Glenn Kirkham hails The Perse School under-14 girls' hockey team progress in reaching national finals

Glenn Kirkham has praised The Perse School under-14 girls’ hockey team for achieving their target of qualifying for the national school finals.

They were up against The Grammar School at Leeds in the home play-off, and had the perfect start as Hannah Scotland gave them the lead.

May Busher doubled their advantage from close range before half time, and got the third after the break.

Leeds pulled one back, but Busher broke away to fire in from a tight angle to complete her hat-trick, and give the Perse a 4-1 win.

“It’s brilliant for these girls to make it through,” said Perse director of sport and under-14s coach Kirkham.

“We talked about the national finals as a target at the start of the season because we think this is a really talented group of girls, but you never want to get too far ahead of yourselves. To get through the play-off to reach the finals is fantastic.”

At the Investec England Hockey Schools finals, they will meet Epsom College, Dean Close School and Repton School at Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre on February 25.

The Perse’s under-16 girls’ team narrowly missed out on a place in the last four of the national schools’ cup, losing 4-2 to Headington School in the quarter-finals.

Headington went 2-0 up before Freya Stafford reduced the arrears before the break.

Bella Izzard equalised after half time, but Headington scored two more to earn the victory.

“It was tough to lose, but they gave it everything,” said team coach Dan Cross. “They trained so hard, played with such passion, commitment and energy, I couldn’t have asked for more. They should all be so proud of their performances over the season.”