KING'S Hawford girls' under 11s secured a Midlands finals place by winning the Worcestershire independent schools' trophy.

In freezing conditions the pupils from the Claines school impressed at Royal Grammar School The Grange.

They faced teams from the hosts, Bromsgrove, Malvern St James and King’s St Alban’s in a four-match tournament.

King’s Hawford's first three games resulted in a win and two draws to put them in joint top place with Bromsgrove.

It went down to the final match against Malvern St James and they succeeded in winning by at least four goals in just 10 minutes to head the table.

Captain Bryony Gillgrass rose to the challenge by finding the back of the net with tremendous pace and accuracy.

The girls head off to the regional competition at the end of March.

School deputy headteacher Amanda Marshall-Walker said: “They worked together superbly as a team and attacked the final game with determination and energy.”

Gillgrass said: “Although it was frustrating not to score in two out of the first three matches our team showed great courage and strength of character in the last match to win by a considerable margin.”