Good luck to our future stars in the Hampshire In2Hockey Championship today in Haslemereš
Full report and photos laterš
M4s sign off in style
Romsey managed to earn all three points in this fun end of season clash, having gifted Hamble their only point of the season in the away fixture back in December.
Hamble started brightly, and were reliant on a solid back four performance, with Simeon Field again showing how far he has developed in his second season, Duncan Sanders and Lukasz Suleja solid at the back and James Tower, playing his usual game of defence and attack at left back, before he departs for Canada for a year.
Once Romsey did get the ball, an attack with Phil Orak and Dave Procter won a penalty corner, Procter pushed the ball out to Colin Harwood who slipped it to Jon Marsh to put Romsey 1 0 up.
It was a tight game for the rest of the half, Andy Moger playing a pivotal role in his last match before moving to Bristol.
Bryn Wathen has to make two good saves, to keep Hamble out and Barry Hatch was unlucky when Harwood intercepted a 16 yard ball and squared it to the forward, who had his shot blocked.
Romsey almost doubled their lead in the second half when after three shots were blocked by sticks on the line, eventually a foot saw a penalty flick awarded. Harwood stepped up aiming for the left post and accurately hit it face on to see the ball rebound to his feet.
Romsey finally doubled their lead in the second half after Dan Blackman and Field combined to play the ball to Marsh who powerfully struck the ball towards the circle and Matt Duke to slide it in for 2 0.
As Romsey thought they were hockey players by coolly playing it around at the back, Hamble intercepted eventually and then Wathen had no chance with a dunce strike just under the bar for 2-1. He then pulled a fine save, deflecting another high shot on to the bar and over.
Romsey wrapped up the points when Sean Rawles combined with Will Payne and Ben Harris to allow Barry Hatch to shoot the ball in for 3 1 and 3 points in the final game of the season, which saw Romsey4 finish 4th of eight, with 25 points.
8 points behind IOW2 who were crowned champions, and who dropped only 9 points all season, their only defeat being at the hands of Romsey.
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U12 Girls beat New Forest
The u12 girls played brilliantly yesterday morning and secured a 6-2 win against New Forest.
The whole team worked well together. Determined in defence, great passing in possession and clinical in front of goal.
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U10 Boys show promise at Trojans
Sunday 10th March 2019 at Trojans Hockey Club, Southampton
1. Trojans 4 – Romsey 1 =2-0
2. Romsey 1 – Southampton 1 =3-0
3. Romsey 1 – Andover 1 = 1-0
4. Romsey 1 – New Forest 2 = 5-0
5. Bournemouth – Romsey 1 = 0-4
6. Salisbury 2 – Romsey 1 = 0-4
7. Romsey 1 – Trojans 2 = 5-1
Time for another mini tournament for the U10 and this time the coaches, Natalie and Cat decided to split our youngsters into a boysā and a girlsā team to practice their team play for the up and coming IN2 Hockey. The teams shared one goalie kit so for half of the matches Romsey boys had Benji in place as a fully kitted out goalie doing his first hands on saves. In the team āBoysā were also Charlie, Oscar, Jake, Dylan, Hugo, Joe and Ben all practising their play in different positions of the pitch.
Romsey boys started their first match against an alert Trojan 4. Trojans were much more coordinated and quicker in their passing, making the ball travel fast over to their half of the pitch. With a constant pressure, Trojans scored two goals despite Jake and Joeās hard work in defence.
Having had a āwake upā from Trojans in the first game, Romsey were much more alert in the second game against Southampton. Romsey took control of the game from the start and the first goal was a team effort and within minutes Oscar scored the 2nd goal and had another shot in goal but from outside the D. Southampton only had a one proper attempt to score which was beautifully saved by Benji and then defenders Jake and Hugo passed the ball up to midfielder Charlie and Oscar. Charlie played a great shot to Joe who scored the 3rd goal and shortly after Charlie came back with another ānear goalā, finishing the match with a much happier 3-0 to Romsey.
Andover were up next and that was a very even match with play over the full pitch. Dylan scored the first goal after great play and passes from Jake and Charlie. Oscar showed off his goalie skills by throwing himself on the ball, avoiding Southampton to get a goal and the match ended 1-0.
