Romsey U16 girls played league leaders Petersfield on Sunday 20th of January on a beautiful sunny morning at HCS.
Push back was 11.30am and Romsey were determined not to fall to a 7-0 defeat against Petersfield as they did on the first game of the season.
Petersfield are a strong team and started so. Romsey were forced into some early defensive work and Alex O and Molly O had to be sharp to deny Petersfield.
The Romsey midfield were struggling to find space despite good work down the Left from JessG and Emily J
Midway through the half Petersfield pressure paid of and they broke quickly and scored. 1-0!
Shortly after that they were pressing again and despite dogged defending from Antonia L and Katie S they found a way through to make it 2-0.
Romsey were digging deep now and the midfield with Clara H and Liz F started to put some passes together, one found its way to Anna R who turned smartly and fed a lovely through ball to Grace M who had made a lovely run and found herself one on one with the keeper , she made a great angle for the shot which beat the keeper but agonisingly hit the post.
Halftime came and the Romsey were determined to make a match of it in the second half.
They started brightly with Tessa D making a couple of great runs which produced shots and two good saves from the Petersfield keeper.
Romsey were knocking at the door and before long after another run from Tessa D , Grace M came in at the back post and calmly slotted the ball home 2-1!
The game had now reached a critical spell and Petersfield upped the level again putting huge pressure on the Romsey defence , they had a succession of short corners which produced great blocks from Molly O and Alex O. Jess W had dropped back to help the defence and produced two vital clearances.
Daisy R in goal also was forced into making a fantastic double save but eventually the Petersfield pressure told and they broke through 3-1!
Romsey heads did not go down , although Petersfield came again and Daisy R was called into action time after time and with 10 mins to go Petersfield struck again putting the match beyond Romsey.
Final score Romsey 1-4 Petersfield
A Gritty Romsey performance , but the league leaders prevailed.
Player of the match Alex O – Great defending
M4s battle past Poole
Romsey battled to inflict a similar scoreline to the away fixture in a great advert for lower league hockey between two sides who balanced youth and experience.
It was Poole who started the brighter, putting their better prepared warm up routine to the test they played the ball down their right, taking out Pete O’Hara and Andy Moger, then played the ball past Duncan Sanders and Dave Loescher beautifully to leave their young forward to reverse strike the ball just inside the post past Ollie O’Hara in goal.
Simeon Field roused Romsey, by challenging the centre midfielders to get a grip on the game, and Morgan Robertson rose to the task, taking a lead role in winning the ball and distributing it left and right. Romsey made some half chances for Dan Blackman and Phil Orak up front, but when they got the ball to Stan Cazaly on the right, Romsey started to open up the Poole defence.
Romsey equalised when Cazaly played the ball across to Steve White, who appeared to have under hit his reverse stick shot but it squeezed in under the keeper.
Then Dave Loescher brought the ball out of defence, over the half way line and then up to the Poole circle. He won a penalty corner and stayed up to support the move. Colin Harwood’s push out to Morgan Robertson resulted in the ball not being cleared, and Dan Blackman stretched to play the ball to Man of the Match Cazaly to fire in from a tight angle to give Romsey a 2-1 HT lead.
In the second half Romsey pushed forward, and another penalty corner shot from Robertson was not cleared, Romsey had several chances to get the ball over the line, eventually Harwood making it 3-1.
Harwood then played a perfectly weighted ball to Cazaly on the half way line, and the right sided player ran with the ball to the top of the circle before shooting and seeing the keeper only able to deflect it inside the post for 4-1.
With Duncan Sanders going off injured, Robertson dropped to centre back, and Blackman stepped up to cap a fine game on his return by playing centre midfield. This allowed Harwood to play higher up the pitch, and a good move saw Steve White make it 5-1 with a shot on the turn.
Poole scored a consolation second late on to mirror the scoreline from the away fixture, but Romsey were worthy winners, and the game allowed some of the players returning from injury and those playing only their first ever games to gain some confidence and pitch time.
U10s have fun in the sun in Bournemouth
The weather was cold but bright for New Forest’s tournament at Bournemouth Sports Centre on 20th January 2019.
In the first of their five matches, Romsey had Trojans pinned back deep in their own half for most of the match. Against the run of play, however, Trojans managed to go 1 ahead with a lucky goal. Fortunately, in the last few minutes of the match, Grace was set up with a lovely through ball and calmly finished in the left corner. The match ended 1-1 and Romsey were very unlucky not to win.
