Romsey Men’s 4s were playing away at Hamble with a weakened team as several key players were playing further up the club.
They had manged to draft in debutante Pete O’Hara and club stalwart Jim East to help shore up the midfield.
Push back was at 12.00 with rainy and windy conditions to deal with.
Hamble started brightly and you could see Romsey were trying to settle in to a new formation and new personnel.
They were just starting to settle but Hamble broke smartly and finished a nice move to take the lead. 1-0
This spurred Romsey on and now they started to pass and find their men and both wingers Andy Moger and Matt D were starting to cause problems in the opposition half.
Half chances were starting to fall to Sean Rawles and Carl Hendy up front who were working hard to find space in a well drilled Hamble defence.
It was not long before Romseys passing found its mark and a beautiful passing move starting from Will P in defence all the way down the field before being slid across the D for Matt D to finish accurately. 1-1!
Romsey were now in control and soon picked a second goal with a smart finish from Bryn W arriving late in the D to smash the ball past the defender on the line who could nothing to stop it. 2-1!
Half time was approaching and a loose ball in midfield saw Hamble break through and punish Romsey against the run of play 2-2!
The second half started and both teams were on the attack determined to get something from the match. The Romsey defence was under a lot of pressure and were forced into some great defending from Duncan Sanders , Rob Cav and Pete O’Hara to keep Hamble at bay. The midfield were also having to word hard with Barry H linking well with Matt D trying to get Romsey up the field.
A Romsey defender looked to slide a quick ball infield but was read well by Hamble and intercepted , the attacker was through into the D , goal keeper Ollie O’H was smart of his line to narrow the angle but the attacker finished well low and hard into the corner. 3-2!
Romsey heads did not go down and now chased the game with Will P making a succession of great runs with the ball from one end of the pitch to the other no one could get near him . This forced two short corners and put Romsey on the front foot again.
Jim East picked the ball up in midfield a slid a ball into Carl Hendy who expertly with his back to goal controlled and shot in one motion into the left hand corner giving the keeper no chance. 3-3!
The final whistle went 5 minutes later to finish a second half that was end to end.
Romsey deserved the point and the whole team had given 100% to the end.
Player of the match – Will P , great energy and super second half , well done.
Fabulous fours – strike again
Match Report 1st December 2018
The ladies’ fourth team were on sparkling form again this week against Fleet & Ewshot, and are celebrating an unprecedented (for them!) unbeaten streak. The team manager Hilary Andrews was delighted with the away match outcome of 2 – 2.
The hosts started off strong with a fast and furiousattack, conceding an early corner heroically saved by the artful goalie Derien Pugh. The hosts quickly followed through with a 2nd strong counter attack off a long corner scoring the first goal. The fours undeterred fought back with sweeping attack up the wing by Parminder Mew and Angela Procter. Jo Field passed a beautiful ball to Tracey Mason who was in position to tap the ball into the goal.
Fleet & Ewshot took advantage of spritely forwards to quickly follow up with a 2nd goal. Romsey’s fighting spirit quickly drew the teams even with Cara Cox driving the ball up the pitch to the Clare’s – Cooper & Herbert, with Claudia French, Mandy Berendsen and Tracey Mason making use of the central channel to set Hilary Andrews up to smash the ball into the back of the net for the 2nd goal.
The 2nd half of the game mirrored the first half with the Marino’s and Claire Wise chasing down the attacking side providing a strong defence. The well match teams spent equal amounts of times in each others D’s, which finished at full time on 2:2 draw. Both teams thoroughly enjoyed the game, posing for a combined match photo at the end. Star player was Claire Wise, for achieving so many clearances from the D without giving away short corners. As always the Fabulous Fours are grateful to their Fabulous Manager and Coaching Staff for their continued support and direction, allowing this fabulously determined team to continue to improve week on week.
U16Bs top the table toppers
U16 Boys pull into second place in league after beating 1st place City of Portsmouth 4-3 in best performance of season… so far!
