norwich School (3-0) and Bishop Stortford College (3-1). Having secured a solid draw against Woodbridge in a 0-0 thriller, King’s needed to not lose by more than 1 goal to top their group against Bedford Prep. King’s made hard work of this task, going 2-0 down within 5 minutes. But the boys didn’t give up and worked relentlessly to overturn the 2-goal deficit and salvage a crucial 2-2 draw.
In the semi-final, King’s played the host school, Gresham’s. Despite King’s enjoying much of the possession and having several opportunities to score, the game finished 0-0 and would be decided on penalty strokes. KCS were perfect from their 3 strokes, and with KCS’ goalkeeper saving one of Gresham’s strokes, King’s advanced to the final.
It would prove to be an all-Cambridge final as King’s would face The Perse Prep, who only two days previously had been crowned IAPS National Champions. King’s scored what would ultimately be the title-deciding goal after 5 minutes, but both teams had several chances to score, only to be stopped by excellent defensive work and some brilliant goalkeeping. Credit must be given to The Perse for the way they fought to the final whistle.
Well done to the whole squad who demonstrated real strength, resilience, and skill to come away as East Regional Champions.
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