If Romsey enjoyed the better of their first match, they completely dominated the second. Clara put in a very solid shift by snuffing out any Salisbury attacks and Charlie defended high up the pitch. The ball was rarely out of the Salisbury half and towards the end, the Salisbury goalkeeper was under siege. Although Camilla and Grace came close, Romsey were unable to convert their territory into goals and the match finished 0-0.
Romsey were able to maintain their dominance in this match. Freddie went on some dazzling runs through the middle and Maya tidied up well at the back. Grace enjoyed the space up front and had soon poached a hat-trick. Charlie then made it 4 with an outstanding solo run topped off with a fine finish. Salisbury managed to pull back a consolation goal at the end and the match finished 4-1 to Romsey.
Bournemouth were a very good team, with 3 big strong boys in midfield. Romsey toiled hard and there was some heroic defending by both Annas, Dylan, Maya and Clara. However Romsey found it very hard to keep possession against such strong opposition and the match finished 3-0 to Bournemouth.
Romsey looked very comfortable at first and went 1-0 up with a goal from Grace. Unfortunately Winchester fought back and went level with a lucky goal following some confusion in the Romsey goalmouth. Romsey then poured players forward but then found themselves outnumbered at the back. Winchester capitalised on this and snatched the winner. The match ended 2-1.
Overall the team looked comfortable in all but one of their matches and all players deserve a lot of credit for their skill and their attitudes. Next up is the Salisbury tournament in February.
U8s enjoy a glorious day in Bournemouth
Romsey fielded a very young squad at the mini festival in Bournemouth this morning. With an average age of 6 the squad would need to rely on talent rather than size and experience to succeed.
First up were the hosts Bournemouth. Romsey were slow out of the blocks and despite some hard work lost 2-0.
Winchester were next and Romsey fought hard to secure a tight 1-0 victory with Zak scoring the first of the 7 goals he scored across the morning.
By the third game Romsey had found their feet and Andover B were in their sights. Hard work in midfield from Cherry ensured the opposition could never settle and Romsey ran out 2-0 winners.
Andover A were a much tougher proposition but Romsey were determined and eventually Noah popped up at the back post to slot home the winner.
After a welcome refuel break Romsey’s young tyros returned to the field full of energy. Olivia was now full of energy and she created opportunities for her team mates. Henry scored the fourth goal to seal a dominate win against Winchester.
Grace was excellent all day and her tenacity in tackling meant that Romsey were regularly turning the ball over. The last game saw the team really hit too form and won 4-0 against their local rivals. Hamish showing particular skill scoring his goal after a run which included 3D skills.
Despite their success Romsey played with great team spirit and sportsmanship. Debutant Elijah, 3 1/2, was included in everything, definitely one to watch for the future!
M4s- All hands to the pumps v Trojans!
The team were struggling for numbers as at least 6 regular players were playing up , it was all hands to the pump with every resource drained to get a team out.
DOD – Harwood Senior, Drove of without B wathen at the end of the match, almost got home! but had to come back….
Great hockey delivered by U10 teams at Home tournament
In the U10s section, Romsey A played 6 matches and came away with 1 win, 4 draws and only 1 defeat. Bournemouth A, Andover A, New Forest A and Southampton A were all held to 0-0 draws. Brilliant defending was needed throughout from Clara, Jake and Maya to repel frequent attacks. Their only defeat came against Salisbury A, when the team were caught out by a fast breakaway in the first minute of the game. Wide players Otto and Sophie ran tirelessly throughout to relieve the pressure on the defence but they couldn’t find an equaliser and lost 1-0. The highlight of the morning was the well-deserved win against a strong Winchester A team. Some excellent passing in midfield between Freddie and Ben set Dylan up to shoot from the top of the D. His strike hit the post, but fortunately bounced back out and Jake reacted brilliantly to smash the ball home.
Romsey B were very strong during the whole tournament, winning four and drawing two matches. The win against Trojans B was a highlight. After enduring five minutes of pressure in front of the Romsey goal, Charlie broke free and sprinted towards an open Trojans goal, banging the ball straight in to end the match 1-0. Against Southampton, Joe showed great goalie traits, Benji, Maggie and Anna S were solid in midfield and Oscar managed to score a goal in the last minute, making it a 1-1 draw. Elsie shone in the match against Bournemouth, picking up the ball on the half way line and scoring on her second attempt at goal. Caitlin was then cool under pressure scoring Romsey’s second goal of the match to end 2-0 to Romsey. In the final match of the tournament, Charlie and Grace linked up to score the only goal of the match and another win for Romsey. The whole squad can be proud of their solid performance and their excellent attitude throughout the tournament. Well done everyone!
