Category: Minis Report

A sunny and crisps morning gave Romsey U10 a great start to the tournament. We entered two teams with seven in each, so no subs and a lot of playing for all children. 

 Grace, Sabine, Rosie, Sophie, Daisy, Charlie and Oscar made up team Romsey A. We had the advantage of having both Sophie and Daisy, sharing the goalie gear and goalie duties with pride. Out of seven matches, Romsey A won five, drew one and lost one. All players rotated on the pitch and had a go at all positions, even if they all have their preferred place on the pitch. Romsey scored 16 goals and only let in two. Grace was top scorer with six goals followed by Oscars five and Sabine and Charlie with two each. But despite getting the glory of scoring, we also won our matches due to a strong defence, were Sophie, Daisy and Rosie played important roles. The team showed great hockey skills with lovely passes in between them and winning most of the matches quite easily. However, both New Forest team A and B and Bournemouth B challenged Romsey considerately. The audience enjoyed watching you play fantastic hockey, Well done Romsey A.

 Thanks to Eva for looking after the team so well!

Under 8s Romsey Tournament – Sunday 8 December

 The 4th tournament of the season gave us an opportunity to play at home and host the tournament.  The format was changed so that all matches would complete in 90 minutes to allow the Under 10s tournament to follow.  This produced a very intense schedule for this young group with 3 consecutive matches, then a 20 minute break, followed by a further 3 matches.  We felt in a strong position to benefit from this with a strong squad of 10 players, but due to injury and illness unfortunately Laurence and Emma had to withdraw.  As both of them are key defensive lynch-pins, it presented a tough challenge to the squad and also the coach’s rotation plans to keep the players fresh.  Such is the enthusiasm of the youngsters to gain tournament exposure that Rory and Hunter were keen to make the most of the others misfortune.

 We started strongly against New Forest which meant that Cherry had an easy time sharing defensive duties with William.  Hamish and Noah controlled the game well and both scored early on to calm nerves and enable early squad rotation.  Final score 2-0.

 Hamish swapped into defence for the next game against Andover A enabling Cherry to move back into midfield.  We dominated the game and Noah picked up his second goal in 2 games to give Romsey a 1-0 win at the final whistle.  The squad’s performance in these games were absolutely top class.  The passing and movement was fantastic and a real pleasure to see after their hard work in training.  In particular, Gracemade a great run from one side of the goal to the other at a free-hit which Cherry spotted and provided an excellent pass.  We were playing well and were ready for the next match.

 We hadn’t played Trojans since the 1st tournament in early October when they comfortably beat us in our only defeat of the season so far.  So we were keen to show how much we had improved.  It was a tense game with the team giving maximum commitment.  The first 5 minutes action took place close to the Romsey goal, with the whole team tackling hard and trying to clear their lines.  Hamish made some brilliant tackles and clearances in front of the goal which was reminiscent of the backs to the wall performance just over 12 months ago at the Southampton tournament. Unfortunatelyhistory repeated itself and we conceded a well-worked goal.  Strangely, the rest of the game was much more even as the team managed to pass the ball out of defence with Hamish and Noah making strong runs towards the Trojans goal.  We almost conceded a second goal after a very fast break, but William stepped out of defence to put off the attacker so he hit the post.  In spite of more good tackling from Olivia, Grace, Jake and Cherry, we conceded a disappointing own goal just before the final whistle resulting in a final score of 0-2.  Nevertheless it was a major improvement and we can look forward to playing them again in the New Year.

 After a break to refuel with cake and sweets, the team took on Winchester.  They shrugged of any disappointment from the Trojans loss and quickly got a 3-0 lead, all scored by Hamish.  He was immediately substituted which allowed Gulliver and Hunter to come on and join the fun.  With a less experienced midfield, the defence was quite busy breaking up attacks.  Grace demonstrated that she can play anywhere as after scoring lots of goals in recent tournaments, she showed great timing in breaking up attack after attack then passing the ball out to midfield.  Winchester scored a consolation goal so the end result was 3-1, another good win for Romsey.

The next match was against Andover B, but this was a stronger side than the ‘A’ side we played earlier.  After we’d just missed the goal from an excellent cross, Andover broke up the pitch to open the scoring.  They then repeated the trick a few minutes later, resulting in a 0-2 loss.  Perhaps tiredness and missing 2 of our usual defenders contributed to this frustrating defeat.

However the team re-grouped again for the final match.  Noah wasn’t showing signs of tiredness, running onto lots of passes from Hamish and the rest of the midfield.  He scored a quick-fire hat-trick to take his total for the tournament to 5.  Every tournament he comes alive in one of the games and is virtually unstoppable!  

