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| Hockey 3rd Girls Team 'Blog' |
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Wednesday 7th December This was the first time I have taken this team for a match and I was not dissapointed. The girls played very well working hard to put into practise many set plays, but also to really use their initiative when required to. Jessica Hill worked very hard down the right wing and the other girls playing in attack worked hard to support her and help her when needed. Wedneday 7th December 4th Hockey V Highfield Eagle House lost 2 - 0 Team: Miriam Dewes, Yana Volchek, Clare Chummun, Arina Petrova, Francesca anderson, Dasha Angelova, Stephanie Davis, Gaby Hayes This was certainly a game of two halves. Highfield took full control of the match in the first half, dominating the ball and keeping it in their attacking end for the majority of the time their goals came in the 8th and 16th minutes. In the second half you looked like a different team, with lots of confident drives into their goal circle and much better passing amongst you all. Next hockey match you have girls try to remember to look up to who we are passing too rather than just whacking the ball up the pitch.
Wednesday 30th November Cranleigh C - 0 Eagle House - 0 Team: Francesca Anderson, Miriam Dewes, Dasha Angelova, Stephanie Davis, Arina Petrova, Gaby Hayes, Clare Chummum It was a shame that we didn't score any goals in this match as all the girls tried extremely hard and really did play to the best of their ability. :) With some amazing defending from Gaby Hayes and Yana Volcek, who's really learning how to hit the ball out of the D as soon as it goes in there, we didn't llet any goals in. The second game was very unfortunate as we did have posession for most of the game, but unfortunately the attack on the opposing team was very strong, and when they gained possesion it was hard for us to get it back resulting in them scoring 2 goals against us. A special mention must go to Francesca Anderson who played extremely well considering it was her first ever match! Girl of the game: Arina Petrova Cranleigh Under 12 'A' 2 Eagle House 0 Cranleigh Under 12 'B' 1 Eagle House 0 Cranleigh have a very justified reputation for playing a well-structured and wide game across the whole pitch and it took a little time to adjust to the loss of both Lola and Jessica to the senior side because of illness and absence and as the game started with Cranleigh moving the ball with consummate ease and not a little skill, it was not long before Charlotte had to make the first of many saves. This initial break seemed to gee us up and it was not long before we were also playing competitive and occasionally equally skilful hockey as the game should be played. We still struggle to move the ball on with speed of thought and pass and still we try to clear the ball across our goal, but in almost facet of our game there was such an improvement when looking back just three or four weeks. Cranleigh were playing at least one county play but such was the combined effort off and on the ball of all our players that at the end of twenty minutes it was with much pleasure that the girls were complimented by the coach that this was the best that they had ever played. Cressida (unwillingly) had taken on the heavy burden of controlling our ball in the midfield and she showed that she was with both skill and with great heart as she ran through both halves in defence and attack. Lucy on the left and Josie on the right usually gave us width and Henrietta, Ella and Cressida linked well (make sure that you pass wide every time) with the two wings and as we moved the ball quickly we suddenly found space to attack. Victoria, as everyone did, ran seemingly tirelessly and showed how much she has learned during these few short weeks. Our tackling and tenacity in the tackle proved the benefit of practising hard as we did yesterday with Mr Skepper. After twenty minutes and a short break with no oranges, Cranleigh brought on their ‘B’ and once again, our girls lifted their sticks in weary arms for another twenty minutes. We had our chances encouraging the opposition keeper to make four good saves (should we have pulled the ball back rather than take the shot ourselves?), but we conceded one goal. Charlotte had a great game at the back: she also pulled off some great saves, showing confidence in her area. Henrietta and Ella were superb, knees bent sticks down, and whereas in the past they just hit the ball anywhere they made time to pass the ball to our own players. This was a great outing and the girls behaved like young ladies both on and off the pitch matched in the same respect as always by Cranleigh. Today we were beaten by slightly better teams, but I hope that you all realise that little else could have been asked of you. Now for Saturday. Lambrook 1 Eagle House 6 It has taken a little