A sluggish start, which nearly gave Portsmouth an early goal, belied the remaining 68 minutes of the match as the U16’s showed depth, speed and strength across the full team. The match saw great pressure from both sides as the play moved quickly from one end to the other, with fast breaks into the D, a total of 11 penalty corners and a score sheet which Romsey kept managing to just stay ahead of Portsmouth on.
Romsey goals from Rufus (2’), Morgan (penalty corner, 6’), Morgan (drag flick, 22’) and Noah (penalty flick, 53’) and 5 saves of direct goal shots by Rob (GK) kept the pressure on Portsmouth. The whole team gave it their all with Ben Sluman keeping pressure up front and Noah, James and Ben leading a strong mid-field in both defence and offence.
The last Portsmouth goal in the 67th minute looked like they may have the momentum to manage an equaliser in the dying minutes, but Romsey stayed strong till the end. With one point between each of the top 3 teams in the league, a strong match against 3rd placed Southampton next weekend will set us up well for another shot at the title!
U16 Girls Cup Heartache
Romsey U16 Girls faced a stern Challenge on Remembrance Sunday against a very strong Salisbury side.
The match started at 2.15pm prompt after a well observed minutes silence.
Romsey started briskly and were quick into the tackle with Clare H winning the ball in midfield and working the ball to Grace M who was working hard to advance the play down the right.
Salisbury were strong defensively and repelled the attack and started to apply pressure immediately, their passing was crisp and expansive and Romsey had to be on their mettle to contain them with excellent defending from Antonia L and Ellie E in the full back positions.
Romsey then had a break with Tessa D making a great run down the wing forcing the Salisbury defence and keeper into work.
Salisbury now found themselves under pressure and the Romsey midfield were working hard with Jess G; pushing the ball up to Jess W who was making a great run into space. Romsey forced a defensive error from Salisbury and Anna R stole in to finish smartly in the corner 1:0 Romsey!
This spurred Salisbury on and they really got the passing and moving together and Romsey were under real pressure and faced a succession of short corners which saw fantastic and brave defending from Mollie O and Katie S.
There was five minutes to half time and Salisbury just kept coming Daisy R was making save after save but finally Romsey were breached and Salisbury scored 1:1.
The second half started and Romsey were putting some good passes together and Liz F was trying hard to get Romsey up the pitch. Salisbury picked up from where they left off and it was not long before they scored a fine team worked goal. To make matters worse they then got a quick third goal and were really in the ascendancy.
Romsey did not give up and all the players were working really hard to stem the flow Emily J worked back and made a great interception, Daisy R came out of goal to make a wonderful smothering save taking the ball and the attacking player, both showing 100% commitment.
Alas Romsey could not stop Salisbury scoring 3 more goals to make the final score 6:1, however Romsey worked very hard and defended extremely well to keep the scoreline respectable.
Well played Salisbury!
Joint players of the match:
Daisy R fantastic display in goal and Liz F who worked very hard in midfield.
M4s hard done by Lavant
Romsey were disappointed to take nothing from this game, in which the scoreline did not reflect the play, and Romsey felt decisions didn’t quite fall their way.
An evenly balanced opening saw Lavant take the lead from a penalty corner, after a Romsey defender was sent to the half way line at the first taking for holding his stick in the air ahead of the goal line. The man advantage was nearly cancelled out with Romsey clearing the ball first through Lukasz Suleja twice and then Andy Moger, but the ball stayed in side the circle for Lavant to force it past Ollie O’Hara in goal.
After O’Hara made a great save from a Lavant shot to avoid it becoming 2-0, Romsey went on the offensive.
Stan Cazaly weaved his way through the Lavant defence only to see his shot well saved by the keeper, and both Bryn Wathen and Barry Hatch had firm shots padded away. Romsey almost equalised from a penalty corner but Matt Dukes shot was saved and the follow up cleared.
The second half started with Romsey still in attack mode, and as Sean Rawles played the ball to Colin Harwood from a penalty corner, he passed to Duke to swivel and shoot to make it 1-1.
