Newlands Yr 5/6 Mixed Hockey Team were selected to represent the Southampton area at the Hampshire and IOW School Games.

So on Friday 20th June, the team of 8 pupils (6 boys/2 girls) jumped on the minibus and headed to Aldershot Military Stadium for annual event.

The day started with an opening ceremony. Schools from across Hampshire and the IOW took to the athletics track and were introduced to the crowd.

We then headed over to the Hockey pitches to begin our tournament. There were 16 schools competing for the Hockey trophy, and these were split into 2 leagues. Our first game against Halterworth was an exciting game, however unfortunately we lost 2-0. The pupils rallied around and then produced some of the best Hockey for the rest of the tournament:

Newlands 2 - 0 Otterbourne

Newlands 1 - 0 Abbotswood

Newlands 3 - 0 Bembridge

Newlands 2 - 0 Hiltingbury

The league was close and we were sitting in joint 1st with Halterworth and Hook and Warsash. We performed well against Hook and Warsash in the next game, creating many opportunities, but unfortunately we weren't able to find the back of the net. Hook and Warsash managed to grab a crucial goal near the end, sending down into 3rd place.

Our final game against Botley was crucial as the top 2 from each league went through to the championship play offs. We took on Botley and straight from the start we pushed forwards, moving the ball well and attacking quickly. Botley were a very good team and we had to defend well to stop them from scoring on several occasions. We finally made the break through and hung on for a 1-0 win.

Halterworth and Hook and Warsash also won their last games, meaning they progressed and we narrowly missed out on the playoffs. Finishing 3rd in our league meant we were entered into 1 5th/6th playoff game with Brockenhurst (finished 3rd in the other league).

A very good Brockenhurst team pushed forwards at every opportunity and the game was end to end, goals came quickly. 2 mins to go the score was 2-2 and Brockenhurst were attacking our goal with a break away run. Our defenders made a goal line save and then moved the ball out quickly and we broke away using our speed and control, we moved the ball forwards and managed to slot the ball past the oncoming defender.

Newlands won the game 3-2 and finished 5th out 16th schools, which is an incredible achievement for our first appearance at the Hampshire and IOW school games. The players were excellent ambassadors for Newlands, clapping every player and team, shaking hands and giving 100%.