U16 Girls and Boys and U18 Boys through to National Finals

Exeter School is proud of its U16 Girls and Boys and U18 Boys Indoor Hockey teams for making it to the National Indoor Hockey Finals on 10-12 January.

This is the first time three teams have represented the school at this national stage.

The U16 Girls met a wealth of hockey talent at the West Finals in Cheltenham on 30 November.

They were winners of the section and played Cheltenham Ladies College in the semi finals winning 6-1.

They played King's Bruton in the final. It was 2-2 at full time and Exeter lost on penalty flicks.

Exeter were runners up in the West round and have qualified for the National Finals in Bromsgrove.

The squad were Molly Tettenborn in goal who was outstanding, Abby Pelling, Rebecca Richardson, Sophie Jefferson, Imogen Milner, Harriet Milner and Olivia Zeigler-Evans. Rebecca and Olivia were top goal scorers with five each.

The U18 Boys had a tough day at Wellington School, but found their true potential, despite missing some players due to injury.

On the court, they played some attractive, fast-flowing interplay, scoring some memorable goals. Robin Toulalan Parr was exceptional in the goal, supported by a strong defence of Marcus Hoddinott and Nick Fennel.

The attack was spearheaded by Harry Skinner, Tom Poustie, Anthony Dibble and Mike Walker, who were fierce and committed in the opposition's D. They now progress to the National Finals.

This is a truly remarkable achievement to reach this stage of the competition for the second consecutive year.

The U16 Boys began their defence of their National Indoor title at Wellington School on 8 December. In a round robin tournament, Exeter dominated scoring 16 goals and only conceding three.

Paddy Poustie protected his goal brilliantly with Jamie Telford, George Hoult and Chris Richardson defending ahead of him. Matt Marsh and Luke Crocker constantly battled against opposition fall backs, setting up goal chance after goal chance. Ed Starling, Josh Hanna and Tom Edgington created space in the D to make the most of these opportunities.

Mr Skinner, Hockey Coach, said: "So far so good, we have a great deal of training still to do, to add to the incredible amount of progress we have made to date."

We wish them every success in the Finals on 10 - 12 January 2014 in Bromsgrove and Croydon. Thanks to Mr Skinner for his expertise as coach.