BARROW Hills School is celebrating success on the hockey pitch after its Under 11 team reached the national finals of the The Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) Hockey tournament – for the first time in the school’s history.

It was a major achievement for the relatively small school as it faced strong competition from many other much larger prep schools. Barrow Hills’ Colts A team was one of 26 from the south taking part in the tournament at Tonbridge School.

The first game was against Marlborough House.

Barrow Hills started strongly, but the opposition scored the first goal. Barrow Hills quickly fought back, making the most of a free hit, attacking the circle and scoring their first goal of the tournament to tie the game.

The next match pitched the Colts A team against Junior King’s. Quick play, solid defence, and great team work resulted in an impressive 6-0 win.

By the last game of the group stages, Barrow Hills were in a strong position with only Bede’s Prep left to play.

Barrow Hills ended up top of their group and through to the quarter-finals, with the first match of the knockout against The New Beacon proving tough.

The game finished 0-0 resulting in penalties.

Noah Barnes, Annabelle Gray and Finn Barrowcliffe all stepped up. The New Beacon scored the first two loading the pressure on keeper Harry Clapham who made a great save to keep out the last shot.

The match against Parkside was always going to be tough.

Their strength in both attack and defence resulted in a 5-0 loss despite a number of fierce tackles by Barrow Hills’ players and many saves made by Harry.

By the final game of the day, Barrow Hills were left to contest third place against Feltonfleet.

The Surrey school finished the game trailing 2-0 placing them fourth in the competition.

Headmaster Sean Skehan said: “What a result. Our children faced some seriously stiff competition on the pitch against teams with an established track record in this tournament but they certainly did us proud.

“A fantastic performance which demonstrated the importance of skill, tenacity and great team work if you want to achieve success on the sports field.

“Our players fought hard in the national final but sadly missed out on a place in the final four, however in our eyes everyone in the team is a winner.”