Haileybury win county U18 hockey tournament

Haileybury girls hockey had a tremendous boost yesterday when the Haileybury 1st XI team won the county schools under 18 tournament.

The tournament was played over two days on Saturday 11th and Wednesday 15th October at Queenswood.

The group games were played on grass on the Saturday. Haileybury won their group, with this season’s top scorer Molly Pallett scoring 5 goals in three games.

The results were:
Haileybury 2 – Parmiters 2
Haileybury 2 – Presdales 0
Haileybury 2 – Herts & Essex HS 0

The semi-final and final were then played on astroturf on Wednesday. Haileybury took an early lead with a top-quality deflection at a short corner by Katie Stacey early in the first half. Fran Burn then put the game safe with an open play strike from the top of the D. Haileybury controlled the rest of the game and won easily.

The final against Parmiters was a more even contest but Haileybury dominated the first half and could have been 2-0 up at half time but for some excellent saves by the Parmiters goalkeeper. In the second half Ashley Coe hit a post with a rocket of a penalty corner strike and, despite creating plenty of chances, Haileybury failed to score. Two periods of extra time ensued and, despite having more of the pressure, Haileybury still failed to score.

The tension mounted as the evening then moved on to a penalty stroke competition, hockey’s equivalent of penalties. Alex Butter, Molly Pallett and Fran Burn all scored and Vicky Hewett made one outstanding save to see Haileybury through to win the county championship, 3-2 on penalty strokes.

Semi Final: Haileybury 2 – Dame Alice Owen’s 0
Final: Haileybury 0 – Parmiters 0

Haileybury won 3-2 on penalty strokes.