U10 boys won the Magpies tournament with 4 wins out of 4. 3-0 v Pelicans(Casper, William & Ben) 2-0 v Magpies(William, Jake) , 8-0 v Watton (James*3, Ben 2, Cameron 2 & Casper) & the tournament winning victory (in the 3rd game) 1-0 v CIty – winner scored by the teams player of the tournament James! Boys made coaches Cross & Panter proud. Special mention to Alex Wolfe 4 clean sheets 5 days after putting on a keepers kit for the 1st time.
Under 12 Boys finish 3rd with 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses (both by a single goal). A good first tournament with a number of the Boys playing at Under 12 level for the first time, who really grew into the tournament as the games went on.
An excellent performance from the U12 girls; in 5 of their 7 matches they had over 60% possession, more like over 80% in a couple of matches. Unlucky not to score. They were fab and should be very proud of themselves!
Under 12 girls finish 4th and under 10 girls finish fifth. Thanks to David Pentin and Gemma Rump for managing.
Under 10 Girls
Manager:
David Pentin
Team:
Tilly Connors Beckett (GK)
Lucy Curtis
Jemima Watson
Sasha Armstrong (Captain)
Mia Bailey
Simran Rai
Octavia Udy
Stella W W
Under 10 Boys
Manager:
Crossy
Team:
James Cross (captain)
Edward Cross
Ben Panter
Arjuna
William Bowman
Casper Lind
Jake Reynolds
Oliver Smith
Alex Wolfe
Cameron Tasker
Dragons u10 boys played 4 games won 4 games , scored 14 goals & didn’t concede…..and won!
First game was a 3-0 victory versus Pelicans – with James dominating the middle of the pitch Casper & William weaved their magic down the wings to create a number of opportunities. One such run from Casper ended with him hitting the post & leaving a simple goal for Ben who was in the right place at the right time. Casper & William both scored goals their forward play deserved.
Game 2 saw Magpies dispatched 2-0. The deadlock was broken in this closer game with a crisp shot from the top of the D by Jake, whose run forward was timed to perfection, William sealed the win with his 2nd goal of the day. Keeper Alex yet again had a quiet game thanks to committed defence from Edward, Arjuna & Cameron.
Game 3 came the crunch – win & the tile should be ours! Perfect start, the ball broke to James at the top of the D & his clean strike was too good for the City keeper…..30 seconds gone, only 12 minutes 30 seconds to hold on! Yet again thanks to tireless work by Skipper James most of City forward runs were stopped and any that made it to the D were well defended by the team, yet again Alex held firm in goal. Full time & joy all round…..the team knew this was the game to win if we wanted to finish 1st, all the more sweeter beating City J
Game 4 & it was time to enjoy ourselves, Watton battled hard but were steam rollered 8-0, with 6 outfield players all wanting to score, new boy Oliver had his best game nearly scoring, defender Edward was very pleased when given the call to run forward at will! Scorers were skipper James with a hatrick, two more from our very willing front runner Ben, two for our defender given licence to roam, Cameron & one more for our right wing wizard Casper. Keeper Alex was able to relax in this game, sit in his goal and chat to Sue (his keeper coach). At the end the boys all voted for their player of the tournament, all had to think hard as everyone had worked hard & played very well , the vote for his tireless work up and down the pitch , 4 goals and bringing team Jelly babies, went to skipper James Cross. Coaches Cross & Panter were very proud…..roll on the next tournament!
Under 12 Girls
Manager: Gemma Rump
Team:
Jodi Rump (Capt)
Molly Finegan (GK)
Lara Taylor
Lucy Buxton
Scarlett Udy
Esme Potter
Aspen Gilvey
Heather Tasker
Ellie Woods
Under normal circumstances following a tournament the match report would include a brief report, including perhaps particular moments from individuals, from each match played; however, having looked through all of the notes written during and after each match, there seems little point as the same comments were made each time, namely that the girls had a phenomenal tournament! That it was a real team effort, is reflected in the fact that no player of the tournament could be decided, instead it was ‘Team of the Tournament’.
In the initial match, during the first half, the girls were a little defensive and slightly reticent, perhaps slightly rusty having not played in a tournament since the end of last season; however, it really didn’t take them long to get into their stride, with the match ending in a 0-0 draw.
The second match ended 1-3 to Norwich City B’s, who went on the win the tournament. There was some excellent play, not reflected in the final score. The marking was good, there was some excellent defending, and the one goal demonstrates how much of a team effort it was; the ball came from Esme in defence, to Lucy on the right wing, to Lara just outside the D, then a pass to Jodi in the D, who had a shot, which was well defended by Norwich City, straight to Heather who put the ball in the net. This was an excellent display of team work, and a reflection of the tournament as a whole.
