Winchester Hockey Club Oracle Edition 12
May Update
It has been wonderful to see so many of our junior players enjoying training and matches since the latest lockdown easing. As most of you will know, the hockey season normally winds up at Easter, but given the amount of time missed this season, we decided to extend play into the summer term. The enthusiasm of players has fully justified this decision! All of the matches so far have been friendlies against local clubs, and we thank our various opposition for their efforts in raising teams and playing in such good spirits. Whilst everyone likes to win games, this has been about getting the children active and enjoying their sport again.
This weekend things get a little more serious, as the reformatted England Hockey Championships kick off for our under 14 and under 16 teams. With limited time to get the various competitions completed, these will now be straight knock-out cups, with a plate competition for those teams losing in the first round. There will be no easy games this year, as only the tier 1 competition takes place. In the first round our under 14 boys and girls both take on Trojans, the under 16 girls face a strong Bournemouth side and the under 16 boys As and Bs take on Fleet & Ewshot and Guildford respectively. All but the under 16 boys Bs are playing at Kings, so all support would be most welcome.
During the last few weeks and months, we have been working on plans for next season, and in particular, the development of our talent development programme. More details on that will be in next week's newsletter.
Weekend Results
Sunday 16th May
U16 Girls v Trojans 0 - 8
U16 Boys A v Trojans U18 3 - 5
U16 Boys B v Basingstoke 8 - 4
U14 Girls v Trojans 3 - 2
U14 Boys v Haslemere 3 - 7
U12 Girls v Trojans 4 - 1
U12 Boys v Haslemere 3 - 2
COVID Check-ins
A reminder that parents must check in all players via Teamo for every session they attend, including training and matches. This is part of the England Hockey COVID strategy that the club must follow to enable the club to participate whilst COVID restrictions apply. This can be done up to three hours before on the app for convenience.
Congratulations!
To Joe Jenkinson and Tommy Finney on being selected to join and represent the England U16 Boys training group this week. A great acheivement, well done to them both and we wish you every success in the future; enjoy the England training camps and tournaments.
Super Cup Sunday
A feast of EH Cup competition action for our junior sides takes place this Sunday, with four matches at home and our U16B boys away at Guildford. After much understandable delay, it’s great to see the junior EH Cup competitions now underway - good luck all teams.
See website for start times and come along to support - see you there!
Club Photographer
We have arranged for Kevin Steele, a sports photographer affiliated to the club, to attend the matches on Sunday and the talent development training session this week. He will have a portfolio of photographs available to purchase afterwards. Links and passwords will be made available by each team manager.
Summer Camps
We will be running camps again during the summer holidays. Details will be advertised in the next few days. Please book early, as numbers will be limited.
Under 16 Boys
The U16A boys have continued their preparation for the EH cup with two friendlies against Bournemouth and Trojans over the past two weeks. First round of the EH cup starts next week with a home game against Fleet and Ewshot.
v bournemouth - score 8 - 2
Scorers: Tommy Finney (2), Ollie Lander (2), Joe Jenkinson (2), Harry Cooke, Alfie Marsh
On 9th May the boys travelled to Bournemouth to take on their U16 team. They started very well with strong use of the wings and a couple of good goals, going 2-0 up. A lapse in intensity and structure, along with a couple of cards, allowed Bournemouth to get back into the game so we went into half-time at 2-2. However the second half saw the Winchester boys show their greater strength and fitness and as the game went on the goals flowed. End result, an 8-2 win.
v trojans U18 - score 3 - 5
Scorers: Tommy Finney, Josh Long, Alfie Marsh
The following Sunday, the boys took on a very strong Trojans U18 team who were also preparing for their EH cup. The boys started strongly and matched the physical strength of the opposition, scoring one and hitting the woodwork once, but they were undone by a few quick breaks, with Trojans stretching the game and injecting real pace into the game. The half time score was 1-4. The second half could have been very difficult, but to the credit of the boys they stuck to their game and showed real strength in character and fitness. As the game wore on, the action was all in the Trojans end and, but for hitting the post twice in the space of a minute, the score could have been very different. Final score 3-5.
Team Summit Under 14 Girls
v trojans - score 3 - 2
Scorers: Arabella Crompton, Poppy White, Eva Akerman
On a very wet morning, Winchester travelled down to Southampton to play against our biggest local rival, Trojans. The first goal of the match was scored by Arabella Crompton, early on in the first third. This boosted our confidence and we continued to keep up the attack. We had a near miss from a short corner before our hard work paid off when Poppy White scored the second goal on her reverse.