longer than it should have, but at last we have started to play some really good hockey in the match situation. The first half was a little dour. We would put two or three passes together, but then because our bottom hand was too low, the stick was in the air and we kicked the ball to concede possession. We could and certainly should have put two or three onto the backboard in the first half, but took far too long winding up for the shot, only to have the ball taken away. Our structure was quite good despite the continuous rotation of players and Ella and Henrietta controlled the back well. When they started to move the ball more quickly up the wings to Lucy, Lola, Josie or Jessica we suddenly had much more space to move the ball on and to create scoring chances. Three well taken goals laid on or scored by Cressida in the first minutes of the second half opened up the game and we all played some great hockey,and I don't always say that. The ball was passed with accuracy onto the strong side and moved on with similar speed and thought. Lola, Cressida and Jessica created many more chances three of which we converted with good final close touches. It a shame that we conceded a soft goal at the end, but Lambrook did work hard throughout the game to make it competitive and in a way they deserved that goal. Our next match is against Highfield, and so as I said we must make the most of the sessions we have to build upon this improvement. We must work hard, listen and practice. Above we must play and pass with speed of thought, speed of feet and speed of pass. Eagle House 3rd 0 Yateley Manor A 2 On Monday, the Thirds played a round-robin against the Seconds, Under 12s and the Under 11s and despite the fact that we had returned from a very long half term break, we played some good hockey and competed well with all three teams throughout the afternoon. Unfortunately against Yateley Manor today we could not regather the same competitive spirit, confidence and hockey skills and we rather weakly conceded to a team with whom we should have at least drawn. We started well for a few moments, but once we lost the ball we rather stood and watched as Yateley took their chance well. The first half continued rather in the same way. We made too many simple and basic mistakes, giving away too many free hits. Okay, everybody makes mistakes but it was not until after a little chat at half term that we began to compete for the ball. When a player self hits we should not back off but shut them down with speed and determination to win back the back. This we did on a number of occasions, and had the opportunity to release the ball. Instead we held on far too long, allowing ourselves to be pushed back onto our weak stick and thus losing possession. We did have our chances to get back into the game, but we took too long to shoot or we were too lazy to get our feet into the right place to play the ball correctly. Ella, Lola and Lucy worked tirelessly but they, like the whole team, took too long to release the ball. I think that you know that this was not our best game, and I hope that you will work really hard on Friday to benefit from the coaching to improve for the next game. I hope you realise that you all are very capable of playing to a much higher standard for yourselves and for the whole team. Hockey is a team game and you have to work together in matches and in the practices. Lord Wandsworth 2nd 5 Eagle House 3rd 1 Although the score suggests quite a gulf between the two sides the main difference between them was that we did not pass to our own players with enough power, thought and movement. Occasionally when we got it right we did move it into the opposing 'd' and could have scored two or three more times. We do continue to take too much time on the ball. We must move our feet to make sure that we can receive the ball without letting it touch them. We gave so many free hits away because we were just a little lazy. Similarly we must work so much harder in defence, again moving much quicker so that we do not play the stick rather than the ball. Whatever the excuses, the negatives today possibly outweighed the positives, something which is said for the first time for a long time. I know that you can all play better than this. Jessica ran hard on the wing, Ella worked tirelessly in defence and Charlotte made some excellent saves, and I expected more from the other players. We do need to work more for each other and certainly make much better use of the training sessions. All the exercises we do are aimed at addressing the areas of concern from the previous games. You need to work much harder, each and every one of you. The opposition coach did praise our team for scoring the first goal this year against them, but I feel that we should and could have made it a little closer. LWC are very strong this year so in some respects this is not a poor result against their second team.
