Reports 4 Sept 2011
Men's 1sts lose on penalties in semi-final
Cambridge South Men's I NR - NR Tournament
Game 4 v Old Bordenians
Lost 0-1.
Semi Final v Old Loughts Foresters
Drew 1-1. Scorer was Rich Claes
Lost on PS 3-4
In what is now our traditional 'season opener', Cambridge South took a squad of lean, mean, and less-rusty-than-you-might-think hockey players to Bishop's Stortford's annual Pre-Season Tournament. Last year we lost in the semi-final with a brand new 1st team line-up. This year we were keen to try a few new players out and increase our sharpness and fitness.
'A game of two halves' - that's the cliche. Well, this was a tournament of two halves. On the Saturday the sun blazed down on us as we romped to victory in all three of our matches with some swift, flowing attacks and tidy defending. On the Sunday the rain poured down as we battled to two very respectable results against last years winners and the team that proved to be this years winners.
I wouldn't dream of boring you with the details, so here's some highlights:
- Rich Claes' first goal for the 1sts - a mazy solo run through the heart (*ahem*) of Hertford's defence followed by a cool flick past the keeper.
- Watching on as Harleston Magpies fell on their swords, generously kicking and/or deflecting in all three of our goals to give us a victory that we still felt we deserved.
- Resting in the shade after our 2nd match while our opponents in the 3rd match, Vauxhall, ran themselves ragged playing football. (We duly destroyed them in our match).
- Playing against our own Simon Ta, who sportingly played as a ringer for Harleston Magpies. Always a pleasure, Si ;-)
- Mark's ingenious strategy of getting his short-corner drag-flicks to bounce just before the keeper - plenty more goals where that one came from!
- The burger van chaps who were very sympathetic to our elite calorie-loading requirements...
- The entire team's defensive effort and coordination against Old Bordenians. Only a bullet of a shot from their very talented center-forward after we'd naively stopped for a foot-offense cost us the match.
- Another gritty performance from a now-weary side in the semi-final against Old Loughts Foresters, proving we can - and should - play at a higher level than Div 3NW.
- George's penalty-flick. Apparently Bishop's Stortford have had to order a new goal after the cross-bar was broken in two!
Overall, a massively encouraging start to the season. I can't imagine there are any teams in the league that can match us for pace. Having retained nearly all of last year's squad we are playing well as a team already, and there are some exciting additions to the squad that will hopefully bring the goals we were lacking last season.
Thanks to all the players for their efforts over the weekend, and to Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club for hosting another excellent tournament.
Team played: Shahbaz Ali, Ron Oren, George Wych, Dave Aston, Tim Clapp, Bhavdeep Virdi, Russell Johnson, Richard Claes, Tom Watson, Jack Chalk, Mark Williams, Jeremy Hulse, Graham McCulloch
Cambridge South Mixed XI 2 - 3 St Neots Mixed
H/T: 0 - 2
Scorers: John Benedikz (2)
MoM: Simon Jelley (Constant pressure on opposition midfield in the face of ever increasing numbers.)
LoM: John Benedikz (Taking us to the wrong pitch.)
Awaiting Report
Team played: John Benedikz, Lindsey Berends, David Bridge, Ellie Raffan, Neil Sneade, Becky Taylor, Simon Jelley, Vicky Lavis, Shahzad Ali, James Raikes