The turning point in the game came mid-way through the half, after the Lavant keeper had been forced in to making two more fine saves from Wathen and Duke, Josh Harwood played a ball through to Stan Cazaly on the far post, he stopped the ball and pushed it past the keeper for 2-1. With the ball at the centre cirlce and the teams lined up for the pushback, the Lavant umpire at the far end of the pitch consulted with his colleague and the goal was ruled out for a lifted ball. This was harsh on Romsey, but with Lavant keen to win and providing both umpires, it was a pill they had to swallow.
As against the Isle of Wight a few weeks earlier, with 15 minutes to go, Lavant were awarded a penalty corner and as Ollie O’Hara saved the high flick it dropped to a Lavant player to push it over the line for 2-1 to the home side.
Romsey were crushed and while pushing for an equaliser, and reflecting on their goal that was disallowed, let Lavant have the run of the Romsey half and Lavant quickly scored four more goals with numbers overloading Romsey in the last ten minutes to provide a scoreline that did not reflect the game.
An interesting match awaits in 2019 at home for Romsey as Lavant push to win the league.
U10s are awesome too!
The Roger Merry memorial and Southampton U10 tournament saw much more equally competitive teams than last time and Romsey was less outstanding. That made them work harder and practising coaching tips given by Natalie.
Romsey A played five matches of intense hockey three draws and two wins.
First team up was Trojans B in which Charlie scored the only goal despite several attempts from both Caitlin and Oscar (1-0).
Next up was Salisbury and again, Charlie scored the first goal of the match. Salisbury played the ball nicely towards our goal and managed to get the ball pass our defenders Clara and Anna S and score, ending the match 1-1.
Third match of the day was against Andover. Oscar, Maggie and Caitlin teamed up well as midplayers, passing the ball up to strikers Charlie, Anna andJoe. A long passing from Charlie gave Joe the chance to push the ball into the goal and despite several more shots against the goal, the ball never went over the line. Andover got hold of the ball and run for our goal, which was empty, and put it in only just before the horn went off and the game finished 1-1.
The match against Bournemouth was incredible equal and both teams played well. Bournemouth had a disallowed goal from outside the D and after a lot of hard work Charlie scored a well-deserved goal, finishing the match 1-0 to Romsey.
Finally, the fifth and last match of the day, we were up against Winchester A, a very strong team with a fully equipped fierce goalie. Our defenders, Elise and Clara, worked hard on keeping Winchester out of our goal. Much of the game was in front of Winchesters goal but none of the shots went in and the match ended in a draw 0-0.
A tournament with less goals scored from the team but with fantastic team work and numbers of successful passes. Well done team A; Anna S, Elsie, Joe, Charlie, Oscar, Clara, Caitlin and Maggie.
U8s Are Awesome!!!
Romsey’s U8s played in their first mini festival of the season on Sunday. For half of the squad this was their first games for the club and all of them were awesome!
The crisp and sunny morning meant that although warm in the sun there was a distinct chill in the air but after a good warm up the young squad of 6, 7 and 8 years old were ready for their first match. Marshalled into a 2-4-2 formation by coach Robertson the players confidently strode onto the pitch.
First up were Salisbury and Romsey soon started to dominate. Both teams were fielding several debutants and as a result the more experienced players quickly dominated. Henry and Zach were able to make some telling runs and ended up with two and one goals respectively.
After a short high calorie refueling break our young hockey stars were immediately on fire against Southampton. The whole team camped in Southampton’s half for the duration of the game. Olivia was very brave, despite an injury, and kept pushing the ball forward into the danger area. Romsey ended up winning 6-0, Henry getting two, Hamish one and Zach completing a hattrick.
Trojan’s Bs were next in Romsey’s sights and although they showed a little more resistance, we quickly took control of the game. Zach scored two but the highlight was Cherry scoring her first goal for the club having only started playing this season.
Trojan’s As proved to be a completely different prospect but Romsey produced an amazing team performance. The opposition had been seen beating their last opposition 8-0 so it was clear that the next assignment was going to be a tough one. It lived up to expectation. Trojans produced a fierce onslaught that Romsey very nearly managed to keep out. All players should great technique and perseverance in defence. Emma was a rock, always strong in the tackle and regularly winning the ball. Grace and Cherry were like a pair of terriers hunting the ball down and beating it out of the Romsey D. The performance of the match though was from Hamish who battled hard on the goal line and kept out countless Trojans shots on goal. It was almost inevitable in the end that Trojans scored but the effort from the Romsey players didn’t deserve the loss.