In the first two thirds, we worked really hard and managed to keep possession for most the time. Trojans scored a goal in the second third, but Winchester didn’t give up. Eva Akerman scored Winchester’s final goal in the beginning of the last third. One strike in this third was blocked by a Trojans defender which led to a penalty flick for Winchester, which was narrowly missed. Trojans scored one more goal but we carried on playing our best.
We won our match 3-2, which is something we’re all proud of since Trojans are our greatest competitors. The two players of the match nominated by Trojans were Eva Akerman, an attacker, and Emma Williams, a defender. Well played everyone.
Under 14 Boys
v alton - score 3 - 0
v trojans - score 2 - 1
v Haslemere - score 3 - 7
The U14 boys group have played three games to date since post-lockdown and the main objective has been to play as many different players as possible to help make up for their disjointed winter season. Attendance at the Friday coaching sessions has been extremely strong even with several players often juggling attendance with summer sport options.
Results and quality of play has been very encouraging, bearing in mind the high proportion of Year 8 players and the high turnover that this ‘play all’ policy carries, with wins v Alton (3-0) and Trojans (2-1) and a recent loss against Haslemere (7-3) - who brought along a strong A team squad. All those who played have shown great promise, commitment and generally good positional sense, in mixed ability teams that effectively have all been scratch sides each time and thus not as in tune with each other, as we would expect a settled side to be.
At times, the need to defend as a unit was totally lacking which at least gave all the goalkeepers we used plenty of one-to-one encounters with the opposition strike force! The squad now face a strong cup match and with summer sports also taking away some of the stronger players, that match is likely to be the biggest test to date, next weekend.
Under 12 Girls
v trojans - score 4 - 1
Scorers: Poppy Russell (2), Francesca Bradley (1), Rosanna Fox-Robinson (1)
It was raining so much that the team decided to rename themselves "The Ducks". This maybe the last match that this current group will play together as U12s but they were "Mighty". Friendships have formed and teamwork and determination came to the fore.
As always against Trojans the match was very competitive. In the first 20 minutes Winchester passed and moved but could not find the final ball and with a minute left before the break Trojans scored a breakaway goal.
The second twenty was much more even with both keepers making crucial saves. However, Annie started to dominate their centre forward, passed the ball down the right, Erin controlled and centred, for Rosanna to score at the back post on her debut.
In the final twenty Winchester grew in confidence, Poppy scored early with a well taken goal before another quick transition from the back by Annie and a clever pass from Anna which gave Francesca all the time to make it 3-1. As Trojans pressed it was Winchester turn to score on the counter with Poppy making it 4-1.
Eat your heart out Emilio Estevez... it was a great game, all thirteen players were a credit to Winchester Hockey Club.
Under 12 Boys
v haslemere - score 3 - 2
Scorers: Edward Kent, Bertie Lander, Tom Nolan
Winchester U12s hosted their Haslemere counterparts on Sunday, with Winchester keen to atone for a narrow loss to their guests earlier in the season. Played as a 7-aside, half pitch match, the game started and continued in a fast and furious end-to-end manner.
The coaching theme all season has been pass, pass, pass and quick, quick, quick. The first period was a fantastic example of the progress the team has made in this regard, with a tremendous team performance moving the ball quickly around the pitch, using the width well and consequently dragging the defence out of position. Winchester thoroughly deserved their 2-0 lead, with goals from Eddie and Bertie the reward for the team’s hard work.
Despite the encouragement of the coaches to keep up the good work, standards slipped in the next two periods, with players now too keen to take on defenders themselves and less aware of the benefits of using the full width of the pitch. Haslemere grew in confidence and were denied several times only by solid defence, with Rory tireless on the left side, and the magnificent Alberto in goal. Eventually the pressure told and Haslemere drew level with two well taken goals.
From deep down, Winchester rallied in the last five minutes and clawed back the initiative. After a couple of half chances went begging, Tom finished a goal line scramble to retake the lead for Winchester. The drama was not over, as Haslemere won a short corner with the last play of the game. Brave defending resisted their effort, and fittingly, Alberto made one final clearance to end the game.
This is a team developing into a strong outfit that has the potential to perform well over the coming years. Many of the boys haven’t been playing hockey long, but their enthusiasm and willingness to learn will stand them in good stead.
Minis Hockey
Despite the weather it was nice to finally get the U8s and U10s playing some matches against another club.
On a very wet Sunday morning we hosted Andover HC for a series of matches for both U8s and U10s. Over the morning, games were lost and won, with all of Winchester teams scoring plenty of goals. After months of not playing much hockey it was great to see everyone settling into some nice passing hockey and as the morning progressed so did the standard of play.
