Venue: Perdiswell Leisure Centre, Worcester
Team: S.Evans, M.Byas (Capt.), L.McIntosh, G.Sanderson, A.Williams, O.Martineau, M.Sharpe, K.Hopkisson, R.Hawkins, S.Hale, K.Hopkisson, C.Stapenhorst (12)
Schedule:
Saturday
12.30pm: Repton 5-0 Cheltenham College (Martineau 2, Hopkisson, Hawkins, McIntosh)
4pm: Repton 6-4 Coopers Co. & Coborn School (Stapenhorst 4, Sharpe, Hopkisson)
Sunday
9am: Repton 4-2 Millfield (Stapenhorst 3, Hopkisson)
12.30pm: Repton 5-0 Collyers College (Stapenhorst 2, McIntosh, Byas, Peters)
2.50pm: Semi Final Repton 5-4 Kingston Grammar (Stapenhorst 4, Hopkisson)
4.30pm: Final Repton 2-1 Ipswich (McIntosh, Hopkisson)
Report:
Since winning our first National Schools’ title in 2005, the victory this weekend was probably the hardest fought and closest of them all. The four semi-finalists (Ipswich, Coopers Coborn, Kingston and Repton) were all excellent indoor playing sides – each having International players in their squads – and this made for high quality, tremendously exciting and very nerve-wracking play-off games for all involved!
On the way to the semi-finals things were fairly routine for the Repton girls. A 5-0 victory in the opening game of the tournament against Cheltenham was an ideal beginning as several players got on the score-sheet and everyone was able to warm-up for the likely toughest group match against Coopers Coborn. Coopers were beaten semi-finalists last year and had a very similar side this time around. The game was a fast-paced and physical one and Coopers took the lead twice before Charlotte Stapenhorst made her first contribution of the tournament scoring four superb goals. Sammy Evans was as good in this game as she was throughout the competition and was a crucial factor in deciding the outcome.
An early Sunday morning start against Millfield was more comfortable than the score-line suggests. Katie Hopkisson opened the scoring and the lead was a three goal one at the break. Despite a good comeback by Millfield in the second half it always looked like Repton had another gear to use should they need it. It was ideal (or lucky) that the final group game was against Collyers as the scoreline would have been different had it been the first group game. Collyers had one excellent player who had to play every minute of the tournament and was clearly fatigued late on in the competition. The fifth and final Repton goal was scored by Fabienne Peters in the eleventh minute of the game and allowed for a comfortable second half.
Our semi-final opponents, Kingston, reached the play-off stages through the back-door. They turned in two under-par performances in their group and were thankful for other results going their way. Fortunately for the neutral, and unfortunately for Repton, they were superb in the semi-final and provided us with our major scare of the tournament. Despite being behind twice, and being down to four players for the final minutes of the game, the discipline and calmness shown by the Repton players meant that we had enough quality to win the game. Charlotte Stapenhorst scored four goals and Maddie Sharpe made numerous crucial tackles. These two girls also played intelligently when under pressure in the dying seconds.
The Final against Ipswich was less exciting. Both teams did a good job of stopping each other playing and, thankfully, there was much less drama than in the semi-final! Lowri Mcintosh opened the scoring before Ipswich equalised before half-time. Sammy Evans made (yet another) amazing save in the second half just after Katie Hopkisson had scored the National Championship winning goal from a short-corner. Liv Martineau had her best game in the Final and was superb, alongside Maddie Sharpe, in limiting Ipswich’s scoring opportunities.
Winning this competition for three consecutive years is no mean feat, given the quality of opposition faced. The depth of the squad this weekend was a huge factor in ensuring that, in the closing stages of games, Repton finished strongly and that the players on the pitch were still physically fresh and mentally alert enough to make good decisions when it mattered most.
Thank you to all the supporters for the logistical help, constant supplies of food and drink and for your vocal support. We’ll see you at Cannock for the outdoor National Finals in just over six weeks time! Let's do the double!