Meridian School’s U14 futsal team finished runners up in a north east Herts tournament hosted by eventual winners Freman College.
A tight final saw a last-gasp winner for the hosts as they stole the gold medal, and a place at the Herts School Games finals, from under Meridian’s noses.
The girls played three games in total.
First up for Meridian was Edwinstree.
A nervy first few moments soon disbanded as Meridian cruised into a two-goal lead.
Aimee Holden and Jaz Racher combined well to both get on the scoresheet before the half-time interval.
Meridian continued to press in the second half, where Abby Laughlin and Holly Rowdon grabbed a goal apiece to end the match 4-1.
Following their opening win, Meridian were given an early shock by Greneway in their second game, as they found themselves 2-1 down, despite Holden’s opener.
Keeper Dina Parcell made some fantastic saves to keep Meridian in sight and they soon re-discovered the form from their Edwinstree win.
On the break, Abby Laughlin played a great through-ball for Racher to level proceedings.
This rallied Meridian who notched three goals in the second half to win 5-2.
This meant the final match against Freman would be the decider as their opponents had also won both their matches.
The game proved to be a close-fought encounter with the teams heading in at the interval goalless.
Meridian again had Parcell to thank for keeping them in the match.
With no sign of a opener for either side, the game meandered towards the full-time whistle.
However, an interception at a Meridian kick-in allowed Freman to counter-attack and snatch the win.
As soon as play was restarted from the goal, the final whistle blew to hand Freman the win and the gold medal.
Meridian’s player of the tournament was keeper Parcell, conceding just two goals in the three matches.
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