Esher hockey star Sophie Bray completed a great season by claiming the man of the match award as Birmingham won the BUCS Women’s PricewaterhouseCoopers Hockey Championship in Sheffield.

The 19 year-old University of Birmingham student scored the opening goal and was a constant menace to the opposition in her side’s 3-1 defeat of University of Durham.

The victory meant Birmingham secured the prestigious title for the first time since 1974 on the back of Bray’s efforts - a point not lost on skipper Naomi Halladay.

“I have to thank Sophie for putting in a great performance. It is so long since we won the tournament, this is a massive achievement,” she added.

Bray, a promising England youth Olympics international, set the tone for the performance and was quick to emphasis the triumph was a team effort with her accolades providing the icing on the cake.

“To get player of the match is a bonus of course, but to win it is what I am most pleased about,” she said.

“I thought we played really well, but to give Durham credit they are a good side, they played well and they gave us a really good game.”

Birmingham had led 2-0 before Durham brought a goal back with 15 minutes remaining, however, Bray admitted her side’s third goal settled the nerves.

“In the back of your mind you know that they are back in it, but we did well,” she added.

“We carried on attacking, didn’t fall onto the back foot, scored another goal and that gave us a little more confidence going into the last ten minutes.”