From the fourth game onwards, Romsey were unbeatable and were seeing the benefits of passing the ball to each other to get to score goals. New Forest worked hard but Romsey were quicker. Ben shot a straight corner, passing it across the goal and then Oscar, Dylan and Ben had a lovely series of passes in between them which ended with Ben scoring the first goal. A Quick play out and Joe attacked the goal with a 2nd shot and Oscar following on with the 3rd goal. Before the match ended Joe had put in another two goals, finishing the game with a strong 5-0 to Romsey.
In the fifth game the goalie kit was handed over to the girls and Romsey boys carried on without a designated goalie. Jake was now playing midfield and dribbled single handed up to score the first game. Oscar and Jake were shooting into the goal from a long corner but that goal was disallowed. Jake scored the 2nd goal with a great pass from Ben. Oscar and Dylan had another attempt to score which was nicely saved by Bournemouth goalie. Joe played strongly in attack and scored two lovely goals, ending the game an amazing 4-0 to Romsey.
In the sixth game against Salisbury, Romsey had the majority of the play and finished it with another strong 4-0. Dylan scored the first, Jake the 2nd, Joe the 3rd and finally Oscar the 4thgoal.
The last game of the day was against Trojans 2 and Romsey kept their strong play by putting in five goals compared to Trojans one. Joe score the first goal and then, finally, Charlie scored two goals himself, followed by Jake and Dylan scoring one goal each.
Romsey boys entertained us all with fast and fun games with an amazing 22 goals scored. The more the boys passed to each other the better they played. Well done all boys for fantastic play on a windy day.
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U8s blow everyone away at Trojans!
Romsey’s awesome U8s battled the gales and fallen trees to Trojans for their Mini Festival on Sunday. The young squad of 8 players, half of whom are only 6 years old, performed brilliantly for the whole morning playing some tremendous hockey.
The first game was a 0-0 draw against Andover 1. Both teams were still half asleep and neither managed to create any meaningful chances.
Next up were Winchester 2 and the young Romsey team had certainly woken up. They were on the attack from the start with Zak and Hamish bossing the game but it was young Noah who really took his chances scoring 4 goals, Zak and Henry got the other two in this 6-2 win.
Romsey continued their form into the next fixture against New Forest. They ran out 4-0 winners with Zak getting a hat-trick and Henry getting the other. Grace was equally determined in attack and her frustations in not scoring were plan for all to see. She will undoubtedly get one soon!
Andover 2 were dominated again by the Romsey hordes and we ran out 4-1 winners. Zak got a couple, Noah added to his tally and Cherry scored her first goal for the club with a clinical finish at the back post.
The match against Southampton 2 ended in a similar way with Zak getting two, Noah and Henry one each in another 4-0 win. William, on his debut for Romsey, continued to show his enthusiasm and application making useful inroads in the midfield.
With five games played our team of heroes were starting to flag. All that was left was a tough double header against Trojans 2s and then arch rivals Trojans 1s. A pep talk from coach Robertson and some sugar loading from assistant coach Cadge spurred the young team on to one final big effort.
Trojans 2s proved to be no match with Zak scoring again and Henry getting a brace. Romsey winning 3-1.
The crowd held their breath for the titanic clash between Trojans 1s and Romsey. Old rivalries were reformed and the battle commenced. The young Romsey team battled valiantly against the older and stronger Trojans boys and it was slightly against the run of play that young star Zak managed to nick possession and than ran the length of the pitch to put Romsey 1 up against the hosts. Trojans did not role over though the the intense pressure on the Romsey goal continued. Emma worked tirelessly in defence to break down the waves of Trojans attack but with only minutes to go a fine reverse stick shot saw Trojans equalise and what ensued was a nail biting finale. Eventually the final hooter went and a magnificanent effort from all saw the teams draw 1-1.
A great performance from the Romsey team who are barely recognisable from the squad that was initially formed at the start of the season.
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U10s at Trojans Mini Festival
Game 1: Romsey girls vs. Andover mixed
3:0 loss
Our first game of the day and the girls were very excited to play. We had Clara at centre back who was doing some amazing defending with very strong tackles and hard passes to our midfield players. Lots of hard work, determination and running from midfielder Caitlin who was trying to move the ball up the pitch as quickly as possible, which she did successfully. Our girls set up a very high press, trying to put as much pressure as they can on the Andover defence but unfortunately, they managed to get the ball through which was how Andover got their first goal as our players couldnāt get back in time to defend. Well done to our defence as they were working very hard but receiving many strikes from Andover which resulted in their second goal. The third goal got deflected in off an Andover foot, but the umpire did not see it, resulting in their third and final goal.
