By Zara D, Year 11

On the 28th of March our U18 water polo team (containing Zara D, Zoe D, Rosie H, Nicola H, Amelia D, Jaspreet G, Evie S, Emma T, Zoe D, Iskra C P and Manpreet G) travelled up to Northampton Boys School to play the ESSA U18 National Finals, having qualified in first place in our regional round.

In order to qualify, we travelled up to Marlborough on Monday 27th February, where we played Croydon High, North London Collegiate, Highgate and Marlborough College. We won all of our matches convincingly. This secured us a strong position in the final by coming top of our pool.

We were then put into Pool A for the Finals, playing against Trinity and Kesteven & Grantham school. Our first match was against Trinity school, we came into this match full of energy and excited for the day. It was a very tight match, which we came out of with a strong draw, despite a last minute shot being discounted. Our second match was against Kestevens, and by winning this match by a greater goal difference than Trinity, it would secure us top in our pool. We had a great match completely dominating the play all the way to end, with a convincing 13-1 win.

We then progressed into the semi-finals, where we played Highgate. We knew the Highgate team well so played a tactical game which allowed us to produce a 9-0 win. Having qualified for the grand final, the team was up against Bolton, who had dominated their pool.

Going into the first half, we talked about how best to shut down their attacks and make the most of our talented players up front. After a physical first half, the two teams were even. We went into the second half with high spirits and good team morale however, the second half only got more physical. We had a couple of injuries during the game and unfortunately came to a 5-8 defeat. Despite this, we are all so proud of our achievements, with an amazing team of players from Year’s 8, 10 and 11.

As a team we played incredibly well, with some great shots and saves, allowing us to come 2nd in the U18 National Finals. We are all excited to get back in the pool to come back even stronger for next year’s tournament.