Exhausted but still happy last up was a game versus Andover. Romsey’s enthusiasm kept them going though and they were able to dominate again. Noah showed great resolves throughout and made a number of telling contributions in defence and attack. In the end Henry scored a hattrick enabling Romsey to finish the day on top.
A great morning in the sunshine with 15 goals scored and only 1 conceded. Everyone played brilliantly and the Romsey’s team spirit was awesome!
U10s have amazing time in Southampton
‘B’ enjoyed a lovely sunny morning at the Southampton U10s tournament. Coach Jen Metcalf had the team well organised and everyone can be proud of their performance.
In their first game Romsey took on New Forest B. The match was great to watch with both teams playing some lovely passing hockey. Defenders Camilla, Grace and Jake were frequently called into action but managed to repel every attack. In the dying seconds Freddie burst through from midfield and played a perfect pass to Ben, whose shot crossed the line just as the hooter sounded for the end of the match.
Romsey were pitted against New Forest C in Game 2 and again ran out 1-0 winners. More sterling defending from Camilla and Maya was needed early in the game, before Jake’s pass set up Dylan to score from close range. However Game 3 against Bournemouth proved tougher and Romsey lost 2-0.
Against Southampton in Game 4 Romsey started slowly and conceded and early goal. However the team weren’t downhearted, with Grace and Anna in particular worked hard in midfield. Perseverance was rewarded when Freddie scored a deserved equaliser and the game ended 1-1.
The final game also ended in a draw, this time against a strong Andover team. Both teams had good chances and Jake produced a stunning goal-line save, but neither defence could be beaten so it ended 0-0.
U16Gs sail past Havant
Romsey played Havant at HMS Temeraire in Old Portsmouth with the spinnaker tower as their backdrop.
Push Back was 1pm and Romsey started the match well with Tessa D making a break down the right and forcing herself into the D before shooting wide. Romsey continued to work hard and were passing the ball well in midfield with good work Katie S, Emily J and Grace M.
Havant were quick on the break and the Romsey defence had to be solid with Alex O, Ellie E and Mollie O snuffing out any chances they had. Romsey picked the ball up in Midfield and drove forward and Anna R put a lovely pass through to Tessa D who finished clinically 1:0 Romsey!
This spurred Havant on and they grew into the game and were starting to create chances and Daisy R was put to the test and made nice couple of stops to keep Havant at bay.
However eventually they broke through and scored 1:1, Romsey seemed to be stunned as they had been the better team, so much so with only a few seconds to go in the half Havant scored again 2:1 Havant!
After a good half time team talk Romsey started the second half full of determination, the midfield with Liz F and Clara H were finding their passing game and picking out Jess W who was making some great runs into space, the pressure was building and Grace M was making some great drives down the right wing. It was not long before Grace M found herself in the D and put away a loose ball to equalise! 2:2
Now with ten minutes left and all to play for Havant were on the attack again but there was no way past the Romsey defence with great tackles from Antonia L and Molly O. Alex O was reading the game well and drove Romsey out of defence with Ella M working hard in midfield and breaking into the D and shooting but only to see the ball come off the post.
Romsey had a short corner which was executed well and Liz F smashed a shot which hit the back of the net! the whistle went but not for a goal the ball had not come out of the D, what a shame. Time was now running out and Romsey Midfield were hunting the ball down and as we entered the last minute of play a through ball found Tessa D who had made a great run and under pressure she made no mistake and slotted the ball home! 3:2 Romsey!
A fantastic result and great match to watch , the whole team gave 100% and deserved the win .
Player of match Liz F- Great passing today well done!
Marvellous Minis
Romsey took two teams to the Winchester mini tournament last Sunday.
Romsey 1
Romsey 1 enjoyed the day and showed great spirit despite some challenging matches. Special mention should go to Zach W and Hamish N, who both stepped up from the U8s and played really well throughout.
