The Fabulous Fours friendly spirit was on full display for Saturday’s match again newcomers Poole 2, who tipped the scales as Romsey’s new favourite opposition. Although the Fab Fours lost 4-0, importantly i) it was less than they anticipated losing by, ii) it was a fantastic fun game and iii) in their hearts (if not on the score sheet) they were winners!
The Fab Fours were supported by their diehard fans – the Fourquettes, sporting yellow and blue balloons. Captain Coops made a tactical decision to play a 5:5 formation with feisty Field, outstanding O’Hara, fleet footed French, capable Coops and maverick Marino’s (senior & junior) as the defensive line, supported by the mighty Manners in goal. The brilliant Berendsen (duo), wiley Wisey, pivotal Procter, warrior Widdowson and fiendish Farquharson were the forward line, who demonstrated some blinding ball skillswhich saw Poole fighting to retain control of the ball.
Poole forced several short corners which were ably defended with no goals conceded. They had several lucky moments converting scrappy balls into goals. A tense moment saw mighty Manners defending a flick goal from the p spot; remarkably she held her ground and batted the ball with courage and confidence. It was like we had won a World Cup, with the team and the fourquettes going wild.
The Fab Fours put Poole under unexpected pressure breaking through their defensive line with some impressive running from pivotal Procter, warrior Widdowson, fiendish Farquharson and brilliant Berenedsen (junior). Farquharsonand warrior Wiidowson forced a couple of errors from the Poole side resulting in three short corners from which they were unlucky not to score goals. Poole in return managed to get the ball out of the D only to be held up by capable Coops and maverick Marino (junior). Feisty Field was on top form in her new domain as queen of defence owning clearance from the danger zone. They were some marvellous intercepts and frustrations for Poole by O’Hara, Wisey and Berendesen (senior). The 2nd half saw a number of injuries for the Fab Fours with a strange disposition taking over the team with O’Hara, Wisey, Berendesen (senior & junior) taking tumbles, resulting in the last 10 minutes of the game with the Fab Fours being reduced to 10 players on pitch.
Although the Fab Four’s ultimately lost this week’s game they were on a high. It was an enormously satisfying game, fairly played against a delightful opposition. And in the words of Yoda “Patience you must have, my young Fabulous Fours”our time for victory will come again.
U14Bs thriller at South Wilts!
Romsey U14 Boys – Sunday, 1st December 2019
Salisbury 8 Romsey 5
This was an entertaining end to end game.
Salisbury had the early chances but Jo in goal denied them with two reflex saves in quick succession. Romsey’s counter attack started with Toby finding Lorne who raced into the Salisbury half beating two players before thumping the ball into the box. The unmarked Jack M stepped forward and struck a fierce drive into the net. Romsey then took control with Luke, Jack S and Will commanding midfield which led to a neat move by Freddie and Rupert down the left finding Jack M who side stepped a defender and struck goal ward. The keeper made a great block but Jack J quickly reacted to net the rebound. Salisbury were still having success and scored twice making it 4 – 2.
From the start of the second half, the defence were tested by a slick Salisbury attack but Owen, Daniel, Ollie and Thomas stood firm until a ball, played into the box, appeared to strike a forward’s foot, Romsey hesitated and the forward scored.
This spurred Romsey back into attack, Harry finding Luke who dribbled past two defenders, before neatly lifting the ball high past the keeper.
Salisbury then scored twice in quick succession against the run of play but Romsey were not for giving up.
Jack S and Will passed from midfield before feeding Lorne on the edge of the D. He dribbled past 3 defenders, his shot was blocked but he reacted first and smashed it home. Salisbury made it 8 and, from the restart, a long pass out of defence from Luke was controlled and played forward in one movement by Jack M. He outpaced the defence and coolly placed it past the advancing keeper.
Romsey then pushed for a result and camped in the Salisbury half. Rupert, Jack S, Lorne and Jack M all had excellent efforts blocked or saved, before Romsey ran out of time.
L4s, Fabulous Fours – a wonderful win
Saturday’s match against Romsey’s favourite opposition (Portsmouth) saw only “the best of times”, contrasting last weeks’ battle, with a well-deserved win of 4-0.
