MOUNT House Under-11 Girls' hockey team recovered from a slow start in the West of England Regional Hockey Championships, to qualify for the National Championships in December.

After losing their first match against Perrott Hill by the only goal of the match, the girls quickly regrouped and withstood great pressure from the strong Millfield and Sherborne teams to gain 0-0 draws in their next two games.

Mount House notched their first win — a 1-0 victory over Truro — with a goal from Elsa Kent. They followed this up with a win over the strongest team in their group, Durlston Court, Georgie Morris scoring the only goal of the match.

Mount House needed just one more win to get ahead on points. Their opponents — Bristol — proved no match for their attacking game, and they came out comfortable 3-0 winners with goals from Elsa, Georgie and Lucy Massey.

Having worked so hard to earn a place in the top eight teams in the West of England, they understandably tired in the seeding match against Queen's, which they lost 0-3.

This is the first Mount House team to reach this stage of the competition, and the girls are determined to give a good account of themselves at the IAPS National Finals on December 2.