A third place finish at the south round saw the W1s indoor team travel to Telford for the Division 2 finals weekend. Strengthened by the additions of Lorna Cruickshank and Ellie Halliday the team were gunning for a top 4 finish to secure Division 2 Hockey for the following season.
A tough first day saw the women take on the 2 outdoor premier league sides in Birmingham University and Clifton Robinsons. The former was a tight contest, finishing in a 5-1 loss that flattered the university side, before a much improved 7-4 performance against the eventual champions rallied the team for the following days.
On Sunday morning, a much dominating performance saw the W1s impose themselves against Wakefield, but they ultimately they struggled to convert in front of goal, losing 3-1 to a well drilled side. This left an uphill battle, requiring two wins to achieve our top 4 goal. Our goal scoring form finally came to the fore in a 7-3 victory against Cambridge City, inspired by some lovely link up play between forwards Charlotte Childs and Jess Denniff who combined for 5 goals between them. With all to play for we entered our final game against Lansdown, a team we had lost 7-1 to at the Southern round, needing a win to retain our Division 2 spot. A fantastic team performance saw us stand resolute to a 4-3 victory, achieving an 8 goal swing on our last outing and securing our place in the league for another season.
An all round enjoyable experience for the squad left us with a fantastic result to build from in following seasons, and a lot to take into the coming games in our outdoor season.
A big thanks to Rob and Clarissa Schilling, and Andy for their efforts in getting a lot of us back into indoor hockey. Another shout out to Charlotte Childs for her top goal scoring performance, and to Jess Denniff and goal keeper Louisa Bray for their MOM performances across the weekend.
Results:
University of Birmingham (1-5 L)
Clifton Robinsons (4-7 L)
Wakefield (1-3 L)
Cambridge University (7-3 W)
Lansdown (4-3 W)
Goals: Charlotte Childs (6), Jess Denniff (4), Clarissa Schilling (3), Lorna Cruickshank (2), Charlotte Kelly (1) and Ellie Robinson (1).