Archive for January, 2011

U11 Tournament at Norwich 23rd Jan 2011

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Well done to the U11 Letchworth team who played at Norwich’s home tournament on Sunday 23rd Jan 2011.

It was a bit of an early start for most of us, having to be at Wymondham at 10.45 for an 11.20 start.  With Mia having her cast removed with strict orders of no sports for a further two weeks, Goal keeping duties were shared between Ollie and Kai. We all hope to see Mia back very soon.  Although this left us with no subs, the boys managed to maintain their high energy levels (both on and off the rink).

 Players  – Ollie, Samuel, Brad, George & Kai

 Letchworth v Norwich (lost 7-1)

 Our first game was against Norwich the home team who had already played their first game earlier in the day. After some begging, Andrew managed to obtain a keepers kit for Ollie. We started slowly against a more experienced Norwich team. Ollie made some terrific saves on his debut but Norwich on a number of occasions skated around the back of the goal to push the ball into the near post. Letchworth had some good chances too, with the ball bouncing off the post from a shot by Brad. The structure of the team was set, with Brad & Kai being the primary attackers with  Samuel and George maintaining our defence. The half ended 6-0 to Norwich.

 After the team talk at half time and the use of some visual aids, Andrew re-enforced his expectations of the team.

 The boys came out in the second half refreshed and had obviously listened to Andrew during the half-time team talk. Letchworth were a lot quicker to drop back and defend once possession was lost. This being said, Ollie made 4 excellent saves in the space of 2 seconds when we couldn’t clear the ball from our goal mouth. George and Samuel continued to defend pushing the ball up field to Brad or Kai who would use their pace to skate down the wings pushing the ball into the centre. Samuel eventually broke from defence skated through most of the Norwich players to push the ball neatly into the back of the Norwich goal. The second half saw the Letchworth team hold Norwich to a score of 1-1 but losing 7 – 1 overall.

 Letchworth v Roller Village (won 8-0)

 After a game break, our second game was against Roller Village. We maintained the same formation as the first game, which was clearly working. The tone for the game was set when Brad within the first minute shot which bounced off the opposition’s goal. Within quick succession Brad and Kai had bombarded the opposition’s goal with shot after shot. The first half saw us come away 7-0 up, with Brad scoring 5 & Kai 2. The most memorable goal was when Brad sent the keeper the wrong way to slot the ball into an open goal  – some more team talk that paid off!

 The second half saw a change in formation with George and Samuel moving into attack. We continued as we left off, with Samuel on the attack within the first minute. George, Samuel and Kai continued to pepper the opposition’s goal with shots, although this half saw their keeper pull off some excellent saves. George’s persistence and strength saw him score a great goal. Although I am biased, this game demonstrated Letchworth’s ability to pass the ball when given the time to, with some excellent movement of the ball between all of the team leading to goal scoring opportunities. Letchworth won 8-0.

 Letchworth v Peterborough (lost 8-2)

 This game was against one of the strongest sides in the division. Kai and Ollie swapped duties in goal and the rest of the team reverted to the standard formation.

 From the start, we managed to put ourselves under unnecessary pressure. Kai made several good saves in the first half trapping the ball in his pads, with the odd one slipping through. All the boys played really well in this game taking into account they had played two full games previously (I am sure they wouldn’t want it any other way). Letchworth had a number of good opportunities which were either saved by the keeper or bounced off the post.  Some good link up play between Brad and Samuel and strong defending by Ollie & George made the game end to end stuff with Peterborough making the most of their opportunities.

 In the second half the boys continued to play good hockey and easily became the better team piling the pressure on the Peterborough goalie. Kai our last man in defence along with strong defending by George and boys made it a really good half. The final score line doesn’t reflect how well all the boys played.

 Letchworth lost 8 – 2. Brad scoring both for Letchworth

 Well done everyone and thanks to Andrew for taking time out to manage and coach the team.

 Well done boys, it was great to watch you all play.