Game 2: Romsey girls vs. Winchester Girls
0:0 draw
The Romsey girls had multiple shots on goal but unfortunately could not get it through Winchester sweeper who was defending very well. There was beautiful passing done between Elsie and Grace up front which made it easy to move around the Winchester players. Well done to Caitlin who worked very hard in the midfield making countless tackles and not giving up.
Game 3: Romsey girls vs. Trojans Mixed
4:0 loss
Trojans is always a tough opposition to play and they took the lead by scoring a very early goal. The Romsey players werenāt concentrating and it took them a while to get into the fast pace of the game. However, Trojans had a mixed team with a few tall and very talented boys which made it a lot tougher and harder for our all girls team. Our girls worked very hard but cannot defend everything.
Game 4: Romsey girls vs. New Forest Mixed
3:0 win
Our fourth game was by far the best team effort from the girls and they all started to play very well together. The first goal was scored by Camilla who was very well positioned on the left post as she received an amazing pass from Caitlin in midfield, she tapped it in the goal. The second goal was scored by Caitlin, who took a strike at goal and it got deflected in by New Forest defender. The third goal was scored by a pass into the D by Grace and was then slapped in again by Camilla. There was amazing defending done by Elsie and Sophie who made sure that New Forest would not have the opportunity to score. Special mention to Daisy who played her first match in goal!
Game 5: Romsey girls vs. Southampton mixed.
1:0 win
The girls walked onto the pitch feeling very excited and confident for the next game after their brilliant performance against New Forest. Southampton had 2 forwards who were hanging very high which kept our defence slightly under pressure but that did not stop our girls from scoring. Another goal scored by Camilla after seeing beautiful passing from the defence through the Southampton players to our midfielders.
Game 6: Romsey girls vs. Trojans mixed
Our 6th game of the day which was another tough one against a different Trojans team. Romsey scored first from a long, hard pass from midfielder Caitlin that went through all the Trojans players to Camilla who did a hard slap into the goal. Our goalie, Daisy, made some great saves but the Trojans team were just too strong. Well done to our girls for being the only team of the tournament to score against this Trojans team! Their coach was very impressed with our all girls team performance.
Game 7: Romsey girls vs. Salisbury
The last game of the day and they were feeling very tired and cold but they all worked hard to end the day off well. It was a very even game between the two teams as we both had many shots on goal but because of our great defenders- Elsie, Mya and many saves from Daisy in goal, Salisbury only managed to score 1. Caitlin and Clara worked amazingly together in midfield doing lovey passes in order to get the ball to Camilla, who once again easily slotted it in to the goal!
Jen and Natalie are very proud of our team who held their own against some very difficult mixed teams and we hope they had a fun morning!
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M4s miss out v Lavant
Romsey were unlucky not to get at least a point from this game, with 3rd place in the final table at stake.
Romsey started the brighter and spent the first ten minutes inside the Lavant half.
Bryn Wathen and Dave Procter up front couldnāt find the final touch on good build up play down the right between Dan Blackman and Colin Harwood. With Pete OāHara combing with Ben Parker down the left to play the ball in to the circle and win penalty corners.
The Lavant keeper in fine form, saved twice from Wathen from two penalty corners, once from a Parker Harwood penalty corner move then from Harwoodās shot.
As Romsey pushed forward with Jon Marsh moving up from centre back to centre midfield to support Andy Moger, it left Lukasz Suleja and Simeon Field exposed to fast counter attacks. Field cut off one and Suleja another before Romsey conceded a penalty corner. Typically there wasnāt much Ollie OH could do from a shot that he had covered before it was touched past him by a forward to see Romsey 1 0 down at HT.
Romsey equalised early in the second half when Parkerās penalty corner push out saw Harwoodās shot again saved, only for the taker to follow up and score to put himself in the top 10 on the 4th XI all time scorers list!
A good move involving Wathen, Matt Duke and Phil Orak saw the ball crossed at pace to the far post where Blackman was able to control it but roll it agonisingly the wrong side of the post.
Moger and Marsh both got themselves in to the circle, but Romsey couldnāt find that second goal, and typically conceded possession and then another penalty corner near the end of the game to allow Lavant to repeat their effort of the first half and run out 2 1 winners and with it more or less secure 3rd spot in the league.