Romsey dominated the game throughout making easy pickings of Portsmouth defensive line with some wonderful play from Grout, Berendsen (Junior) and French (Junior), with some fabulous partnerships. Graceful Grout scored the first goal with an effortless sweep from the top of the D. The 2ndgoal followed shortly from warrior Widdowson, demonstrating some fancy reverse stick hits. Pivotal Procter helped set up goals 3 and 4 ably scored by Awesome Adams (one). Athletic Adams (two) had several serendipitous shots at goal, missing by a whisper.
When Portsmouth were able to break through the Romsey attacking line, they made fast work towards Romsey’s defence – but found the wall of yellow difficult to counter. Tenacious defensive play came from capable Coops, wily Wisey and outstanding O’Hara. Brilliant Berendsen (Senior) had some epic moments, put Portsmouth players under pressing channelling them down the wing. Forward Field took a turn at a new defensive position and found her calling with some outstanding shadowing and hefty hits from the 16.
As always, the goal was covered by the very adept Andrews – who defended with her usual grit and gumption. Player of the match was warrior Widdowson for her fabulous first league match goal.
The Fab Four’s ended this week’s game on a high and in the words of Babe Ruth “Remember ladies, there’s heroes and there’s legends. Heroes get remembered but legends (Fab Fours) never die, follow your heart ladies, and you’ll never go wrong.”
L3s, Fearsome Frees – at freezing Farnham
The Fearsome Frees (3s) travelled to a freezing Farnham to play Aldershot & Farnham. The chilly game got off to a flying start with magic Mason, marvellous Morgan, legendary Loran and gifted Gladstone breaking through “Shots” defensive line to have several valiant attempts at a goal.
“Shots” were a well organised side, with a fast forward attack. Romsey defence held strong, supported by clever Cox, magnificent Marino (Junior) and hardy Harding. Harding was responsible for consistently hoofing the ball to the other end of the pitch, which was then expertly picked up by gifted Gladstone, wonderful Woods and magic Mason. Unfortunately during the first half of the match “Shots” had two lucky goals from an opportunistic player on the back post.
At half time the Fearsome Frees were undeterred and came out fighting with some frenetic intercepts from happnin’ Herbet, wonderful Wood and legendary Loran – passing to marvellous Morgan on the wing who was able to run the ball towards the “Shots” goal. Mason and Wood had some great play together and gifted Gladstone had several more shots at goal.
Awesome Andrews was player of the match stopping at least another twenty goals from being conceded. Her fearless form saw her batting the ball and running out of goal to kick it clear. Magnificent Marino (Junior) shadowed a player from one side of the pitch to the other frustrating her attempt to get in the D. Clever Cox cleared the ball from the D, ably supported by Harding and Wood.
Although the Fearsome Frees fought hard at full time the score was 6-0 with four goals in quick succession during the 2nd half. Despite this week’s loss– they played with heart, determination and grit…… “To play the game is good, To win is better, But to love the game is best of all” Anon – next week is a new opportunity to be fearsome and fantastic again!
Training Cancelled Tonight
U12, U14 and Men’s Training has been cancelled this evening, Wednesday 4th December.
Unfortunately with the temperature forecast to be below 5C the pitch will not be safe to play on.
Clinical M4s Hold Off Trojans
Romsey Mens 4s played Trojans at home in the late push back at 4pm on Saturday the 30th of November.
The match started under floodlights and at about 5 degrees Celsius. Romsey started briskly and were quick to get the ball moving up the pitch, attackers Dan B and Mike P were using the full width of the pitch to good effect.
The space they were creating gave room for Gorden F, Tom W and Noah C to run into and put immediate pressure on the Trojans defence.
It was not long before the speed of attacks and pressure told, Tom W broke into the D and calmly slotted the ball home. 1-0!
Romsey still had to be assured at the back and a solid start from Nick C, Pete O, Simeon F and Lukasz S gave Romsey confidence to build from the defence.
Half way through the half Romsey were awarded a short corner and Noah C found Tom W with a strong Hit which Tom cleverly deflected past the Trojan keeper at close quarters giving him no chance.
2-0!
Romsey were now starting to purr, great midfield inter play from Andy M, Phil O and Freddie O had Trojans at sixes and sevens. Debutante Ian A, now up front almost scored with the ball agonisingly stopped on the line by a Trojans player.