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Minors Div 2 Tournament 8th January 2011

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

It was a nice leisurely start for the boys who could catch up on a little bit of sleep after a hard week at school as their first game was at 12.50.

Letchworth fielded a squad of 8, one goalie and 7 outfield players. Joe (GK), Reiff, Jacob, Leon, Ash, Brad, Marco and Chay.

Letchworth v Ely Girls

The first game was against the hosts (Ely Girls) who had already played earlier in the day. Starting line up – Joe (GK), Jacob, Chay, Marco and Leon. The game started with exciting end to end hockey although Ely managed to keep hold of the ball longer. Joe was put under considerable early pressure but was up to the job. The girls are a strong physical team who move the ball around in a well disciplined manner. They kept up the pressure even when they lost the ball by not allowing our players anytime to compose themselves to find an effective pass or movement out of trouble. The game continued fast paced with end to end hockey. Leon played mature hockey for his age, being able to decide when best to dribble, pass or drop back without hesitation. Even with some great saves by Joe the first half finished 7-0 to Ely.

The second half continued at the same speed with some good movement by Jacob down the wing pushing the ball into the centre to develop goal shooting opportunities. Ash made his first appearance as an outfield player and managed to follow in his younger brother’s footsteps by getting a stick in the mouth! (bless him). Reiff and Brad supported the team which was maintaining some discipline in defending and counter attacking when the opportunity arose. Chay was the anchor man and pushed forward when the play allowed him to. The second half finished with Ely scoring 6 more goals and Letchworth scoring 1. Unfortunately because of my age I’ve forgotten who scored for us. I am sure the boys will know.

Final score 13-1 to Ely Green.

Letchworth v Chesterton

The second game was against Chesterton. Now the boys were nicely warmed up, the movement of the players and use of the ball developed. The boys continued with their aggressive attacking style hockey which proved to be too much for Chesterton, in the first half, when Marco scored 2 great goals. The half finished 2-1 to Letchworth.

The second half saw Ash score his first goal for the team which was a long range shot that found the gap between the keeper’s legs. Chay scored the fourth goal for Letchworth but for whatever reason Chesterton had found their way back into the match by scoring 3 goals in the second half bringing it level to 4 a piece with 50 seconds left to go. Chay summoned all his skills and with just under 50 seconds on the clock managed to pull off a nice volley with the ball bouncing off his shin driving it into the back of the Chesterton’s goal. The refs looked at one and other and although there was some confusion the goal was given. You may of thought that was it ! In the last second of the game Marco managed to score his third of the match to end the game 6-4 to Letchworth.

Final score 6-4 to Letchworth

Letchworth v Roller Village

The third and final game was against Roller Village

The whole game was dominated by Letchworth from start to finish. Both individual skill and good team work added to the team’s performance. Marco scored the first goal from a penalty which was nicely taken after one of the Roller Village players kicked the ball in their area. Leon scored his first goal of this tournament after some brilliant defending and passing moves in previous games with a nice little tap in from the back post of the goal (looked easy, I am sure it wasn’t). Jacob continued with his good form by scoring 2 in quick succession. The first half ended 4-0 to Letchworth. The addition of Reiff, Brad and Ash in this game showed how well the team could pass the ball, communicate with one and other and to have good awareness of one and others position or intent on the rink.

The second half continued in the same manner, Ash scored a further 2 goals, Brad got himself on the score sheet with two great goals, Chay and Marco added to their tally scoring 1 more goal each.

Final score 10-0 to Letchworth

Final Goal Tally and comments

Chay – 3 (excellent defending, strong, fast movement and passing)
Brad – 2 (excellent assertion, passing and tackling)
Ash -3 (excellent defending, tackling and passing)
Reiff – 0 (excellent passing, defending and tackling)
Leon – 1 (excellent, passing, defending and tackling)
Marco – 5 (excellent attacking, control and movement)
Jacob – 2 (excellent attacking, control and movement)
Joe (GK) – 0 (excellent vision, movement and blocking)

Well done Boys!

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