 So after an hour’s worth of playing, we’d won 4 matches and lost 2.  In some ways this could seem disappointing compared with previous tournaments, but the team’s attitude, commitment and resolve to adapt to the loss of 2 teammates was amazing and was reflected in the standard of hockey they played which was their best yet.  We’ll certainly look forward to the remaining tournaments in the New Year and hope to continue the progress made in 2019.

Romsey B had a spectacular morning, winning all their 6 matches without conceding a single goal.

The team were on the attack from the start of the first game against New Forest B and were comfortable 4-0 winners, with goals from Zach and Charlie.   The second game was equally impressive, with excellent passing in midfield from Evie and Imogen helping set up goals for Henry and Charlie in a 3-0 win.  Match three again saw Henry and Charlie scoring the goals in another comfortable 4-0 win.

The fourth match against Southampton B proved rather tougher, with a late goal from Oscar sealing the win after some resolute defence from Rosie and Anna.  The final two matches were comfortable again for Romsey, as they  defeated Winchester B 4-0 and Trojans A 5-0 with goals from Henry, Oscar, Zach & Charlie.

A great performance from the whole team and Romsey remain undefeated this season!

It was Romsey Hockey club’s turn to host the latest mini festival of the season on a relatively warm and dry December morning. Romsey A team consisted of eight girls and played six matches against mixed teams continuing their impressive run of form.

 The first match was against Southampton A and Romsey showed they were hungry for the ball right from the off with some fantastic passing which enabled them to keep possession for long periods of the game. Clara and Anna were excellent in defence tackling well and Daisy made a number of key saves in goal. The midfield trio of Caitlin, Maya and Elsie linked up well creating some excellent chances for Grace who was up front and on fire, scoring an incredible four goals with the match ending with a 4-0 win for Romsey.

 The second match was against Andover A and the confident play continued. Elsie and Maya on the wing were both excellent at sticking to their positions helping Romsey use the full width of the pitch resulting in fantastic crosses across goal. Sophie and Clara worked well together in defence not conceding any goals. After a lot of Romsey pressure, Caitlin scored a hat–trick followed by another goal from Grace with the match ending with a 4-0 win to Romsey.

 The next match was against Salisbury A and this was another strong performance from Romsey. Daisy was excellent at coming off her goal line to clear the ball with Clara and Sophie continuing to link up well in defence. Elsie and Maya hit some fantastic crosses across goal for Grace and Caitlin to convert. Caitlin scored another hat–trick with one of the goals getting a lucky deflection off a Salisbury player. Grace also scored after some fantastic individual dribbling past two Salisbury players. The match ended with a 4-0 win to Romsey.

 The fourth match was against New Forest A and we knew this would be the most difficult match so far. Sophie took on the role of goalkeeper and made a number of fantastic saves. Romsey scored first and New Forest were quick to react to going one goal down and scored quickly in reply. This was a great test for Romsey A and they did not let their heads go down after conceding. Elsie made a quick run down the wing and struck the ball hard to go in the bottom right hand corner of goal. Romsey help on showing great composure on the ball.

 Romsey A played Winchester A in their penultimatematch finishing with a 3–1 win to Romsey. Daisy was strong in midfield and made some timely tackles to gain back possession. Anna and Clara were pivotal in defence timing their runs well to clear the ball. Maya made a number of timely runs down the right wing and supplied a number of great crosses creating some excellent scoring opportunities with Grace, Elsie and Caitlin all converting into goals.

 The final match was against Winchester B. The majority of the match was played in front of the Winchester goal with Romsey having numerous goal scoring opportunities with a lot of chances going narrowly wide of goal. Romsey were persistent and in the end their determination paid off scoring two late goals to end the match with a 2-0 win. 

 Six matches played and a win in each match saw Romsey remain unbeaten in all tournaments this season with yet another display of what can only be described as sensational hockey. Well played Grace, Daisy, Elsie, Maya, Anna, Sophie, Clara and Caitlin for working so well as a team throughout the whole tournament.

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 5^th 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 8^th December!

Under 8s Winchester Tournament – Sunday 27^th October

Once the tournaments start, they come thick and fast every 3 weeks so after another wet training session and, enjoyably, one in sunshine it was time to head to Winchester for the 2^nd tournament. The squad was affected by half-term holidays but for those who were available it was a rare chance to enjoy a Sunday morning lie-in as the clocks went back an hour. A rare treat for the parents.

We opened the tournament with an excellent 4-0 win against Winchester which could have been so many more as lots of chances were pushed wide of the goal. It was almost a perfect start for Jake in his first tournament as he hit the ball into the goal but unfortunately it was from outside of the scoring zone. Hamish made lots of strong runs and scored twice, with Cherry also scoring a goal which gave her confidence to give a very strong and energetic performance throughout the tournament.

Our 2^nd match was a tough and close encounter with Andover 1s which ended up in a 0-0 draw. Emma and Laurence played well and were strong in defence, tackling well and passing the ball away to the midfielders.

