Girls’ Hockey

1st XI

It was great to be playing school hockey again and the enthusiasm was certainly there from all members of the squad. After a successful pre-season trip to Cardiff, the block fixtures and Tier 1 cup matches soon began. Highlights through the first few weeks of term were an impressive 6-0 victory over Malvern College and a gritty performance to secure a 4-3 win away at Canford School. The team was also crowned county indoor champions in November as they convincingly swept aside the opposition.

The challenge of Saturday club fixture clashes meant that many players represented the firsts throughout the season. A special mention to Greer Barnes, Nys Fry, Cerys Jones, Amelia Mackay, Sofia Trujillo, Mia Rawlins and Gwen Morris who featured consistently throughout the year. Other notable results include a spirited win over BGS. Having trailed by two goals, the team fought back to win 5-2. They narrowly missed out on a national finals berth, with one goal between Clifton and Dean Close over the course of the league stage. Coming so close was a tough pill to swallow and will only serve as motivation for next year. Millie Isaacs led the team as captain from the front and her presence will be missed. Also, a special mention goes to Clemmie Houlden and Eloise Moat who represented England and Wales age group sides respectively.

Adam Dixon

2nd XI

A superb term for the 2nd team hockey squad, full of nerveracking matches and games which easily could have gone either way. A steady 1-1 draw with Marlborough was a fair reflection of the start of the season. As new players settled themselves into the team, it was a solid team performance with Katharina Heidersdorf shining in defence. After another full week’s training, we were ready to take on Malvern College and secure a convincing win of 3-1, which was closely followed by a superb 5-0 win over Kingswood School, with top goals from Jessie Auty, Gabby Whittley, Izzy Donovan-Conway and Charlotte Macfarlane. The team consolidated their efforts with a midweek win over Llandaff Cathedral School.

The next two fixtures against Cheltenham College and BGS are always tough, and Cheltenham College were well drilled. They took an early lead but excellent defending and goal-keeping from Tara Madan kept this to 2-1 at half time. With a determined team effort led by our midfield (Evie Calhaem, Eva Culley, Georgina Soloman and Ella Robson) and finished off by Giulia Cimmino and Sophia Jurtin, we gained a draw of 3-3. This score gave the team confidence against BGS, where we dominated from the first whistle to win 3-1; the team were chuffed! Our defence were also outstanding, led by Aimee Milner and Lauren Franklin. We finished the season with two of our hardest games against Dean

Close and Taunton and although the Clifton team gave it their all, we lost both games 2-3.

I thank all of the girls and congratulate them on a superb season. They played with determination and team spirit, yet most importantly they enjoyed themselves. A special thank you goes to the Upper Sixth girls who will hopefully continue their hockey in the future.

Charlie Graveney & George Carson

3rd XI

The third team cannot be faulted on their enthusiasm during the season as they faced some tough opposition and some horrible weather! Despite an initial run of losses, they made significant improvement across the term, working hard in training sessions and coming together as a team. Every goal was hugely celebrated by the girls with high fives all round. The highest scoring game was the 4-0 win against Taunton School, which was gripping to watch. The team ended on a high with a 2-2 draw against Dean Close, which was so close throughout.

U16a

An U16 team was assembled from a combination of Year 10 and 11 players, led by captain Annie Nichols. However, with a number of Year 11 players deemed talented enough to represent the 1st XI, the result was a U16A squad consisting almost entirely of Year 10 students. This percentage increased further when Emily Murray sadly sustained a seasonending injury in the second game.

The season began with a seesaw match that resulted in a 3-3 draw with Marlborough. It was clear that two Covid-impacted years had led to a shortage of 11-a-side experience and this was the perfect match for the U16s to find their feet and their belief. This was no more evident than when the two teams met over two months later in the National Cup, Clifton easing to a 4-1 victory with a mature and controlled display. The team had visited Redmaids’ in the previous round of the National Cup and, despite Redmaids’ fielding some high quality players, Clifton played with control, patience and electrifying pace, finishing off opportunities to devastating effect and securing a

5-1 victory. By the time the team sat down for a pre-Christmas end-of-season reflection dinner they were unbeaten, having won every match since the 3-3 draw on the opening day of the season.

Given the binary nature of the tier 1 cup competition, the overall season is always destined to end up with defeat or being first in the country. Sadly it was the latter for Clifton as the team lost 2-3 to a Dean Close U16 team. It was a game they were very much capable of winning but the team could never quite hit the heights of the performances they produced in the Michaelmas Term and they failed to convert the opportunities they created for themselves. While there is always disappointment in such defeats, the players should take great pride in their performances over the course of the season.

It was the youngest U16 squad that Clifton has fielded for some years, so to reach such an advanced stage of the National Cup and to produce some of the displays they did across the season, was an excellent achievement, of which they should all be very proud.

Mary Beever & Gary Catchpole

U16b

This 16B team underpinned the true values of Clifton College. They regularly played U15A teams or senior 3rd opponents and although wins weren’t frequent, the team demonstrated resilience, integrity and were continuously positive. The team, captained by Nina Nissim, were always able to smile, have a laugh, and eat plenty of sweets at half time.

A close 2-3 loss against Taunton’s 2nd team was an outstanding effort, considering the size of their opponents. Ishbel Bird was an integral part of the match and all fixtures with her relentless and physical defence.

The team also had a close loss to Dean Close, in the last match of the season, 0-1, against their 15A team. The highlight of the season was the thrilling match against Millfield. The scores were level at half time, in what was an extremely physical match. In the last minute of the game, it looked like a 1-1 draw were inevitable but, with some efficient, fast passes, Clifton was able to score a goal, with 13 seconds on the clock. It was like the team had won the Olympic gold medal, a win that was well deserved, by a fantastic team performance. A special mention goes to Lara Poulson, Jemima Thefaut and Lexie Pearce-Lynch who were able to score goals throughout the season.