Wednesday 5th October Lord Wandsworth 3rd 1 Eagle House 4th 1
As the scoreline suggests this was a very close game and the girls deserve a lot of credit for the way they battled throughout the match, especially as they were playing a higher ranked team. In the first half we lacked the width and this meant that Victoria was often isolated up front with no one to pass to. The other mistake we kept on making was trying to play with our reverse stick instead of keeping the ball strong and driving down the right hand side. The second half was much better and with a few positional changes we looked a more organized and structured team. On the right Stephanie gave us the width we had craved for and Dasha also kept much wider on the left flank. Gabby moved back into a more defensive role and looked much more at home here as she made made some excellent tackles and clearances. In the centre Miriam was able to give us the much needed pace on the pass that we had lacked and this released Stephanie and Dasha down the wings with some strong accurate passes. We opened the scoring in the second half with a superb move which involved an excellent pass out from defence by Henrietta to Miriam who then spotted Stephanie and her quick thinking released her down the wing before a firm pass into the circle found Yarna who pushed the ball past their keeper. 1-0. Superb! The game continued to ebb and flow and with our defence holding out strongly and Clare making a series of excellent saves we managed to keep Lord Wandsworth at bay until five minutes to go when they also scored from a well worked move. Both sides deserve credit for making this such an enjoyable and open game. The deserved player of the match was Henrietta who produced an outstanding game at the back with her strong, well timed tackles and accurate passing. Those who played: Clare Chummun, Miriam Dewes, Henrietta Bull, Dasha Angelova, Victoria Poruabeva, Gabby Hayes, Stephanie Davis, Yana Volcheck 4th Hockey Wednesday 28th September V Lambrook Eagle House Won 3 - 0 Team: Clare Chummun, Miriam Dewes, Henrietta Bull, Arina Petrova, Dasha Angelova, Victoria Poruabeva, Gabby Hayes, Stephanie Davis, Yana Volcheck Girl of the Game: Miriam Dewes What a hot afternoon for a game of hockey..... well done to Captain Clare for managing to cope wearing her hot goal keeping gear! This was a wonderful team performance to watch, especially as everyone battled hard in defence instead of leaving it for someone else to do. Henrietta had an awesome game, stick down ready and flying in to stop the Lambrook girls coming into the their attacking end. Within the first couple of minutes Stephanie dribbled the ball down the right wing and had Eagle House's first attempt on goal which unfortuntley was deflected, but it was a tremendous effort - so well done Stephanie. The ball then never really left our end and it was a beautiful strike from Victoria at 8 minutes who put us ahead. 1 - 0 at half time. The second half consisted of pretty much the same with alot of attacking goal mouth action from our Eagle House girls. Victoria scored a second and Miriam slotted the third into the back of the net 2 minutes from the end. Well played girls!
Eagle House 3rd 2 Marlston House B 0 It was certainly hot out there this afternoon, and I was only umpiring. It is so much to both teams' credit that they came off the pitch, so hot and flushed, glowing from all their efforts. This was a good match to umpire, as the play swung from one end of the pitch to the other, with players hunting back in pairs to make covering tackles to release the ball back in attack. Eagle House probably had the better of the first half and should have had the water break a goal or two ahead. However, we hesitated a little too much in the 'D' allowing the defence to regain the ball and to move it up. This week the water did not go to our heads and within a minute, Lola, Cressida and Jessica linked well to force a save and then to go one up. Josie began to control the mid-field a little more thoughtful as we began to discover spaces a little wider. This was probably because Lola wanted to talk to her new puppy, but it did create more opportunities one of which we converted five or so minutes later. Marlston, to give them credit, kept going, forcing three good saves from Charlotte, and ensuring that Lucy and Ella had to be on their best playing behaviour. The minutes passed, but nobody passed out and it was a shame that the final whistle had to be sounded to call these whole hearted ladies into tea. I am not surprised that both team drank so much and ate so much after their efforts this afternoon, one of which I would not have minded being on the losing side as Eagle House played together and worked so hard for each other for both halves. Little more could have been asked. We do need to work at the giving of the EARLY pass, as too often a second or third touch conceded possession when we could have driven into the 'D' and we do need to keep our width, but that is for Friday when it will be 28C.......oh lovely. For today, a gentle pat on the back for the whole team - and team work won.
