WHEN is losing all three matches a triumph?

When Budehaven Girls’ U16 team played in the regional tournament in Tiverton, that’s when!

Of course, the girls won the Cornwall Schools’ Cup in Truro last month. The reward for that was entry into the next round to play three of the best sporting schools in the country: Millfield, Blundells and Bryanston.

Several of the Budehaven girls are regular hockey players and represent Cornwall and play for Bude Ladies 1st team, or in the case of Frances Fox, in goal for Penzance. But the others were occasional players, such as Amber Houghton who comes out of retirement each year to play, and Keeley Davis-Dawe who is really a dancer and netball player.

Budehaven knew they had to raise the game if they were to avoid sporting slaughter at Blundells, so the starting point was accepting Bude’s chief coach, Alan Muller’s, kind offer of a personalised training session aimed specifically at tournament hockey. The girls focused specifically on short, hard direct passes, rapid movement off the ball and defensive short corners. They knew that chances to score would be rare, but the starting point is not conceding goals.

The first game was against Millfield, without a doubt the best school for sport in the country!

When Budehaven played them last year they lost 11-0. Would there be a repeat? In short, no! Although they are technically superior, Budehaven held out until one minute before half time, with goalkeeper, Ella Gamble, playing the best match of her life, diving at players’ feet and deflecting shots with ease.

Every other player raised their games in response. Both Georgia Bunning and Zara Higham wrong-footed complacent players to beat two girls with one simple change of direction. Then there was the glorious attack down the left flank, with Chloe Hall, crossing. This led to a short corner. Chloe pushed it to Jemma Ball, whose shot was brilliantly saved by the keeper. Inevitably though, just before half time, one of the Millfield shots squeezed in at the far post.

The second half was a similar affair. Budehaven switched goalies, with Frances Fox maintaining the high standards set by Ella, but sadly ended up losing 2-0. A defeat but an amazing result.

Next was Bryanston School from Dorset. This match was much more evenly balanced, and Mr Latter’s comment to their coach at half time was ‘someone’s going to win 1-0’. Sadly for Bude, this was a correct prediction and it happened with ten seconds remaining on the clock, while star player, Jemma Ball, was off the pitch suffering from a head injury.

The final match was against Blundells. The match followed a similar pattern, with great defending from Ebony, Clara and Becky, but again 1-0 at half time. The second half saw Georgia being hit on her cheek, minutes after saying she’d stop the ball with her head if it would stop a goal. That’s commitment! Sadly, Blundells ended up winning 3-0, although Hannah claimed the goal was hers as it hit her stick as it went in. Others in this amazing squad were Izzy Sobey who chased everything in attack, and Amber Cummins who threatened down the right flank in every match.

Despite losing, these were amazing results. The opposition are all top independent schools that train five days a week and have either Australian or South African professional coaches. This team has played together for five glorious years and these were their last competitive games together as some will be leaving Budehaven in the summer. They will be missed.