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| Hockey Girls 2nd Team 'Blog' |
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Tuesday 15th March v St. Mary's Won 1-0 Player of the Match - Eloise Rimmer
Eagle House 5+ Edgeborough 0 This was a great game to watch and especially so in the second half when we began to play with speed and especially width. This giving of an early ball and then running into space opened up the opposition on a number of occasions and led to two really 'hockeyish' goals, pleasing to the eye and pleasing in the execution. The first half started a little slowly as we drove up the middle too often and their strong midfield smothered each attack with comparative ease to regain possession and then open up our own defence. Caitlin had a stormer of a game, making a number of really solid saves against some rather talented opposing players, who probably would have leveled the score by the end of the game had it not been for her hard work. Katherine and Elouise were hard working in defence and it was good to see Elouise moving up the right to link with Alice in attack. Both backs however must work at their reverse stick skills in future pratices, remembering to get the ball away as quick as they can and never into the middle of the D. Caitlyn had a much better second half as she realised that passing the ball gave her team mates more space and more time to pass the ball back and she worked well with Alice, Laura and Jemima on the wings. This enabled Megan to take her chances well to put the team into a position of strength as the team began to play with more fluency. This was a comfortable outing with some really positive hockey from both sides. Now we must build upon this before our next game. Remember speed and accuracy of passing will win games. Eagle House 2nd VII v Hall Grove (home)Wednesday 19th January Eagle House 5 Hall Grove 0 (Earwaker 2, Neat, Jennings, Wilkins) Squad: Caitlin Mack (GK); Megan Wilkins; Eloise Rimmer; Jemima Rawding; Caitlyn Earwaker; Alice Jennings; Kitty Allum; Laura Neat
After a fantastic win away at Bradfield in their last match the Eagle House 2nd VII were keen to see if they could produce another performance of such quality at home to Hall Grove. It was clear from the start that Hall Grove were playing their first match of the season as the Eagle’s had them under pressure from the pushback. Caitlyn Earwaker was quickly into her stride with some powerful running from midfield and incisive passing through to Megan at Centre Forward. It was no surprise when Caitlyn opened the scoring, firing an unstoppable shot into the bottom left hand corner of the goal (1-0). Kitty and Eloise were both kept busy at the back and had to be on their guard to keep the lively Hall Grove forwards quiet. But it was in attack where Eloise came alive as her excellent long ball found Caitlyn at the edge of the circle and her pass to Alice gave the opportunity to score, which she clinically took (2-0). The rest of the half continued along the same line with the Eagle’s in possession, but not able to extend the scoring further (HT 2-0). With a target of three more goals, the Eagle’s started the second half brightly and showed that they were not settling for the 2-0 score line. An excellent cross by Laura Neat found Caitlyn unmarked deep in the circle and she smashed the ball home to score her second goal of the game (3-0). Laura grabbed her well deserved goal following good work from Alice on the right wing to extend the score (4-0). Caitlin had to be alert as Hall Grove pushed for a consolation goal and it was from her clearance that Kitty picked the ball up and moved it forward to Caitlin. She in turn passed it out to Alice on the right wing and her cross found Megan in the middle to expertly score with a reverse stick shot into the bottom right-hand corner (FT 5-0). A very good performance from all the team was well rewarded with a fine home victory and confidence is high going into the final few games of the hockey season. Player of the match: Alice Jennings
Eagle House 2nd VII V Bradfield Won 4 - 3 This match was played on a cold afternoon and the team put up an excellent display. The game ebbed and flowed with Eagle House taking the lead through Caitlyn early in the first half. The combination of Lucy Whitehead, playing at centre mid-field and Caitly playing as centre forward proved to be a highly effective formation. At the back eloise and kitty continued to develop the excellent partnership they have built up over the term and proved as solid as ever. Caitlin Mack showed what excellent progress she has made by pulling off a number of key saves at crucial moments in the game. iIn the second half Kitty came off and this seemed to unbalance the defence and we quickly conceded two rather soft goals. with the return of kitty the side reclaimed the upper hand and with Alice Jennings making strong, penetrative runs down the right and Jemima growing in confidence it was not long before the side scored an equalizer. However, Bradfield came back strongly and once again took the lead, 3-2. to the sides great greater they continued to play good exciting hockey and Caitlyn scored her third goal to bring the scores back level. With time running out the side raised their game one last time and caitlyn stepped up to score her fourth and what turned out to be the winning goal. An excellent result thoroughly deserved because of everyone's commitment and desire. Those who played: Caitlin Mack, Eloise Rimmer,Lucy Whitehead, Kitty Allum, Caitlyn Earwaker, Megan Wilkins, Alice Jennings, Jemima Rawding
