Results Round-up so far in March….match reports to follow

Saturday 3rd

Men's 1 v Teddington                         2 - 3

Men's 2 v H’steady & Westminster   6 - 2

Men's 3 v London Wayfarers 5s       1 – 0

Super Vets v Spencer Supervets     3 - 0

Academy v Colchester 3                    2 - 0

Loppers v Waltham Forest 4             4 - 1

Willows 1 v Upminster 5                    5 – 0

Willows 2 v Braintree 5                      4 - 0       

Ladies 1 v Blueharts 1                        1 - 1

Ladies 3 v Old Southendian             2 - 1       

Ladies 4 v Chelmsford 5                    1 - 3

Ladies 5 v Crostyx 4                           0 - 4       

                               

Saturday 9th

Men's 2 v Tulse Hill and Dulwich 2  4 – 1

Academy v Saffron Walden 4           0 - 0

Loppers v Saffron Walden 5             7 - 0

Willows 1 v London Royals 1           4 - 0

Willows 2 v Saffron Walden 8           3 - 0

Ladies 1 v Ashford 1                           3 - 2

Ladies 3 v Wapping 5                        2 - 2

Ladies 4 v Brentwood 3                     0 - 1

Ladies 5 v Redbridge & Ilford 3        2 – 0

 

Sunday 10th

Men's 1 v Old Georgians                   0 – 4

Boys U18 v Norwich Dragons           4 – 2

Boys U16 England Hockey Championships Area Finals - Winners

Mini U10 Girls Essex Cup - Winners

Mini U12 Girls Essex Cup – Winners

Mini U10 Boys Essex Cup – Winners

Mini U12 Boys Essex Cup - Winners

 

Saturday 16th

Men's 1 v Southgate                           4 - 6

Men's 2 v Indian Gymkhana 2          0 - 3       

Academy v Wapping 9                       4 – 1

Loppers Vs Upminster 4                    1 - 3

Willows 1 v Havering 4                      3 – 1

Willows 2 v Romford 3

Ladies 1 v Tunbridge Wells 1           3 – 1

Ladies 3 v Havering 2                        5 - 0

Ladies 4 v Chelmsford 4                    2 - 2       

Ladies 5 v Colchester 4                     2 - 3

Match Reports

Ladies 3s v Old Southendians – 3rd March

On Saturday Old Loughtonians Ladies 3s travelled to Southend to play Old Southendians Ladies 1s. Old Southendians started strong and scored from a short corner early on in the first half. After a encouraging team talk at half time Old Loughtonians dominated the second half playing with great determination and desire which lead to the success of the equalising goal from Georgia. A few moments later another short corner was won by Old Loughtonians and was beautifully executed by Laura finishing with a straight strike after a successful injection from Rach.  A great game from both sides 2-1. This fantastic result keeps the L3’s in promotion contention in 2nd place, only 2 points behind the league leaders. Outstanding effort and passion shown by all Old Loughts players, Well done!

Academy v Saffron Walden – Saturday 9th

Away at Saffron Walden, on their sloping sand based pitch, and playing against a team pressing hard for promotion, was never going to be easy. And so it proved.

As 0-0 draws go, it was good to watch and nerve jangling from the side. Saffron Walden with their physical hockey, probably shaded the play overall as the play ebbed and flowed. There were periods when each side were on top, and Saffron Walden created (unusually) more chances than our junior side. However, Finn with some notable fine saves in goal was our man of the match.  Other notable performances came from Ryan and Oscar, but all tried hard and gave all that they could. The one rather out of character moment came from the skipper Kev, who tried a lob over the top from inside his own 25 to find it worry the worms more than the skies. Kev, we have to keep to basics, as we keep telling the youngsters!  So still unbeaten this year, but now two draws.

