Bradford Ladies Hockey Club U19s were denied a hat-trick of final appearances in the U19 National Indoor Competition when they lost out to Hightown in the semis.

Bradford and Hightown, from Liverpool, were the two representatives from the North of England at Crystal Palace.

After the group matches Bradford were equal top on points with Harksten Magpies, with three wins and a draw, but went through as runners-up on the goals scored ruling. This gave them a semi-final tie against Hightown, clear winners of the other group.

Hightown's experienced squad ran in a convincing performance which ended Bradford's chance of reaching the final for the third year running.

Hightown went on to win the final against Bramsgrove and were worthy winners of the National title.

Two members of the Bradford U19 team Hannah Linforth and Nadine Merabi have been selected for the England U18 team to play in the Home Counties Tournament at Milton Keynes in March, and the European Championships in Lyon, France, at Easter.

The two young players will also feature prominently in the Bradford first XI National League team which begins the second half of their outdoor league programme this weekend with a double header of two home matches.

On Saturday they play top of the table Loughborough Students at 12.15pm, and Sunday a rearranged fixture against Aldridge at 2.30pm, both at Thornton Sports Centre.

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