A PENALTY SHOOT-OUT win proved the perfect way for Bromsgrove Preparatory School’s under-13s hockey team to seal their qualification for the National IAPS finals.
Bromsgrove finished third in the qualification tournament for the national finals, after a commanding run to the semi-finals where the School swept all that came before them.
A slender 1-0 win over King’s Hall was followed by more convincing margins of victory against Perrott Hill and St Hughes – Bromsgrove running out 2-0 and 3-0 winners respectively – to advance to the quarter-finals without conceding a goal.
New College provided Bromsgrove with a sizeable task in the quarter-final, and so it proved in a 1-1 draw after regulation and extra-time.
Penalty flicks were then required, as Bromsgrove converted two without reply to reach the last four of the competition.
In reaching the semi-finals, Bromsgrove were already guaranteed a place in the finals, something which perhaps removed some of the incentive in their clash with Cheltenham College, who were 1-0 winners after scoring in the last seconds of the game.
With a bronze medal to play for in the third and fourth-place play-off, Bromsgrove saw off Hazelgrove 1-0 to end the tournament on a positive note.
Bromsgrove will now do battle against the best in the country at Cheltenham College in the U13 finals on Friday, March 6.