Congratulations!

After a four-week assessment process, the following Winchester players have been selected for the South Coast Talent Academy:

Boys: Will Leyland, Eddie Bulstrode, Seb Eaton and Mario Gianni

Girls: Amelia Wakely, Amelie Nolan, Alice Lander and Mel Georgiou

Congratulations to all selected players. This is a great achievement.

Junior Umpires

At Winchester Hockey Club, we encourage anyone and everyone to consider developing their umpiring skills. For those interested, becoming a Club Umpire and Level 1 assessment are the first steps to getting involved. Once you have the basic competencies, you can umpire club games (senior or junior) as practice, with mentoring if you wish. This may be as far as you want to take it but if you want to take it further and umpire more senior league games (eg Ladies 2nd XI fixtures require a fully qualified Level 1 Umpire), then the club can arrange for you to be assessed.

Wherever you might be in terms of your knowledge and understanding of the rules of hockey and umpiring, there are people in the Club only too happy to help. Graham Beck is able to help at any stage in your personal umpiring development and the club’s website also has more information.

It was lovely to see Viv and Fran, a couple of our young umpires, out developing their skills and supporting the club at the weekend!

U16 Girls

vs Alton - 2-5

Scorers: Cecily M, Bea E

The Winchester U16 girls played their first game of the season and hosted Alton for the first round of the EH cup. Unconverted first half chances resulted in Alton going into the second half two goals up. Winchester fought hard and had more hope after a goal from Cecily M. Alton quickly followed with another goal but Bea E again raised hopes by scoring for Winchester with a goal from a short corner. Unfortunately Alton finished the game with another two goals leading to a disappointing loss for the home team.

Players of the match - Cecily M and Tilly H

U14 Girls

Vs Trojans - 5-1

Scorer: Anna D-S

We didn’t play badly but we just didn’t seem to be having a good day. We started off okay, the first half being very tight between the two teams. After half time it was 1-1 but when we got back on the pitch they scored a couple of lucky goals and all our carefully rehearsed set-up and practiced passing wide was forgotten as everyone started to get tired. Flora did extremely well but they just seemed to get past, making the result 5-1.

We are playing them this weekend in a league tier 1 game and will hopefully be able to come back.

Players of the match - Francesca B and Flora F

Written by Maddie H

U14 Boys

Vs Trojans - 0-4

Winchester U14 boys struggled to impose themselves in this first round of the EH Cup, as Trojans came with an effective plan to press Winchester deep in their own half. With little room to manoeuvre, the players were given a harsh lesson in the need to execute the basics well under pressure.

Despite regularly conceding possession, Winchester defended well, putting into practice the defensive strategies learnt during the last few training sessions. However, with so much possession in attacking areas, Trojans started to create chances and it was only a matter of time before the deadlock was broken. With the game slipping away, too many players resorted to dribbling out of defence, compounding the issues and giving counterattack opportunities to Trojans.

Despite the scoreline, the boys continued fighting to the end and created several chances to score during the second half. There is plenty of potential within the team, which will develop during the course of the season.

U12 Girls

The U12 girls started their league season in style, scoring 27 goals and conceding just six across six matches. Blacks are firmly top of Hampshire League Division 1 with the Yellows and Purples only pipped to top spot of their respective leagues on goal difference.

Blacks Vs Trojans 6-2

Scorers: Violet L, Aggie H (2), Sophie B, Zoe J (2)

Sunday saw the first league triangular match for Winchester U12 Blacks. They were keen to follow up on their good start to the season, being unbeaten in their friendly matches so far. It wasn’t long before Winchester took control against a well organised Trojans team, using the width of the pitch to great effect and earning a much deserved 6-2 win.

bLACKS VS aNDOVER 6-3

Scorers: Sophie B (3), Aggie H (1), Venne B

Next up were Andover; despite tired legs from back-to-back games, the Winchester Blacks fought hard in what was a tight game. With only a few minutes left to play the score was 4-3 to Winchester but two quick breakaway goals from the Blacks made it a more comfortable 6-3 and they continued their winning streak.

Purples vs Aldershot & Farnham Falcons - 8-1

Scorers: Emily K (4), Charlotte C, Alice W and Cecily N

Winchester Purples looked in total control in both their league fixtures. First up was Aldershot & Farnham Falcons and Winchester Purples were pretty much in the Aldershot half of the pitch for most of the game; some nice passing play and following up on shots saw the purples leading 5-0 at half time. The second half was similar to the first with three more goals netted before Aldershot got a breakaway goal at the very end of the game.

Purples vs Basingstoke B - 5-0

Scorers: Charlotte C, Alice W, Emily K and Cecily N

The second match of the morning was against Basingstoke B and if it hadn’t been for their GK, the score line would have surely been far better for the Winchester girls, but another good win 5-0. It was nice to see the girls build from defence, driving down the wings and crossing from the baseline and converting some lovely goals.

Yellows vs Southampton - 1-0

Romsey was the setting for the U12 Yellow team’s first two league games of the season. The first game was end to end - Winchester soaked up the attacks with epic defending from Emily A and Alice A-H, along with match-defining saves by Elanor in goal. Arrianne T and Olivia C had some hard work to do to keep Southampton's right midfield quiet but their hard work and solid tackling helped to win the midfield battle. Winchester Yellows turned the game with a dominant performance in central midfield by Lana O and smashing attacking play down the righthand side, starting with the right defence Alice A-H through the right midfield Beatrix E, ending with a fantastic goal by Georgia H playing as high attacker.

Yellows vs Romsey 2s - 1-0

It wasn’t over... a 30 minute break and the Yellows were back in action. They knew they could not put a foot wrong if they wanted to go unbeaten! Working to win the ball back at every opportunity, the yellows turned defence into attack. How much more pressure could Romsey 2s cope with? Finally the deadlock lifted with a Lana O strike from many rebounded shots. Hats off to the Romsey 2s goalie with many great saves keeping her team in the game. The last minutes of the game tested the Yellows’ organization in defence. True to form the back line held strong and they defended the goal like wolves.

Winchester Hockey Club Oracle Edition 41