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| Hockey Under 12 Girls Team 'Blog' |
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U12 Team U12/13 Mixed Team
Wednesday 25th February 2009 v Hall Grove. Home on Wellington Astro Lost 5-2 (Charlotte, Ashleigh) Team: Jaya Baxter [GK], Kim Brant, Alexandra O'Donnell, Charlotte Earwaker [Capt.], Eliza Hamilton-Fairley, Ashleigh Bishop, Ellie Bamber. This was an excellent game of hockey against a tough opposition, who had some very hard hitting, skilful, club team players. It was a game of three parts for Eagle House. We came out fighting for the first eight minutes. We were first to the ball and passed accurately. This great period of play was rewarded by a fantastic goal from Charlotte. However, Hall Grove fought back and Eagle House went to sleep! We became afraid to go in for tackles as the Hall Grove players were striking the ball hard in the D. Players were not marked, allowing easy shots. This seven minutes saw Hall Grove score 5!! A rousing half time talk, encouraging positive thinking and guts did the trick. The second half was a much more even game. Ashleigh scored a great goal, demonstrating good body positioning and determination. We kept Hall Grove out of our D and, in theory won the second half 1-0. Well done to all for listening to advice and working hard to fight back from a difficult position. Wednesday 12th November 2008 v Marlston House. Home on Wellington Astro Drew 4-4 Team: Jaya Baxter [GK], Kim Brant, Alexandra O'Donnell, Charlotte Earwaker [Capt.], Eliza Hamilton-Fairley, Ashleigh Bishop, Ellie Bamber, Stephanie Morgan. At the start of the match the girls looked rather 'rusty' after the half-term rest and they were not playing the same controlled hockey that they showed they were capable of at the Pangbourne tournament and as a result they were 2-0 down half way through the first half. The opposition were playing some good hockey and in particular they were attacking very effectively down the middle of the pitch. Eventually we managed to get some sort of order and Charlotte increased her work load and this, together with Kim and Alex once again playing outstandingly at the back the game became much tighter as Eagle House became more competitive. In the last few minutes of the half an attack down the right hand wing resulted in Ashleigh making an excellent run and putting the ball across and into the circle which resulted in a short corner from which Charlotte fired into the opposition net; at this stage this was no more than the side deserved. However, from the re-start Marlston House once again attacked us and from a free hit they scored their third game of the match as one of their players was left unmarked in front of the goal. The second half got under way and Eagle House attacked with more purpose. Much of the credit here can go to the way Alex and Kim began to run with the ball at the opposition. Jaya now came into her own as she made two crucial saves to deny Marlston House a fourth goal before we managed to break away down the right hand side and once again this resulted in an excellent cross from Ashleigh which Charlotte converted to score our second goal. Back came Marlston House and finally they did turn their pressure into a fourth goal, 4-2. Many sides might have given up at this stage and it is greatly to the girls credit that instead they rolled up their sleeves and continued to play good attacking hockey which resulted in a short corner which from which Ellie scored after their goalkeeper hand made an excellent save from the shot by Charlotte on the top of the circle. A series of penalty corners towards the end of the game finally came to fruition when the equaliser was scored, once again from a shot at the top of the circle by Charlotte. Both sides continued to play good, excitting hockey, but in the end a draw was a fair result. Well done to all the girls for their efort. Charlotte 3 goals Ellie 1 goal
Wednesday 15th October Tournament @ Pangbourne College - Tournament Winners! Team: Jaya Baxter [GK], Kim Brant, Alexandra O'Donnell, Charlotte Earwaker [Capt.], Eliza Hamilton-Fairley, Ashleigh Bishop, Ellie Bamber, Stephanie Morgan. The side played some very good and exciting hockey throughout the afternoon creating many chances in each of the games they played. In the first match against St. Andrew's they dominated the game for large parts of the match and with Ellie leading the side up front and Charlotte controlling the mid-field the opportunity to score was a constant threat to the opposition. At the back Kim and Alex were solid and very little got past them and when it did Jaya was on hand to make several fine saves. In the second match the side played some of their best hockey this term and with ashleigh playing wide on the right and Eliza and Stephanie inter-changing during the game they were always in control of the game. Ashleigh gained in confidence as the match progressed and put in some excellent crosses to the 'D' for Ellie and Charlotte to convert into goals. One pleasing element of the game was that we converted some of our short corner chances, something we were unable to do in the match against Cranleigh. The final match of the competition only required the team to draw against Thorngrove. Both sides played some excellent hockey during the course of the game, but it was Thorngrove who took the lead. Jaya made some fine saves during the game and with Alex and Kim once again proving to be a very solid defence the opposition were having to work for their opportunities. As the game drew closer and closer to the end of the match it seemed as though the side were not going to convert any of the chances they had had, but with less than a minute to go and with one final attack Ellie at last managed to put away one of the chances. A fair result was achieved in the end because both sides had contributed to an excellent game of hockey. The outcome of the last game meant that the girls had won the tournament and they were rightly very excited about having done so. ell done to allof them. V St Andrew’s Pangbourne Won 2-0 (Ellie 1, Charlotte 1) V Pangbourne College Won 4-0 (Ellie 2, Charlotte 2) V Thorngrove Drew 1-1 (Ellie)
Wednesday 17th September 2008 v Cranleigh Away Lost 3-0 Team: Jaya Baxter [GK], Kim Brant, Alexandra O'Donnell, Charlotte Earwaker [Capt.], Eliza Hamilton-Fairley, Ashleigh Bishop, Ellie Bamber, Stephanie Morgan. This was the first match of the season and all those who played should be pleased with the contributions they made during the afternoon. The scoreline does not fairly reflect how well the girls played and had we converted some of our short corners the outcome may well have been very different. For large parts of the game we played good attacking hockey, although in the first half we tended to do this most of the time down our left hand side and so played iinto the hands of our opponents. In the first half we also lacked an awareness of who we should be marking and what we should be doing once we lost the ball in a tackle, but with Kim and Alex playing solidly at the back and managing to stem most of the attacks and Jaya making some important saves we approached half time very much still in the game. The second half again showed us continuing to play good attacking hockey, with Charlotte leading the way, ably supported by Ellie and Ashleigh playing up the middle and Eliza and Stephanie playing out wide. Once again we had a number of short corner opportunities, but we were unable to convert any of them. The most pleasing thing about the second half was the girls carried out the coaches half-time instructions and attacked much more down the right flank, got back to help out the defence once they had been caught in possession and as a result they did not concede another goal during the game. I am sure that all the girls will have learnt a great deal from this their first game of the season and hopefully we can go from strength to strength. Wednesday 17th September U12/13 V Cranleigh Lost 0-1 Player's Woman-of-the-match - Alyna Coach's Woman-of-the-match - Alys J.G.S. |
Women-of-the match
