Minors div 2 tournament @ Burwell
Well done to the Letchworth Minors Division two team who played on the 22nd October at Burwell (Walpole’s HT)
It was a lovely sunny day for the boys’ first tournament together. Practise play during training helps but there’s no substitute for the real thing. The formation of the team was from a number of last seasons U11s and a couple of the existing U13s.
The team consisted of Ash (Captain), Reiff, Kai, Samuel, George & Brad with Neil as the Team Coach.
Even before we started, concerns spread through the team, with our first game rapidly looming, no one knew where Samuel was. Thankfully he turned up with two minutes to go, so a rapid change was needed. It was like a slick Formula 1 tyre change as Rupert and Andy went into action. Samuel was ready with seconds to go. Samuel blamed his dad for the delay (taking a detour) but from the tomato sauce down Rupert’s shirt it was clear they had stopped off for an Olympic breakfast on the way (only joking!)
Letchworth v Norwich (3-9)
The first game started a little slowly for Letchworth as they found their feet (or skates). From recollection though, I think we scored the first goal. There on in, it all went a bit down hill. We were pulled apart from the lack of experience in our man to man marking. We came away at half time 6-1 down. Unfortunately our boys were not too happy with one of the Norwich boy’s who had a very immature attitude being a constant source of distraction and irritation. With a focussed talk on our defensive style by Neil the boys took to the rink for the 2nd half.
This half was a lot closer which lead to another 2 goals for us and 3 more for Norwich. The game finished 9-3 to Norwich although I expect our next game to be a lot closer.
Letchworth v Cambridge (11-1)
The boys took to the rink a lot more confident for their second game against Cambridge. In quite rapid succession we had scored 6 goals in the first half followed a further 5 goals in the second half, conceding only one goal in the second half.
Letchworth v Walpole (7-4)
The confidence from the Cambridge game carried across into this game although we came away from the first half 1 goal a piece. The second half says us drive ahead with 6 mores goals and conceding only 3.
All the boys played extremely well.
Reiff made multiple saves often in quick succession. He stayed focussed throughout and unlike a lot of the other keepers who just seemed to fall on the ball; Reiff would stop the shot and push the ball into neutral zones. He made good use of his legs, arms, hands and stick. Excellent first tournament.
Kai who has kindly supported the team in Harry’s absence had a great tournament. He worked hard, tackled hard, shot hard and had a massive impact on the team’s performance. He scored a great goal in the second half against Cambridge which spurred him on to shot more often. Only the goal keeper or the uprights stopped Kai’s goal tally increasing. Kai played well above his age.
Samuel’s confidence and ability grows every game he plays. Samuel found himself numerous times pushing forward and putting the opposition’s goal keeper under pressure. When Samuel wasn’t pushing forward he was the rock in defence keeping the attacking players out towards the walls or regaining possession of the ball. Samuel made good use of the ball pushing it down the wings for other players to skate on to. – Samuel skated through and cracked in a wonderful goal against Walpole in the 2nd half.
Keep up the good work.
George has showed a marked improvement in his play. His pace, skating ability and ball control have all dramatically improved. George too found the back of the net against Cambridge and had some bounce off the crossbar after some ferocious shots from just outside the penalty area. George’s determination and passion to do well is good to see. He clearly loves the game. Keep going George!
Bradley’s speed, determination, skating ability and ball control is great to watch. I think he prefers to attack the opposition’s goal but also skates back hard tracking the opposition’s attackers. Brad’s efforts lead to him scoring 14 of the 21 goals for Letchworth. He managed to maintain a fast pace throughout and keep a level headed sense of achievement which he shared with his brother on the way home in the car. Well done B!
Ash managed to score in all three games today (scored 4 goals in total). He even tried a little chip and hit from behind the Walpole goal, just missing. Ashley listened and reacted well to Neil’s instructions (as did the others). Ashley’s confidence grew game on game and delivered a great standard of roller hockey throughout. Some of the better passing moves started from Ash as he tried to maintain the momentum of the ball. Level headed and determined performance – well done Ash
Massive thanks from the boys and parents to Neil for being a very level headed and patient coach and taking a day out of his weekend.
Massive thanks to Paul for being the team ref for the day – excellent job as always.
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