THE Under-18s Girls Hockey team enjoyed a seventh-placed finish at the National Finals event in Nottingham.

Lena Brewer’s goal was the difference between KLB and Austin Friars School to secure seventh place after winning one and narrowly losing two of their group games.

KLB headed into the National Finals as West Region champions after winning all seven of their matches at Clifton College in October.

Their reward was a chance to compete with the best schools in the country at the Nottingham Hockey Centre on Monday, February 6.

KLB started the day with a 1-0 victory over Caterham in a game reduced from 15 minutes to 10 because of a delay to the start to allow the pitches to thaw.

It was a tense opening game with KLB surviving an early scare when Ella King saved well as Caterham counter-attacked.

The Blues gradually settled into the game with Anya Erasmus almost pulling off a wonder goal after she beat the keeper in a footrace on the edge of the D and shot narrowly wide from a tight angle.

KLB had two short corners, the second seeing Imogen Sparrow’s shot saved by the Caterham keeper.

But there was no denying her in the final minute of the half when she connected with Brewer’s shot to steer the ball home.

The second half was largely defence-focused as KLB saw off three short corners and they finished the game positively with Brewer driving into the D and her shot being deflected wide.

The second pool game against Abbotsholme wasn’t as successful with KLB conceding through the middle in the first minute.

King kept them in the game with a save from a short corner before KLB’s best chance came from a set-piece through a Sparrow and Brewer combination and the latter just firing wide.

Two more King saves from short corners early in the second half stopped Abbotsholme extending the lead.

KLB pressed for the equaliser, with Erasmus almost getting away, but she was closed down as time ran out in the 1-0 defeat.

And there was more heartache in the final group game against last year’s runners-up Hill House, who took a 1-0 lead just before half-time.

KLB fought back and had the ball in the net from a short corner struck by Brewer but it was judged to be above the backboard and disallowed.

They did equalise with three minutes to go when Sparrow weaved her way into the D and, after a goalmouth scramble, Erasmus got the ball over the line.

However, the Doncaster school came back and a succession of short corners saw them score the winner with the final play of the game.