Senior girl’s hockey made a wonderful return as our 1st XI made their competitive bow at England Hockey Tier 4 County Championship at Cheltenham Ladies College.

KLB Under-18s booked their place in the regional finals after a clean sweep of victories in the county round.They will now represent Gloucestershire after beating runners-up Wycliffe (3-2), hosts Cheltenham Ladies College (3-1), Balcarras (4-0) and Pates (2-0).

A successful morning’s hockey was built on clinical finishing for 12 goals and a solid defence which conceded just three across the four games. ‘The Blues’ opened their account with a 3-2 victory over Wycliffe College. However, they had to fightback from a goal down within the first two minutes when Wycliffe counter-attacked down the left, cut in across the goal and tapped in. KLB settled into their game and, after Lena Brewer had tested the keeper with two fierce shots, Francesca Barton got on the end of a goalmouth scramble to level the scores 1-1 at half-time. Wycliffe took the lead again from a short corner early in the second half before KLB levelled with Imogen Sparrow providing the build-up and Barton firing in from the left beyond the keeper. King pulled off a save to deny Wycliffe but it was a rare incursion into the D as the Blues upped their game in the second half with a high press to cut off the supply chain.
Jen Keogh was the provider when she drove down the left, pulled the ball back for Sparrow, whose quick stickwork turned the defence inside out and she rounded the keeper for the winning goal three minutes from time.

Cheltenham Ladies College were swept aside with KLB going 3-0 up inside the first six minutes. Sparrow got on the end of Barton’s assist and, when Keogh and Wallace combined down the left, Anya Erasmus finished off for a 2-0 lead before assisting Brewer following a run out of defence by Lilly Clarke to complete the win. KLB got off to a blistering start against Balcarras, Brewer weaving through the defence to score after 30 seconds. Freya Bartlett made it 2-0 minutes later, tapping the ball in at the far post, before Erasmus gave them a cushion when she reacted to Wallace’s fierce cross.

Pates posed the final challenge which was duly dispatched with a Sparrow-Erasmus one-two assisting Barton for a far-post tap-in followed by a similar close-range finish from Brewer’s shot. The second half saw Pates come back strongly and King had to be at her athletic best to foil numerous shots as KLB closed out the game.

Team: Freya Bartlett, Fran Barton, Lena Brewer, Rosie Brown, Lily Clarke, Anya Erasmus, Niamh Keane, Jenny Keogh, Lottie McGrath, Ella King, Ella Wools Lewis, Eliza Reynolds, Imogen Sparrow, Freya Wallace ©.

Player of the Day: Niamh Keane.