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U16Gs Blow Havant Away!
Romsey u16 Girls played Havant in the wind and rain courtesy of Storm Freya.
Push back was 10.00am and Romsey were quick into their stride with Clara H and Jess G combining well in Midfield to get Romsey up the pitch.
Tessa D made one of her trade mark fast breaks forward and found Anna R in the D who turned well and slipped a super pass into Ella M at the back post who shot narrowly wide.
This spurred Havant on and they made a succession of breaks forward only to be foiled by a resilient Romsey defence with great tackling from Alex O and Molly O. Romsey regained composure and started to pass the ball more quickly with Grace M and Emily J using the width of the pitch well.
Jess W made a great run down the right feeding the ball into the D , Havant initially defended well but the loose ball was picked up by Tessa D who drove back into the D and shot with power to send the ball past the Havant goalkeeper 1-0!
Romsey were on top now and a succession of shot corners followed , fizzing injections from Katie S were met by Liz F who had two shots that narrowly flew past the right hand post.
It was not long before Romsey got another goal with good work by Tessa D to grab her second goal. 2-0! Half time came and went and Romsey new the next goal was important.
Havant started with an attack which was snuffed out with great work from Antonia L who fed the ball into midfield for Jess G to make a strong run down the right which produced a short corner. Katie S injected smartly again and Liz F reversed a pass to Tessa who shot but was saved by the keeper and deflected into the path of Anna R at the back post who calmly slotted the ball home. 3-0!
Within minutes Romsey were on the attack again and Jess W got free in the D to slot home for number 4!
Romsey were comfortable at this stage but a tactical change from Havant brought immediate success , they pushed another attacker forward to put pressure on the dominant Alex O in defence. This created an overload and Havant were through on goal and despite a great diving attempt from Daisy R to stop the ball they scored 4-1!
For the first time in the match Romsey were under a bit of pressure but a tactical change themselves with Katie S dropping back to help the defence kept Havant at bay for the remainder of the match.
Final Score Romsey 4 – 1 Havant
Player of the match – Alex O , strong defending throughout.
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L3s – Win Div 6 with 3 to play
A Game Full of ClichƩs!
On a sunny Saturday spring (almost) afternoon 15 keen and eager ladies 3ās players arrived at their home ground waiting to face the āmust win gameā vās Winchester tigers. This was going to require 110% from all players if they were to secure the league title that they were hoping for.
It was a game of two halves ā with 5 goals in each! The game started well with two Romsey goals within 6 minutes and before the Dads had even arrived on the side-line ā including Brad! Saraās date with Billy didnāt hamper a number of outstanding midfield phases of play setting up more than one of the goals.
Play continued to very much mimic that demonstrated by the ladies 1ās players (in the 90ās, but slower,as described by the club chair) resulting in attacking phases of play often converting to positive attacks on goal.
The match was dominated by Romsey for the majority of the game, with much of the play being in the attacking half. The first goal went through two face masks, placed on the goal line (rookie mistake by winch) allowing Emily to score first.
With Winchester realising their mistakes, they put up a brave fight and marked in the defensive phase of play well. They had a couple of breaks when Romsey appeared to be taking a break and were unfortunate not to convert to their advantage.
Half time arrived and after a stern talking to by Harding, Ella P finally arrived at the party and scored 3 goals in the following 35 minutes.
A well-rehearsed short corner routine allowed captain Cat, the league top scorer, to score the first of two goals ā if anything it was struck too well!
Goals also followed from Ruth, Katrina and Verity and some sterling attempts from Tasha (even Morgan got in the D at one point!)
Despite the defence feeling slightly redundant at times Annie was awarded star player for a determined and vocal performance, as Winchester certainly made Romsey work for each and every goal scored.
At the end of a great game Romsey finished the victors with a 10-0 win confident in the knowledge that was enough to secure the league title as well.
110% from all players (even Lauren still a little worse for wear) definitely paid off. Looking forward to the remaining games ladies! For those ladies not mentioned in the report, your 110% didnāt go unnoticed weāve just run out of words!
Written by the ladies 3ās @ teas Saturday afternoon!
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U8/ U10 Training – Cancelled – 3/3/2019
Apologies for late notice but training this morning is cancelled due to the horrible weather