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| Hockey 2nd XI Team 'Blog' |
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Played 5 Won 3 Drawn 0 Lost 2 Goals for 12 Goals against 11
The 2nd Team were: George Wilks (GK), William Beedham (Sweeper), Nathaniel Hatch-Johnson (Right Defence), Luke Orechoff (Centre Defence), Ruari Hutchinson (Left Defence), Hamza Rubbani (Defensive Midfield), George Joslin (Attacking Midfield), Mohammed Rubbani (Left Wing), Tom Cracknell (Forward), Richard Morgan (Forward), James Fowlie (Right Wing) With appearances by: Charlie Waters, Noah Walton, Netra Limbu, George Arnold-Wallinger, Thor Winkler von Stiernhielm, Toby Barnard
Match Six V Hall Grove Wednesday 24th February Eagle House 4 Hall Grove 1 We started the match quite strongly and Hall Grove matched us well, especially as this was their first match. Both midfields worked hard and the defences held strong to keep the game very level for the first 10 minutes. Then after dominating for a few minutes we scored through a shot by George Joslin after we were awarded a short corner. Then in the last 10 minutes, we pushed forward strongly and scored two further goals through Mohammed Rubbani who was switched to play in a very advanced striking position after the first goal. Half time came and the score was 3-0. However, the team were warned not to get complacent and went out looking for more goals. Hall Grove had used half time well to re-organise themselves and came into the second half sharper and tactically stronger. Again, the sides were very level and both teams had good chances to score. But, it was Hall grove who scored next and this galvanized both teams into playing fast and skillful hockey. With a few minutes left in the match, Mohammed Rubbani struck a shot from just inside the 'D' and a defender's stick deflected the ball into the top corner for our 4th goal. Mohammed called it "lucky" but you can't score without shooting! This is the 2nd teams last match of the term as we now split into Hockey and Rugby 7's. This was an extremely good way to finish a very enjoyable season. All the boys performed brilliantly this season, despite the early loss to Parkside (who had been on tour just before our match) and a close game against St Andrews which could have gone either way. Well done to you all. Star players: EVERYONE!
Match Five V St Andrews (Woking) Wednesday 10th February St Andrews 3 Eagle House 2 After the excellent performance at the weekend, we went into this match full of confidence and in the first six minutes of the game, we were superb and scored a great team goal through George Joslin. Five passes from defence to midfield to the wing to a man at the top of the 'D' and bang, George smacks it into the corner! But St Andrews were not to be outdone and fought hard to get back into the game, scoring ten minutes later from a soft goal at a short corner. 1-1 at half time and the match was a pulsating and exciting one, with both teams looking for the killer punch. Unfortunately, despite numerous shots from our strikers, it was St Andrews who took the lead after the defence failed to man mark the scorer after a good save from George Wilks in our goal. However, we continued to attack and had plenty of good chances to score, but none of them were taken. Then a sucker punch and we were caught on the break with their striker scoring after sneaking behind our defence, unseen. It was 3-1 with fifteen minutes to go, but we fought back resolutely and scored through Netra Limbu after some excellent wing play again from Tom Cracknell, Hamza Rubbani and George Joslin. Seven minutes left in the match and we continued to attack, attack, attack! But the St Andrews defence stood strong....and lucky, as shot after shot went wide of the goal or crucial passes were under hit or went astray. Despite the loss, we played superbly well most of the time. Strikers, practice your shooting and defence keep concentrating!
Match Four V Cranleigh Saturday 6th February Eagle House 2 Cranleigh 1 As I told the boys, this was one if not the best 2nd XI performance I have seen since I have been at Eagle House. We controlled much of the game and the linking play between all the players was of a very high standard. I cannot pick out one or two for particular praise as the whole team played very well. Our use of the wings was limited in the first half and both teams cancelled each other out, however, from two of the few crosses, George Joslin and Richard Morgan should have scored but missed narrowly. It wasn't until the second half that we used the right wing more and from one such cross from the right, Tom Cracknell hit a shot goal wards and the Cranleigh defender could do nothing except slice the ball into his own net. I am sure Tom will claim it as it was on target, going towards the far post before being deflected into the near post. Then, having had the majority of the half, we went to sleep and failed to cover the defence when Cranleigh attacked in the inside left channel. The Cranleigh striker went past two of our defenders (the defenders should have done better and got the full wrath of the coach) and with the help of another player, struck a goal back to level the game. With seven minutes to go, we received a series of short corners. On the third attempt, George Joslin smashed a shot into the far corner and we played out the game strongly. A very good performance and another win!
Match Three V Hoe Bridge Wednesday 3rd February Hoe Bridge 2 Eagle House 3 A much better midfield performance today and a good win, although we did make it hard for ourselves. We were two up at half time with goals from Ruari Hutchinson and Richard Morgan and we were cruising. Then a shuffle of players in defence saw us give away 2 goals! A re-shuffle saw the defence better organized and with help from Ruari Hutchinson getting back from midfield, we were able to snuff out the danger well. A few minutes left in the match saw us get a short corner and after good pressure and 2 further short corners, George Joslin got us the winning goal with a sweetly struck shot from the edge of the circle. Overall, a very good performance from most players. George Wilks covered the angles well in goal and saved us a few times. Will Beedham, Nat Hatch-Johnson and Luke Orechoff played particularly well in defence. Mohammed Rubbani worked hard on the left wing with Ruari Hutchinson and George Joslin combining well in midfield. I was also happy with the effort of the strikers, Richard Morgan and Tom Cracknell, but would like to see them linking better with James Fowlie, playing on the right wing. When James got the ball, we inevitably scored from using the width and we have to look to play to the right and support the right side players much more in future. Well done, boys. Now for Cranleigh who will be tough opposition.
Match Two V Parkside Wednesday 27th January Eagle House 1 Parkside 4 This was our first match of the season and although the score line favours Parkside, we gave a very good account of ourselves! With little practice and against a team that was match hardened after a tour over Christmas, we played very well and many of the players had good opportunities to show what they could do. Our problem was that we did not use the right wing enough and we did not work the ball out of defence well enough, with too few players getting back to help. When we did get the ball out wide, we looked very dangerous and scored through James Fowlie as he followed up a shot from Richard Morgan. Forget the result, the performance was very good and we should go into the next match with confidence.
Match One Wednesday 20th January v Caldicott This match was postponed and a training session and practice game was played with Caldicott instead. |