The 3rd goal soon came though , Nick C played the ball out from the 16 to Pete O who fed it down the line, Andy M picked it up and fed the ball over to Mike P who saw Dan B in the clear and slotted a well weighted pass to him and Dan did the rest with a cool finish in the corner 3-0! Great team goal!
Half time came with Romsey well on top. The second half started and after a few minutes you could see it was a tighter game and Trjoans had clearly had a stern team talk.
Romsey conceded ground and were having to defend far more and midfielders Rob Cav and Gordon F were having to drop back to help the defence. Ollie O was forced into a string of important saves but could not stop Trojans scoring twice inside ten minutes.
Trojans tails were up and Romsey were flustered. It took a few minutes for them to regain their composure and get back to the pass and move game which had been working so well. When they did they took their chance again with Trojans pushing for the equaliser a quick break saw Mike P at the edge of the D pick out a well timed run from Tom W who made no mistake for number 4 and his hatrick!
With only minutes left Trojans knew the game was up and Romsey finished the match worthy winners. 4-2
Man of Match – Ollie O – important second half saves.
Fabulous Ladies Fours a tale of two halves
Saturday’s match against Romsey’s nemesis Trojans was a tale of two halves. As in the words of Charles Dickens “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom……”
The first half was defined by a frustrated Trojans, who although on the attack were unable to break through the determined defensive line of Marino (Junior), clever Cox, Jones, Wise(y) and O’Hara. Trojans had the benefit of a number of short corners, but Goalie Procter demonstrated her usual tenacious spirit and courageous goal coverage kicking and batting several fast balls out of the D, with clever Cox and Marino (Junior) on hand to belt the ball out of danger. Wonderful Wisey, joyful Jones and outstanding O’Hara had some marvellous intercepts, vexing the attacking side.
Captain Cooper (Coops) supported the midfield exasperating Trojans’ attack with some nifty turns and drag Vs, winning the ball on more than one occasion. Whiplike Widdowson showed her usual gumption with some swift midfield runs, putting Trojans under pressure. Fantastic Field and amazing Adams had a perfect partnership with flying attacking runs, supported by brilliant Budge and magic Mason. Patient Procter (senior) had the opportunity to goal hang and nearly swiped the ball into the Trojans goal on a couple of occasions.
At half time, neither side had conceded a goal. And then Winter came…. Trojans dominated the 2nd half with 4 goals in quick succession. Romsey valiantly battled on – but another win evaded them. Marino (Junior) was player of the match for her determination to keep the Trojans “White Walkers” at bay!
U8s big squad delivers big time!
Under 8s Southampton Tournament – Sunday 17th November
The last match report concluded with “If all players are available for the next tournament, it will be a strong squad to select from”. And a strong, large squad it certainly was – 11 strong giving the coaches a challenge to give all players a fair opportunity.
We opened against Andover in a game which we thoroughly dominated, but unfortunately failed to score. Both teams had large squads so fielded 8 players instead of the usual 7 and we struggled to find space to go around their defence. Our defence easily dealt with any clearances or opposition attacks so the ball never got into our half. This continued throughout the morning with Emma, William and Lawrence generally playing that role. 0-0, a solid if frustrating start.
Next up were Salisbury A who succumbed to an improved performance from Romsey. Cherry was tackling hard and controlling midfield, leading to Grace taking a pass near the goal, controlling it well before getting her feet around and slotting the ball into the goal. A 1-0 lead. Then Olivia followed up with a ruthless finish to another cross. An excellent 2-0 win.
After a long break, Grace was again on the scoresheet against New Forest A. With Gulliver and Jake’s help in midfield, Hamish was beginning to show-off his skills. Hunter, just days after his 5th birthday, was also getting involved tackling and carrying the ball forward. In the end the dominance and pressure told and Hamish escaped to score a good goal which gave Romsey a 2-0 lead at the end of the match.
Bournemouth were the next opposition. We had failed to score against them in the previous tournament as they were impressively strong in defence. A quickly taken free-hit by Hamish took them by surprise and Noah reacted well to score. Final score – 1-0, a good result against tough opposition.
