Aldenham Hockey Players are Winners

The U14 Girls Hockey team have recently been crowned district champions having won a highly competitive tournament against other schools from the local area. The team secured comfortable 2-0 wins against Watford Grammar School for Girls, St Michael’s and Parmiter’s, thanks in large part to the goalscoring prowess of Florence Hamel. The final match was played against the Royal Masonic School. With both teams undefeated in the tournament so far, the winner would be crowned champions. In a close contest it was Aldenham who emerged 2-1 victors with all the girls making valuable contributions throughout.

This success was then matched by the U15 Girls’ team who, in wretched conditions, successfully won the district cup for their age group. Goals from Tate Noble and Anya Savage saw them beat Watford Grammar School for Girls and the Royal Masonic School which allowed them to progress from the group stage. A tightly fought semi-final against Parmiter’s ended in stalemate meaning the match needed to be settled on penalties. The Aldenham girls scored all 3 of their penalties while Edie Sunman saved twice to help secure a place in the final. The final against Rickmansworth was an end-to-end affair but in the last minute of the match Lillie Henchley; having picked up a loose ball on the half way line, proceeded to beat three Rickmansworth defenders before smashing the ball into the bottom corner to score a spectacular solo goal that also won the title for Aldenham.

Meanwhile the boys’ hockey season has really picked up some momentum in recent weeks. The boys’ 1^st XI enjoyed a fantastic tour to Cape Town and competed impressively against some of the best young players in South Africa. They have followed this up with wins against Bancroft and Dame Alice Owen’s, helped by David Cherry’s return to form in front of goal and the continued excellence of Jude Hassan Bilici as Aldenham’s number 1 keeper. One of the performances of the season though thus far was the 1-0 victory against Harrow which was played in appalling weather conditions but was deservedly won by Aldenham thanks to Oli Stephen’s winner two minutes from time. Well done to all those players and coaches involved with both the boys’ and the girls’ hockey for all the hard-work and success they have shown so far this year.