U16 Girls Give NonEarly Gifts To The Forest !
New Forest made a strong start and pushed Romsey back to the edge of their D and they had to sustain a number of attacks in the first 10 minutes. The defence were very strong with super interceptions and tackling from Alex O , Antonia L and Ellie E.
Romsey started to apply some pressure themselves and wingers Jess G and Grace M made some great runs to get Romsey up the pitch. Romsey forced two short corners in quick succession and Liz F forced a good save from the Forest keeper.
New Forest regained their composure and came again with some good passing moves up the pitch and on one attack broke into the D with only the Romsey keeper to beat, Daisy R was off her line in a flash and made a fantastic diving smother save to deny the Forest forward.U8s are awesome again!
Romsey hosted u8 teams from across the county this morning. Everyone enjoyed the sunny weather, scrummy cakes, and some cracking hockey.
Romsey’s squad of 8 was made up of three 7 and 5 six year olds. They all played awesomely!
First up were Trojans B and Zach was quickest off the mark. He bagged a hat trick before Trojans blinked and Romsey ran out easy winners.
Trojans A were a much tougher prospect and proved too strong for the young Romsey team. They battled hard though, Grace was outstanding and very brave in the tackle.
Romsey recovered from their disappointment and battled out a brave draw against Salisbury. Olivia and Emma toughing it out, snuffing the oppositions attacks out.
Our young team returned to winning ways against Southampton. Brilliant passing saw the ball move from left back by Hamish to Zach in midfield up to Henry who ran in Romsey’s first. Zach doubled the lead with another string break set up by Cherry’s strong midfield effort.
New Forest were very strong and won 4 – 0 against a tiring Romsey team. They refuelled though and came out fighting against Southampton B. Romsey won 1-0 courtesy of Hamish breaking from midfield showing remarkable control and some 3D skills before crossing to Noah who knocked the ball in at the back post.
The last game of the morning was against Andover and both teams brought out their A game. They competed hard and drew 0-0 in the end, finishing with a loud round of 3 cheers.
A great morning and some tremendous hockey played by all.
U16 Boys Scrape past Southampton
Romsey Under 16 Boys secured an important win today at home to Southampton by 4 goals to 3. The match ebbed and flowed but Romsey kept up the pressure and 2 goals from Rufus Taylor and 2 from Noah Cooper ensured victory for Romsey. This takes Romsey to second in the table just behind Winchester.
M2s run out of puff v Trojans
Romsey ran out of puff against a strong Trojans squad who used their subs effectively in the second period while Romsey played with only 10.
An even first half saw both sides miss chances, with Alexis and Ben Harris both making in roads in to the Trojans circle supported by Matt Loveday on the left and Stan Cazaly making his 2s debut on the right.
Trojans took the lead with a quick break with Romsey in their final quarter. Nigel King having no chance from the reverse hit shot with spare forwards around.
A tactical switch to move Josh Harwood to centre back stopped Trojans cutting through the Romsey defence and Jamie Sanderson provided the outlet on the left for Romsey to clear up.
The second half started strongly for Romsey with Tom Ponsford and Tom Wigley playing some neat one twos around the Trojans defence but couldn’t make a break through.
Another break saw Trojans over load their rightside and then play the ball across to a spare man at the back post for 2 0 to the visitors.
Romsey didn’t lay down and despite now being down to ten players due to One player having another engagement they pulled a goal back when Stan Cazaly was at the back post to poke in from close range.
Then Alexis H and Tom W combined for a Trojans player to divert the ball to Ben H on the goal line to get a touch for 2 2.
Romsey with a player less were then cut open, and as Trojans got past Colin Harwood, Nigel King pulled off a fine save only for the ball to drop agonisingly away from Josh H stick and close to a Trojan one for 3 2.
With Romsey pushing forward Trojans grabbed another, although a foot may have been involved in the pass, for 4 2, and a fifth was ruled out when Trojans acknowledged an offence.
A strong performance from the team in the next two matches can see Romsey gain some momentum for 2019.