The later games in the schedule are normally affected by tiredness, but the strength and fresh legs in this big squad meant Romsey were just getting started! Southampton were the unfortunate opposition as easily won 4-0. Grace picked off her third goal of the tournament whilst Noah really woke up with 2 more goals. However Lawrence made the most impressive impact as a substitute and released from defence into midfield was able to show his ability. Immediately after coming on he tackled, took the ball up to the edge of the D and finished strongly to score his first goal for the Club.
The final game started almost 3 hours after the first, but the players put in another completely dominant display. Noah showed real improvement in movement and anticipation as he ran onto plenty of passes from Hamish to add two more goals to his impressive morning’s work (5 in total). Not to be outdone, Hamish also finished his contribution with a lifted reverse stick shot to impress the crowd, although he was disappointed it didn’t quite make the top corner – keep on practising!
With the defence rarely involved and a large squad it was difficult to get all players involved resulting in two coaches being far more tired (mentally) than the players. Although the players dealt with the substitutions and lack of game time well – maybe we’ll select a smaller squad for the next one in Romsey on the 8th December!
U14Gs fightback for the win!
U 14 Girls played Salisbury away on Sunday the 17th of November on a cold overcast day.
Romsey was sporting the new junior away kit which they hoped would bring them luck!
Romsey made a fine start to the match and for the first 10 mins they dominated possession. There were some lovely passing combination moves up front and in midfield Eva A , Rosie B and Isobel R were looking very threatening in attack.
Salisbury were no slouches though and they had some good attacking players and the Romsey defence had to be on their toes. There was some great tackling from Harriet F , Charlotte W and Anna W to keep things level.
Salisbury attacked again and this time a cruel deflection fell into the path of the Salisbury forward who calmly slotted the ball home. 1-0!
This was against the run of play and Romsey knew they could get back into the match, after a slight formation tweak which pushed Lily JP into midfield and Anna W to centre back Romsey looked much stronger and started to tick.
Charlotte A and Mia A were picking up loose balls and getting Romsey on the attack time and time again. Eva A and Isobel R were starting to get round the sides of the Salisbury defence and on one occasion got a shot away which the keeper got a pad to but not enough to stop Rosie B scoring on the rebound to make it 1-1!
This was turning into an enthralling contest, at the other end Romsey keeper Neve R was forced into gloving away and high looping ball to safety which was just creeping into the top corner otherwise.
As the second half started Romsey intensified the pressure and Katie B and Lily JP were winning tackle after tackle in midfield and setting up Romsey attacks. On one such attack a ball found Eva A on the right of the D, she fired a hit across the D where Isobel R took it under her spell and created an angle to shoot past the keeper 2-1!
This spurred Salisbury on and with 5 minutes to go they pushed forward and Romsey were under lots of pressure defensively however remained strong with great work; from Ella T, Harriet F and Anna W thwarting more attacks.
In the last minute Salisbury had two successive short corners which bought a great save from Neve R and and great defensive block from Mia A.
Romsey held on though to complete the come back, another great team performance.
Players of the match – Eva A- A constant threat
– Neve R -two vital saves.
M4s Even Stevens against Salisbury!
Men’s 4th XI played Salisbury at home on Saturday the 16th of November on bright cold afternoon.
The first half was a tight affair with no team giving ground and both defences needing to be on their toes. There was the odd foray forward from Romsey which saw a great run from Harry M which took him from the half way line to the D before he was tackled by the last defender. Sean R also had a half chance .
Romsey’s defence was tight though and great work from Gordon F, Duncan S, Pete O and Nick C saw the teams go in 0-0 at halftime.
The second half started far more open and both sides were moving the ball well and Romsey’s midfield were starting to tick. Christian P , Rob N , Phil O were working hard and getting Romsey up the pitch.
Salisbury had pressure of their own though and even with more great defending from Gorden F and Pete O they could not stop a break into the D which saw Lukasz S come off his line and make a triple save!! before the 4th shot deflected off his stick and into the goal.
Romsey felt hard done by and continued to press , Barry H and Freddie O were working hard in midfield to release the ball forward and a great swivel from Freddie O nearly released Sean R.
Finally their persistence paid off and Mike P after a good call from Christian P fed a ball enabling Christian to dance past a couple of players on the back line before pulling back a ball for Sean R to calmly slot home past the diving keeper. 1-1
Both teams kept things tight for the last 10 mins and the game ended even stevens!
A fair result on reflection.
Man of the match – Gordon F Great defensive display.