The third match was possibly the most frustrating of the seven, as Dragons were definitely the superior team, having by far the majority of possession. Unfortunately, and I quote from Gary, parent of Aspen “there was nothing more they could have done; there appeared to be a magnetic field preventing the ball from crossing the line” He is not wrong. The team battled and battled, with the ball rarely, if at all, leaving the attacking half. Poor Molly, in goal, could only watch from a distance, but no matter how hard they fought, the ball just wouldn’t cross the line! A real shame, but not a disappointment as the commitment and determination cannot be faulted.
The fourth match, against Dereham, ended in a 0-0 draw. The team were proactive and had a high percentage of the possession, although, following their battle in the previous game, were perhaps showing a little tiredness, and were not spreading out and using the pitch as they had been in previous games. A good save from Molly ensured that Dereham didn’t get ahead, and there was good positive tackling at both ends of the pitch.
Any tiredness had disappeared in time for the fifth match against Norwich city A team, and the girls played a fabulous game. As with most other games, they had the majority of the possession. They began the game on the attack, and put simply, they didn’t stop! Every single team member played their part to ensure that the match was great for the spectators and team members alike. Defending was excellent, passing was fantastic through the midfield, and goal scorer Aspen, had listened well to advice, ensuring that she was available on the post to slot the ball in behind the keeper when it had been put in the D. A tremendous effort!
The sixth game, against pelican’s A team resulted in a 0-0 scoreline, and yet again Dragons had the majority of possession, but unfortunately just couldn’t get the ball past the post. Not a single team member can be faulted, as it wasn’t for lack of trying. Perseverance most definitely prevailed over tiredness!
The final match, against Magpie’s A team was always going to be a tough one; however, yet again the girls battled and battled, so although Magpies went away the winners, and went on to come second in the tournament, the Dragons could leave the field with their heads held high.
It is fitting here to include some comments from the parents, just to demonstrate that I’m not exaggerating; the girls really did have a phenomenal tournament! I could be here all night if I include everything, so here are a few snippets: “fantastic!”, “real team effort!”, “never gave up!”, “worth getting out of bed on a Sunday morning to watch this!”, “I never realised that U12 hockey could be so exciting!”, and so it goes on….
If the standard of play from these girls today is anything to go by, then this team will be a force to be reckoned with in future tournaments. I echo the words of the parent who said it’s worth getting out of bed for…. (although I didn’t think that when my alarm went off and I could hear that it was raining rather hard!). A thoroughly enjoyable tournament which saw everyone arrive and leave in high spirits.
Well done girls!
Under 12 Boys
Manager: Ali Smyth and Lewis Wilkins
Team:
Angus Reid Edwards (GK)
Angus Blazer
Theo Wood
Jamie Yates
Dan Murphy
Jono CB (captain)
Harry Smith
Tom Linford
George Wright
The team arrived at around 12:45, in the cold and rain but soon warmed up with some shots against Angus R.E, who was our goalie. We were soon ready to play our first game which was against Norwich City B.
Throughout that game we were attacking most of the time and were dominating play and possession.
Despite having so many shots, we only won 1-0 and the goal came from Jonathan C.B with a little lifted pass into the goal.
After that game we had no rest and were playing our next game against Norwich City A on the same pitch. This game wasn’t as easy as the last, as they got the first goal within the first few minutes. However, seconds later they lost possession and a nice clean pass from Theo at right back to Jonathan, then to Tom Linford on the right wing, which played an early ball into Daniel Murphy who played the ball into the goal. Ali was especially pleased with our play. Unfortunately they broke through to score at the very end, making the final score 2-1.
We had a break between games and at the same time the heavens decided to open! This didn’t dampen our spirits in any way as our 3rd match, against Watton, was a comfortable win of 1-0 with Daniel Murphy getting the goal. Our forth match was against Magpies B. We thought we were in for a tough one…
But we were wrong as we went 1-0 up with a goal from Angus Blazer who was set up by Harry. In the closing minutes, they caught us on the break, to settle it 1-1. Our next match was against Pelicans. George Wright had come from JDC training to help us in the final few games. He swapped positions with Theo in right back. We couldn’t find a goal but neither could they so it ended 0-0 thanks to Angus Reid Edwards saving a reverse stick shot in the last minute. Our final game was against Magpies A. On the day they were just better than us as it ended 1-0 to them.
Over all we finished 3rd and was a good day for both the under tens and under twelves. It was a promising start to the season and can only get better.