We arrived at Stephen Perse to find the Year 6 IAPS netball tournament in full swing. "Come on, Perse", "Let's go, Kim(bolton)"… Ahhh, the sweet sounds of public schools parents. I thought to myself, 'Could we win it? We have the age (/ experience) and physicality; we are hockey players after all.' I had some positional thoughts: who would play GS - ahh, Alison of course - and centre, I hear you say…? Well…obviously, I would put myself in at Centre, naturally selfish as I am… Alas, I concluded that height was not on our side (even when playing against eleven year olds) and the risk of losing was too high - best stick to hockey.

We met in the boys' changing rooms, despite being the away team (maybe we are too kind at Fotress Long Road?!) We nearly got locked in when the Head of PE at Stephen Perse shouted, "Anyone in here? I'm locking up."

On to the hockey: it was a glorious day - sun was shining- we were positive and up for it. The first half was great; we pressed well, we played well. We passed to each other, we defended in pairs and we had almost as many opportunities as City. Both teams defended well and as a result we were nil-nil going in at half time. George Hurford (MOM) put in countless tackles while Hannah and Emily were channeling their players onto George's stick. Glorious. The subbing was seamless, if I do say myself, as I adopted a sideline manager role this Saturday. For anyone who's interested in how I did it - if a player looked tired, I took them off.

Second half started well and it looked as if we could nab a goal, with some one-on-ones with the keeper and Alice getting a shot off, as well as Maddy piling over the keeper. Sadly a lapse in concentration for five minutes allowed City to score twice - one with a reverse volley and the other a well-constructed goal. B-Murph (Blythe, to those not avid followers of the L1s) took a hit to the ankle, or did she just trip over herself? Anyway, she went down as if she had been shot… (LOM) and the rest of the match was a bit of a blur. We tired quicker than City and it showed in the final minutes.

Teas consisted of four; Alice H, George, Alice W and Emily, but a wonderful four at that - who enjoyed something that, at a guess, was lasagna. NB I am not suggesting Wilberforce Road teas were unidentifiable, I just don't know what they were.