Category: Minis Report

We took 2 teams to Southampton u10s today.

Below was Romsey B team, a successful day out, winning 3, drew 1 and lost 2 games. Tommy, Hamish, Imogen and Noah all on the score sheet. Well done to Ruby for her debut hockey match. Special mention for Reuben who was absolutely brilliant today working his socks off in defence!

Under 8s Trojans Tournament – Sunday 14^th March

What a strange second half to the season its been.  Two tournaments cancelled due to the weather, the final one cancelled due to Covid-19 and a last minute relocation from Trojans to Southampton for the only one that did go-ahead.  But at least they got to play and show what they had learnt since the previous one in early December.  The squad all showed vast improvements and even writing this 2 weeks late, there are many moments that stick in the memory.

We started strongly against Winchester 2 with nearly all the play near their goal.  This domination led us all to believe that we’d score lots of goals, but Winchester were excellent in front of their own goal and kept many shots out.  Hamish should have scored, but chose to try a reverse stick shot which was saved before finally Noah broke the deadlock with some excellent footwork giving him the chance to finish strongly.  Winchester were improving all the time and started to get Laurence in defence involved.  He was strong in the tackle and then looked up before passing to his teammates, providing  opportunities for Jake and Gulliver to attack.  There was some confusion at the final whistle as Winchester scored a goal, but it was after the hooter had gone.  Perhaps a lucky 1-0 win in a game that we could have done better.

The next game was against Bournemouth 1.  Hamish learnt from his mistakes in the first game and scored a hat-trick to give the team a big 3-0 win.  He received some great passes from his teammates to enable him to show his full range of skills to wriggle through the opposition.  It was then Noah’s turn to score his usual hat-trick in the next game against Salisbury.  On one occasion his turn, acceleration and skills to get past the opposition was amazing to see.

The girls decided to get in on the goal-scoring action against New Forest 2, having been passing machines in the first 3 games.  Cherry, who had been restricted to defence, stepped into midfield.  With the ball seemingly glued to the end of her stick, she showed great skill to run past 3 defenders before tapping in the goal with her reverse stick – 1-0.  Grace then showed off her improved skills and footwork to go past their defence to score our second goal and make the final score 2-0.

We then played Trojans 1 who relied on one individual to score 3 goals, as we were not sharp enough to realise that he was going to run everything himself and we seemed slightly shocked.  However we got better during the game and had a few attacks of our own.  One of these resulted in Hamish scoring a good goal from the far right of the pitch.  Jake, in particular, was making stronger tackles to help our cause whilst Laurence engaged in a fully committed tussle against their best player.  He tackled strongly and stopped a further goal by chasing back hard to the goal-line which ended up with both players on the floor.  The match ended 1-3 to Trojans.

What turned into our final match of the season was against Andover 2.  They have proved to be a tough team to play against, particularly after Trojans.  This was a situation repeated from the Romsey tournament, pre-Christmas.  They tackled strongly and passed quickly which put our defence under pressure.  Many players made great efforts in running back to make tackles which was great to see in the 6^th game.  Olivia showed big improvements in her tackling and passing.  And it was one of these passes to Noah that gave him the opportunity to score our only goal of the game.  Although Olivia came close to scoring too.  Unfortunately they scored 3, so we lost 1-3.

As a coach, it was a great pleasure to see the improvements that all players have made during the season, but frustrating that we lost 3 of the tournaments which stopped them making more progress.  In addition to the moments above,  Gulliver was much more involved during his games which was great to see.  Nearly all these players will be with the Under 10s next season so we wish them well and look forward to seeing their progress.  The future of the U8s is youth – Elijah and Rory both made brief cameos throughout this tournament and will get to play a lot more next year.

A depleted but motivated U10s squad arrived at Trojans ready to do battle in the cold winds.  With players short both Romsey teams had to share a goalkeeper.  A massive well done to Sophie and her caddy (mum) who had to shuffle from pitch to pitch with no respite!  Romsey 2 even had to scroungeplayers from Romsey 1 just to keep the show on the road.  On the bright side, with no substitutes everybody was able to fully participate and keep warm! 

Adaptability and team spirit were the themes of the day with everyone showing the ability to play across the park from defence to attack.  Despite the constant rotation of positions and players, Romsey 2 delivered a very creditable 16 goals scored to just 4 conceded.  4 wins, 2 draws and just 1 (shockingly contentious) loss.  

Special thanks to Zach, Oscar, Caitlin and Elsie for all coming across from Romsey 1 to make great contributions and score vital goals.  From Romsey 2s own team Henry and Camilla proved to be the most clinical in front of goal, netting 4 goals each and being part of some great link up play.  Imogen and Maya were stalwarts throughout, always tenacious in the tackle and showing great desire to be first to the ball while Anna S really found her mojo in this tournament.  

 Romsey 1 played excellent hockey comfortably winning all seven matches scoring twenty goals and not conceding any! Caitlin was top striker followed by Oscar with Zach and Elsie also adding to the goal tally. Most of the play took place in the opposition’s half so children were rotated around positions to ensure they all got a piece of the action. Bournemouth 1 was our strongest competition but Romsey 1 managed to win this 2-0. Well done to Evie, Anna, Elsie, Zach, Caitlin and Oscar.

Well done to all.  A great team performance!

Romsey (2) Results

Romsey (2) 5- Salisbury 0

Romsey (2) 1-Bournmouth 0

Romsey (2) 1-Trojans (1) 1

Romsey (2) 1-Andover (3) 2

Romsey (2) 5-Bournmouth (2) 0

Romsey (2) 2-Winchester (2) 0

Romsey (2) 1- Southampton (2) 1

Romsey Hockey Club under 10s success at Hampshire In2Hockey tournament!