We were then up against Southampton who we had beaten 4-1 in the previous tournament. The team again dominated play with Olivia scoring an early goal to settle nerves. As we only had 7 players, Rory (aged 5 and a half) was playing throughout. He was getting thoroughly involved in midfield making one strong run in particular which was only stopped by his teammate (and sister) tackling him. He continued trying hard and showed determination to score his first goal for the club from close range after his initial attempt was saved. Hamish was cleverly sitting deeper in midfield waiting to pick up loose balls and he was then able to make lots of runs into the space in the right hand corner to make good crosses for his teammates – and he also got 2 goals, with the match finishing at 4-0.

After a long break, we then faced Bournemouth which resulted in another scoreless draw with all players getting involved as play moved from end to end. Jake was able to show great speed and determination to chase down a 50 yard clearance when attacking, but also tracking back to help in defence. He also worked well to come back to collect some amazing, early reverse stick passes up the left hand side from Hamish. This kind of passing could really help the team escape from the classic, 8 player melees that are typical at this early stage in their hockey learning.

Our fifth and final game was against Andover 2s. This time Hamish headed for the left hand corner and sent a reverse stick cross straight to Olivia (in a great position for an attacker) who stopped the ball before hitting into the goal to give Romsey a 1-0 lead. The team tried really hard to get another goal but struggled to escape the opposition’s strong tackling. Just before the end, we had a few attempts at clearing the ball but couldn’t quite managed it and Andover scored. At the final whistle it was 1-1.

It was an amazing effort from this young team, with no substitutes, to win 2 games and draw 3, scoring 9 goals and only conceding 1. The players worked hard throughout with all showing improvements from 3 weeks before. If all players are available for the next tournament, it will be a strong squad to select from.

Winter had most definitely arrived in Winchester as the clocks went back and temperatures tumbled. As a result, spectators and players alike were well wrapped up and an atmosphere of fevered anticipation hung in the air.

As always, the U10s didn’t disappoint and continued from where they had left off at the Bournemouth tournament putting on a display of scintillating red hot hockey that soon had everyone warmed up. The results can only be described as sensational. 5 games, 5 wins. 21 goals scored and only a solitary goal conceded. The best results of the day were beating Trojans 1 7-0 and Andover 1 6-0.

In attack, Romsey were sublime with Charlie, Oscar and Caitlin scoring goals for fun. Henry and Zach were stalwarts throughout and both also managed to hit the back of the net and produce some great link up play.

As always, a great team is built on a solid foundation of defence and credit goes to Maya, Anna and Sophie who all played their part with last ditch tackles and keeping a disciplined shape.

Thanks to Natalie for masterminding the tactics and a huge well done to the fabulous Romsey under 10s who march on to the next event in Southampton!

Under 8s Bournemouth Tournament – Sunday 6th October

After only a few weeks of compromised training due to astro re-laying, using the tennis courts and heavy rain it was time for the first tournament of the year hosted by Bournemouth. There were 5 players continuing in the U8s from last year tournaments along with William who had played in a couple at the end therefore we had reasonable tournament experience available. However it was difficult to believe this in the first match against a New Forest team who appeared to have no match experience. It was a very slow start with the exception of Hamish who raced away on 4 occasions to score each time, giving Romsey a comfortable opening win.

Although we woke up a bit in the 2^nd match, it was unfortunately against Trojans who were quick and determined from the start. Appearing in his first tournament having only picked up a stick a few weeks ago, Lawrence made numerous excellent and well-timed tackles to stop their attacks. Unfortunately they kept on coming and we found it difficult to clear the ball away from the goal-mouth. They scored too many for me to remember and surprisingly the Trojans coach claimed he wasn’t counting, but it was a big defeat.

We then took on Winchester and the whole team improved. Noah started to run back and win tackles before racing upto the Winchester goal, and Emma showed confidence in coming up from defence and nearly scoring a goal. The end result was 5-0 with 2 goals each from Noah and Hamish, and a first goal for Romsey for Grace. Well done Grace!

We then played a 2^nd team from New Forest in a relatively even game, but they broke through a few tackles to score and Romsey couldn’t equalise. A 0-1 loss.

We then played Bournemouth 2 in our third game in a row which was pretty tough on the concentration and legs. William made his mark in this game with a few good tackles in defence and Rory and Elijah were like terriers trying to tackle anything that moved. We were 0-1 down until just before the end when Cherry swept a cross in from the top of the D to equalise, resulting in a 1-1 result.

The last game was against Southampton and a sweet-fuelled team played really well to win 4-1 with Hamish scoring all of them. It was a good result to finish on after a tough morning playing 6 x 10 minute games with only 2 breaks, a very compressed timetable – 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. The experienced players got going and all contributed to the success of the team, and it will be exciting to see how the newcomers progress over the next few months. We will look forward to the next tournament on the 27^th in Winchester.