In their first game the team were caught cold (literally!) and conceded an early goal, but some stoic defending from Hamish N and Ben G kept Andover at bay for the rest of the game. Defending was the order of the day again in game 2 when they came up against a very strong Bournemouth team. They lost 2-0 but gained in confidence throughout and Dylan W almost scored at the end of the game.
Game 3 saw Romsey playing some lovely passing hockey as they took on New Forest. Joe G scored the team’s first goal of the day when he ran onto Dylan W’s precise pass. The New Forest goal was under constant pressure and Romsey were unlucky not to extent their lead, but the 1-0 win gave them great confidence
Game 4 was again a tough match with some tenacious battling from Elsie D and Maggie N in particular, but Southampton proved too strong and Romsey lost 2-0. The team were not to be downhearted and bounced back brilliantly in Game 5 with a 2-0 win against Winchester, with goals from Joe G and Zach W.
By Game 6 everyone was feeling rather tired after a long morning of hockey. Trojans dominated the game and Maya S was forced to make several goal-line saves, and ultimately the team did well to restrict a strong Trojans team to 2-0.
Romsey 2
Winchester hosted the U10 mini tournament and Romsey arrived enthusiastically with two teams. Romsey 2 played with seven players and without any subs and all players were made to swap positions for each match. Clara, Anna, Otto, Freddie, Oscar, Grace and Caitlin all played to their full potential and really showed that great team work really does pay off! Romsey 2 were unbeatable and they barely left the oppositions half of the pitch, winning all six matches! Anna, Clara and Otto were super in defence, protecting the goal when playing without a goalie and being confident to go in for tackles. It was Grace and Otto’s first tournament and they both did brilliantly. Grace and Caitlin showed some great link up play as forwards with Grace scoring six goals and Caitlin three, out of the 13 Romsey goals scored on the day. Freddie and Oscar played well in midfield with strong shots and arguably sometimes too high balls, but both boys scored two goals each.
Below is a list of the match scores. Well done team, you all played fantastically and with amazing energy.
Salisbury-Romsey 2 0-2
Romsey 2-Bournemouth 2 2-1
Southampton 1-Romsey 2 0-1
Trojans 2-Romsey 2 0-4
Romsey 2- New Forest 1 1-0
Romsey 2-Winchester 3 3-0
First match of the day was against Salisbury and Freddie and Oscar were keen to show their confidence on the ball with great skills and had a few disallowed goals due to their shots being too high. Grace scored the first goal after good dribbling up to the D by Oscar and then assisted by Caitlin. Minutes later Freddie shot a hard ball straight into the goal and the match finished 2-0 to Romsey. The strong defence of Clara and Otto were resilient in their tackles.
The next match was against Bournemouth and Freddie was “on fire” and started the match with a nice shot to score just minutes into the game followed by a great assist to Caitlin who scored our second goal. Towards the end of the match Bournemouth was fortunate to score through Grace’s legs and the match ended 2-1.
In the match to follow, Southampton 1 put hard pressure on our team and this was the match that challenged us most. Grace scored our only goal assisted by Oscar.
Nat Jupp the coach went through a serious pep talk before the match against Trojans, which was expected to be our hardest game of the day. On the pitch Romsey dominated the play and won 4-0. Early in the match, Grace scored assisted by Caitlin again and then Freddie dribbled to Oscar who scored our second goal. In quick succession we scored another two goals, by Caitlin and Grace who were a great partnership in front of goal.
In the match against New- Forest 1, Caitlin scored the only goal and Otto shone by fending off two near misses from New-Forest 1.
In our final game it was time to meet the hosting club, Winchester 3. Grace managed to be in the right place when needed and scored the first goal. Romsey had several attempts at the goal and after some great passing in and around the D Oscar hit a smashing shot up into the corner of the goal. In the last minute of the match Grace managed to put in a 3rd goal after great stick skills from both Caitlin and Oscar. Since the team decided to play without a goalie, Anna in defence had an important job of keeping the opponents away from our goal.
It was fantastic to see them all working hard and having fun in a tournament that couldn’t have gone any better. Well done to all team members; Otto, Freddie, Clara, Caitlin, Oscar, Grace and Anna.