 On Sunday 7th March Romsey Hockey Club took two under 10 teams to compete in the Hampshire In2Hockey tournament at Haslemere. 

There were two competitions; a mixed competition in the morning and a girl’s competition in the afternoon. Both teams had been working extremely hard in training since January learning new skills like short corners and penalty flicks and all their hard work paid off and was evident for all to see on the day with what can only be described as amazing results for both teams!

 Romsey U10 mixed team went undefeated in their three pool games with their most challenging game being against Basingstoke who put up a tough fight but in the end qualified for the quarter finals where Romsey played Haslemere winning 2-0. The semi final match saw Romsey face Fleet and Ebshot which they won 1-0. The final was a rematch against Basingstoke that they met in their pool game so Romsey knew that this would be a tough contest. The match was extremely close with both sides have opportunities in front of goal. Romsey defended heroically and in the end it was Oscar who showed determination in front of goal to score securing Romsey a well deserved 1-0 win and see Romsey taking the gold medal. Romsey’s mixed team also did not concede any goals in the whole tournament.  Romsey may only be a small hockey club but they showed that they had what was needed on the pitch today. Well done Sophie, Camilla, Charlie, Oscar, Joe, Zach, Henry and Hamish.

In the afternoon it was the girl’s competition and unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse with heavy hail storms which resulted in one of their pool matches being abandoned. Their first match was against Haslemere who had a very strong record in this competition and they narrowly lost 1-0. There were five further pool matches with some very tough competition from both Havant and Fleet and Ewshot. The girls were not disheartened at all from their first loss and went on to secure all 5 wins in the remainder of their pool games with some impressive wins scoring 5 goals in one game. Their semi final was against Alton and despite some slick passing and use of the full width of the pitch they lost 1-0 but did not stop trying for an equaliser right until the final whistle. They then went into the play off for 3rd/4th place and this ended 1-1 at the end of full time going to penalty flicks which finished 3-3. This then went to sudden death ending in a narrow 3-4 loss resulting in Romsey taking a well deserved 4th place. Well done to Daisy, Clara, Anna, Maya, Caitlin, Elsie, Sabine and Grace. 

 The In2Hockey tournament showcased some fantastic hockey from both teams and how much all children has developed this season. The mixed team will now go on to the Regional finals on 3rd May in Surbiton.

Winchester

Romsey push back and start brightly with Camilla and Elsie testing the Winchester defence both down the centre and left.Their pressure was rewarded when Henry crossed from the right where a waiting Camilla pounced at the back post. A few minutes later Camilla scored again to make it 2-0. 

Bournemouth
Bournemouth threatened Romsey early on but Maya and Anna defended well  and Joe made an amazing goal line save.  Romsey broke forward and some quick passing put Henry through to score the first goal.  Moments later Joe’s free hit found Henry again and he scored again. Three more goals followed from Camilla, Joe and Zach to complete a dominant win. 

New Forest
Could Romsey put in another dominant performance against New Forest? After a less than a minute Romsey make a break with Joe finding Henry who in turn found Camilla in the centre to make it 1-0. It wasn’t long before the New Forestgoal was under siege again. Sterling defence from Maya and Anna kept Romsey at bay for a moment but soon Joe struck to make it 2. A tiny tap-in for Camilla and Romsey were easing through the gears. 3-0. Elsie fed back to Camilla but this time the ball sailed wide. Another goal line scramble denied Joe’s second. The respite was short lived as Maya’s tackle helped the ball to Zack who thumped the ball into the bottom right corner to complete a 4-0 win. 

Salisbury
This game saw Romsey up against a dogged Salisbury defence. Early on Elsie wove through the Salisbury team to find Joe, but he was encircled by Salisbury defenders. Good tackling from Joe and Anna keep Salisbury on the back foot. But Salisbury were a threat and Elsie and Maya had to make some important tackles. The game was finely poised with both teams looking capable of scoring but in the end neither was able to break the deadlock. 0-0 final score. 

Andover
Andover start on the offensive and Maya and Anna were called into action. A long corner from Andover again tested the Romsey defence with Zach making a break down the left. Whipping the ball across the Andover goal it eventually fell to Camilla, who once again found the goal. Elsie came close moments later with a powerful shot just wide. Then it was Andover’s turn to attack and a diving save from Joe and assured clearance from Anna were all that prevented them from levelling. Elsie eventually made a great run down the pitch but was frustrated by Andover defence. But she did not have to wait long as moments later some great link up play between her and Camilla saw Elsie open her account to make it 2-0. 

Southampton
Romsey once again started brightly with intense pressure. Southampton attack but Maya and Joe help to repel the advance. Zach made a great run down the right but pulled his shot just wide. More defending from Maya and Anna helped relieve the pressure once again allowing Camilla to break free. A blistering run from her ended with her adding to her impressive goal tally. After some threating play from Southampton Romsey broke forward. Joe pulls wide to Henry before finding Elsie. A great hit was rewarded with anothergreat goal and 2-0 win. 

Trojans
Could Romsey maintain their undefeated record? Trojans would prove to be their biggest test. 
Camilla and Zach linked up allowing him to get a shot away – off the post! Soon the ball fell to Henry who found Elsie with a great pass and Romsey had the lead. Henry and Anna wereagain busy in defence. A great run and pass from Zach found Camilla but didn’t quite have enough space to squeeze it into the goal. Soon after a fantastic individual effort from Zachsaw him rip past 4 Trojans players before blasting it into the goal. A goal line scramble almost saw Maya scoring but the buzzer sounded and it finished 2-0. 

A great performance from the team and their coach, Cat Gladstone!