 The Under 12 Girls enjoyed a bumper weekend with success at our two major tournaments of the first half of the season - Barcelona and Teddington.
Barcelona - GU12s take 2nd place out of 16 clubs
Some sleepy heads arrived in Barcelona after 4am alarm calls to get to Gatwick airport. Not surprisingly we started our first game against Jolaseta a bit slow, and were wondering how tough this European hockey was going to be. We got on track in the 2nd half and finished 3-0 winners.
Next up was Leuwen, where we could only manage a 0-0 draw against an impressive team, but in our final game of day 1 we turned on the style with a 7-0 bashing of Club de Campo and some excellent goals.
We topped our group and went through to the elite finals pool for Sat/Sun, which would determine the 1st-4th places.
Things got a little tougher. We played Leuwen again, our toughest opponent in round 1. They were again very disciplined, strong and fast, and we sadly lost 2-0. The girls were distraught, but they picked themselves up and fought back with an impressive 4-1 against RC Tenis later that day.
Coming into the final day, we knew we had at least a bronze, but wanted to do better. Playing against the hosts RC de Polo, in front of a large and noisy crowd, we battled hard to produce a 1-1 draw, and take the silver for overall 2nd place. The girls were over the moon and can be proud of their amazing efforts over the weekend. Well done!
Teddington - GU12s come 1st against strong regional opposition
We had tough opposition again in our pool, with Surbiton, Reading, Wimbledon and Spencer, but the girls didn't let it get to them. We managed a 1-0 win in all pool games, except against Reading where we lost 3-0.
Reading topped the group but we went through to the semis in 2nd place. Next up were Canterbury. A closely fought game, which ended 1-1, went to extra time and then sudden death penalty flicks. After Canterbury had missed their first attempt, Elle kept her cool and powered the ball into the back of the net.
Into the final now, and we faced Reading again. Once more, they were a strong team, and we had to battle and defend to keep them at bay. We managed to hold them to 0-0 in normal time, and took the game with a goal from Alice in extra time. A really exciting day, excellent team spirit and everybody gave their all. A great show of the strength in depth of the GU12s. Well done again!
Tony Smith
| 