Claire McCormack

U16c

Covid was not going to get in the way of a successful hockey season for the Under 16Cs and what I most enjoyed about coaching this team was seeing the ways in which all the players developed in confidence and learned to play with strength in their positions during the season. We had many enthusiastic forwards, a strong midfield and some determined backs to take us to our opposition and Victoire Berjonneau and Amy Miles’ dependable hits at goal helped our scoreline. Our larger squad meant it was competitive and difficult to manage the substitutions but it also allowed for further development as members of the team “coached” from the sidelines, thereby improving their own performance; it also allowed for much fun and a strong team morale! A memorable moment of the season was taking on Millfield where we won convincingly (5-1) - did we really need to worry so much? The team dug deep in the last game versus Dean Close where we led both on the scoreboard and in terms of our on-pitch etiquette to finish the season with a convincing 2-1 win. I will be most sad to say goodbye to this team who have both entertained me and made me proud.

Vanessa Walsh

U14a

The team got off to a flying start with an intense and productive pre-season tour to Cardiff. The team gelled together well and had some fantastic results, including a 4-1 win against a much more senior (and physical) Cardiff Met side. The fixture list continued in similar form with many scorelines bringing tears to opposition eyes in September: Marlborough 6-0 and Malvern 9-0. As the season progressed, injuries occurred and the competition stiffened with Cheltenham (2-3) and Kingswood (2-2) proving good tests ahead of the county and regional tournaments. Despite drawing with Kingswood the weekend before, Clifton dominated the game when it mattered, winning 3-1 to take the trophy and qualify for the regionals in first place. The regionals were played at Millfield and the 14As faced the host team in the first match of the day. After some consistent possession, Clifton slotted home the winner and then went on to secure wins against Bryanston and the strong Cheltenham side to whom they had previously lost. They qualified for the semi-finals first in the group. Despite prolific and continuous fire power in the Blundell’s D, a single break in the final minute of the game saw Clifton concede and their ticket to the final and hope of nationals disappear. The following Saturday, to right the tournament disappointment, the 14s left nothing in the tank against Millfield (the eventual regional winners), beating them 5-0 and cementing the game as the definite highlight of the season. Special mentions go to our player-of-the-season, Emilia Puddicombe, and most valuable player (and captain), Jemima Windows. An extremely talented year group who have an exciting hockey future ahead of them.

Christa Clark & Stuart Loughrey

U14b

It has been brilliant to get back to fixtures again after last season, which definitely suffered at the hands of the pandemic, and what a fabulous group of students to coach! The first match of the season is always against Marlborough, a tough fixture and a long journey. The positivity and resilience of the students prevailed, and this match was very much a case of ‘start as you mean to go on’, demonstrated on the pitch but also in their attitude to training. A 0-0 draw was hugely impressive against Marlborough, and despite some early opportunities, the second half was very much a defensive game for us, soaking up a barrage of attacking play, but we held strong! The first home game against Malvern was full of excitement and goals, with the girls securing an impressive 4-2 win. This set the tone for the next two matches against King Edward’s and Kingswood. The girls not only battled hard against the Kingswood players but also against the horizontal rain and wind, and a 2-1 win and a delicious hot dog was their reward, along with some interesting karaoke on the journey home!

A definite highlight was the home game against Millfield, in which there were some exceptionally strong performances from all the girls, and many opportunities to score. The Millfield goalkeeper stood strong and as the game approached the last few minutes it looked as though it would end goalless. However, there came a wonderfully well worked goal from our defence towards our attacking D, Aspen Prole then passing the ball just outside the 23m line to Lousia Hall who calmly lifted the ball into the goal past the goalkeeper to clinch a much deserved 1-0 win. In all, four wins, two draws and one loss rounds up a very fine season indeed!

Here are a few highlights shared by some of the girls, some hockey related, some not directly! In the match versus Taunton, Alana Peto was blown away by Maddie Savory’s deflected goal into the top corner of the opposition’s goal, especially impressive as we had only just been working on this in training. Emmerson Herbert was mightily impressed by Joung Youn Hoang’s defiance, reliance and literal bounce back ability after Dean Close did their best to stop her pivotal play! Amelie Webb was really impressed by Maddie Savory’s superior sporting conduct when she let the umpire know the ball had hit her foot before it was converted into a goal. The delicious match teas at BB also had frequent mentions! Aggie Campbell was pleased that the season finished on a high with a strong performance against Dean Close, but the “Christmas disco tunes on the coach journey home made it even more fab!”.

Sarah Johnson

U14c

The U14C team showed resilience, enthusiasm and great teamwork during their very successful debut season, resulting in some notably big wins against Malvern (6-0) and Dean Close ( 4-1). Between matches, the team worked hard to develop new skills in training and, as individuals, have gained lots of good hockey experience to carry into their next season. We had students in the team who had never played hockey before but who took to the game very quickly. One such student, Vicky Goetze, demonstrated natural flair in defence with a strong sweep pass that was unrivalled all season. The defence row demonstrated great teamwork and communication skills during the match against Milfield and they successfully managed to hold off the attackers from scoring, resulting in a close but well deserved 1-0 win. Not easy, particularly when the water base sprinklers decided to start up mid-match! In mid and attacking positions, Dhaara Acharya, Millie Smith, Bea McEwan and Tilly Alkin were our top goal scorers and Millie definitely wins the award for most positions played in the season, credit to her adaptability and willingness to support the team. Angel Tolchard and Sasha Horwood could often be found providing sideline support and entertainment, which spurred their teammates on through some of the colder winter matches.

Tamsin Cardale