Bryanston Prep Schools Hockey Tournament Wednesday 3rd November Eagle House were the only school to field two senior teams in this tournament and finished an extremely creditable 4th in their section after playing some extremely tough games Results Wimbourne House Lost 2-0 Chafyn Grove Lost 3-0 Highfield Drew 0-0 Clayesmore Drew 0-0 Sherbourne Prep Won 1-0 Eagle House 2nd VII V Marlston House 2nd VII Drew 2 - 2
This was a match that we totally dominated, but in the first half we failed to take the multitude of chances that came our way and also because our opponent's goalkeeper had an outstanding game. Too often our forwards were content to just stand around and let the opposition defenders clear the ball or allow the goalkeeper to kick it clear. A much great desire to score rather than 'be nice' needs to be instilled into the girls. They must be willing to put their sticks in where it hurts and be far stronger in front of gaol. Another trait is to continually try and use the reverse stick rather than keep the ball strong on the open side. The result was that Marlston House made three breaks into our half and at half time they were leading 2-0. In the second half Laura came on and played wide up front on the left and this gave us more width. Eloise was much stronger in her tackling and more importantly in the way she distributed the ball. This allowed Alice to make some excellent runs down the wing and create pressure on our oppositions defence. As more pressure was applied we began to win penalty corners and it was from one of these than Menna struck a hard accurate shot which Megan followed in to push pass the keeper. Further pressure was applied and with five minutes to goal Alice scored the equalizer from a well aimed push into the corner of the goal. The team played much better hockey in the second half and it was pleasing to see us use the right hand side of the field more and as a result have even more control of the game. Had it not been for some terrific defence work from one of the Marlston House players and some excellent goalkeeping the score line would have been a truer reflection of the command we had in this game. Those who played: Caitlin Mack, Eloise Rimmer, Menna Braithwaite, Kitty Allum, Laura Neat, Megan Wilkins, Alice Jennings, Jemima Rawding
Eagle House 2nd VII V Pangbourne 2nd VII Won 7-2
Although the scoreline suggests a comfortable victory, which it was in the end, the team did not play anything like as well as they did last week. We did not pass the ball as well and the team work was not as good. On too many occasions we chose to run with the ball rather than pass it out wide and into space. What was pleasing was that we scored seven goals, but with more clinical finishing it should have been more. In Menna we had the player of the match and it was through her that most of the good play was created and the chances made. Laura was the hat-trick queen but all those playing up front had chances to emulate her achievement. Our short corner drill was better, but it is still not crisp enough. At the back Eloise and Kitty performed well although there is a distinct lack of communication at times. Overall this was a pleasing result, but there is still much that can be improved. Those who played: Caitlin Mack, Eloise Rimmer, Menna Braithwaite, Kitty Allum, Laura Neat, Megan Wilkins, Alice Jennings.
Cranleigh Under 12A V Eagle House 2nd VII Lost 7-2
There were a lot of positives to take from this match and all the girls should be proud of their various contributions. In goal Caitlin Mack made several very good saves and those goals that were scored against her gave her very little chance. At the back Eloise and Menna made some important tackles and the pair also linked up well on our 'Short Corner' routine. In the middle of the pitch Lucy ran her socks off and made a real nuisance of herself as she hustled and bustled at the opposition. Up front on the left Laura kept her position well and this meant she was always available to receive a pass and so relieve the pressure on the defence. In the centre Megan linked well with both her wide attackers and it was her tenacity which resulted in us taking the lead as she pounced onto a mistake by Cranleigh's defence. On the right Alice had a quite outstanding game and throughout the whole match she had the pace and skill to beat the opposition on the outside. It was from her strike at goal in the first half that we went into the lead. Cranleigh, however, proved to be a well drilled side and they came back with a great deal of tenacity and skill and ended the first half leading by one goal. In the second half we continued to make good chances and had a number of corners, but we were unable to convert any of these. Alice continued to be a real threat wide on the right and it was from one of her many runs that she dribbled her way through the opposition and scored. The score line does not really reflect how well the girls played and had we taken our chances the score line would have been much closer. One of the things that pleased me most was that the girls never let their heads dropped and continued to battle, with no little lack of skill, right to the final whistle. There were a lot of positive aspects to take out of the game and we can build on this, but equally there are areas that we need to improve. Those who played: Caitlin Mack, Eloise Rimmer, Menna Braithwaite, Lucy Whitehead, Laura Neat, Megan Wilkins, Alice Jennings.
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