Eagle House 3rd 0 Pangbourne College U13 A 0 There must be something about playing at Wellington, but again the sun shone as two very evenly matched sides slugged it out on the new pitch. Winning the pushback, we quickly settled into our game with quick passes allowing the width required to be used beneficially and soon we set up chance after chance. However we failed to convert these chances as we took far too long to wind up for the shot, and then when we did manage the shot, we were too slow in following up. The first half was certainly dominated by us and we went in the happier of the two sides. Perhaps the water went to our heads at this stage as we lost our shape as the second half started and we drove down the middle always trying to move inside onto the opposition strong side rather than attack up the right (therefore weaker) side. Pangbourne through their Captain Tatiana, Emily and Maisy(all of whom would make our second team) began to dominate the play and once again Daisy R kept her concentration to keep a clean sheet. Ella (and occasionally Henrietta) defended well but to be honest our midfield needed to work harder in defence as too often we were left with three on one. Halves must keep their width when we have the ball and must come back as soon as we lose the ball. That being said, we did play instances of good hockey when we put it all together, and this led to further chances. Jess, Cressida, Elisa and Lola all could have scored, but we still failed to convert. We should have scored in the first half and Pangbourne should have in the second. So no score is a fair result, and certainly made for an exciting game. Thank you to both sides for a great afternoon and thank you especially to their Pangbourne Ladies at tea, where their behaviour and manners were exemplary. As I said before, we will continue, but you still have to work harder in the training sessions.
Eagle House 3rd 2 Cranleigh Under12 A 6 On a lovely warm Autumn afternoon, Cranleigh brought over a well coached, well drilled and skilful side and dominated the first half to go into the break surprisingly just one goal ahead, thanks to the tremendous keeping of Daisy and good defensive work of Henrietta. A little tweaking of the side we strengthened our defence bringing in Ella and decided that perhaps we needed to play a little harder and with much more heart. To give Eagle House credit, we started to play a little hockey together as well and this led to one and then another goal through Cressida with Jessica's help enabling us to take the lead. However, we seemed to run out of energy at this point and poor Daisy R was left high and dry as our players stood and watched Cranleigh walk away with game. It was a shame that we could not practise yesterday, but I do hope that you have learned from playing a team such as this. I hope that you saw how often they pulled the ball back just as Mr Pearn said and how often they moved the ball out to the right with strong and purposeful passing, I hope you noticed how they came into the ball to control it and move it on with speed and accuracy, and I hope you saw how seldom they attacked us on our stronger side. This is all the result of good coaching but above all of a determined effort and a great desire to improve. Some people work hard in our sessions but too often there are those who do not make the most of this time. That being said, we do deserve some praise for keeping at it and working as hard as we could in the second half. It was warm, and we gave it a commendable go, with Daisy Walker typifying the effort that I expect you all to put in every time that you walk on to the pitch either for a practice or a match. I do hope that you will take the positives from this report and this game into your next coaching session and thence into the next match.
Eagle House 4th 0 Cranleigh 2 It was a lovely afternoon to be out playing hockey, the sun shone and a good number of parents were out supporting. This side contained several girls who had never played hockey before this term and so we used the time before the opposition arrived working on some of the skills we would need for the match. From the start we showed a great deal of spirit, especially in attack. At the back Ella gave a strong performance before moving up to play for the 3rds after half time and in goal Clare Chummun pulled off some excellent saves. We gave away two goals quite early on in the game as we adjusted to playing in a given position and against a stronger opposition. However, the team kept up their good spirit and we remained only two down at half time. The second half saw several positional changes, with Miriam Dewes moving to play at the back, a position she looked much more comfortable in. Up front Lucy Bridgwater moved off the wing, a position she had played with great credit in the first half, and moved to centre forward. Her clear, loud calling, running off the ball and good positional sense enabled her to have several good shooting opportunities, but her efforts all resulted in good saves by the Cranleigh keeper. Stephanie Davis had a good game playing on the wing throughout the match and as the game progressed she became more and more confident. Her performance was all the more creditable considering she had never played until this term. In the second half we had much more of the game than Cranleigh and it is greatly to the girls' credit that they managed to keep the score level during this period of play. One thing all the team need to try improve is to pass the ball more firmly and take a leaf out of Lucy's book and call for the ball when they are in space. The other area of their game which needs some work is tackling. Overall the girls deserve much credit for the effort and commitment they showed during the afternoon and their willingness to listen and act on the advice offered. Those who played:Clare Chummun, Ella Samuel, Miriam Dewes, Lucy Bridgwater, Arina Petrova, Dariya Angelova, Victoria Porubaeva, Gabriella Hayes, Stephanie Davis |