 

Ladies 3 v Wapping 5 – Saturday 9th

Saturday's game against Wapping 5s was not the best performance by the 3s this season. A lucky early goal following a defenders defection put Wapping 1-0 up and OL struggling for composure and possession. With emotions high OL re grouped and with some fluid linking between Emily Goodhew and Karen Leach, Georgia Dawes was able to even the scores with a scrappy goal. However this was soon replicated by Wapping putting them once again in the lead. Half time couldn't have come soon enough, there is nothing better than Dave's half time oranges to boost everyone's energy levels. With purpose OL started the second half strongly, with better play from everyone, moving the ball round and increased intensity a second goal was scored by Karen Leach. Despite many opportunities OL were unable to take the lead and ended the game on a disappointing draw. Promotion is still possible but we are certainly making it difficult for ourselves.

 

Ladies 1 v Tunbridge Wells – Saturday 16th

Old Loughts were ready to continue their high flying end to the season at home to struggling Tunbridge Wells. With a strong squad and the team not willing to settle for less than 3 points and the girls went out with full confidence.

It was a relatively slow start for Loughts with a few players playing out of position causing some confusion on the right hand side. However, they quickly got their act together and it wasn't long before Tunbridge were pinned in their own half with full pressure being applied by Loughts, resulting in a wave of penalty corners. A straight strike by Miranda Baldwin into the bottom corner got the team off to an early lead and filled with confidence ready to go again. Loughts continued the pressure and the ball fell once again to Miranda, who was proving to be a challenge for the Tunbridge defence, in the circle for a first time strike into the same corner of the goal, putting the team into a two goal lead at the break.

Tunbridge came out a different side in the second half ready to challenge the early leaders. The deadlock was broken midway into the second half with a solid strike from Chloe Stack at the top of the circle, following an inch perfect through ball. Whilst Loughts were in a comfortable three goal lead, the second half proved to be slightly more of a challenge with a few different changes to positions and formations leading to Loughts conceding with 10 minutes to go. This wasn't enough to phase the team who calmly saw the game out to pick up another 3 points. A fantastic team performance from front to back with each player contributing throughout. Man of the match was Chloe Stack for her tireless running and commitment.

Not only was this a great way to finish the last home game of the season, but it was also a memorable occasion for Captain Chelsey Toms as she led the team to a final victory on home turf in style before stepping down as captain. That now makes it 5 games unbeaten for the Ladies first team with a real turn- around of form for the second half of the season.

U10 Girls – Essex Champions

Congratulations to our U10 Girls side who won the Essex Cup on Sunday 10th at Redbridge Sports Centre.  It was a cold, rainy and windy day for the girls, but they turned up well prepared following the extra training put on by coach Rob.  The first game was against a good Blue Hornets team.  Whilst it was a nervy start the girls were putting into practice what they had worked on in training and it was not long for them to take the lead.  Blue Hornets equalised not long after, but the girls continued to work hard and scored again and held out to win 2 – 1.  The second game was against a tough Chelmsford side.  This was a hard-fought contest, but the girls stuck to the plan came out worthy 1 nil winners.  With confidence high and all the girls playing as a team and with great commitment the next two games against Brentwood and Crostyx were won 2 – 0 and 4 – 0 respectively.  So, going into the final game against Waltham Forest the team knew that the outcome of the tournament was in their hands and they did not disappoint.  Everyone played this match with real intensity and displayed great teamwork winning the game 3 nil and therefore completing an excellent day.  5 played, 5 won, 12 scored, 1 conceded and 2019 Essex Champions.  The girls now go onto the East Round Championships in April.  Well done to Florence, Tilly-Anne, Poppy, Francesca, Sasha, Keira, Darcey, Isobel and Sylvie.  Oh and of course to Coach Rob.  Thank you for an amazing day.

U12 Girls – Essex Champions

A brilliant team performance from all of the U12 Girls! Abi in goal had little to do at times so all the more impressive that when called upon to make saves particularly, a strong left hand in the air that denied an excellent shot, she was focussed.  Esha and Agnes were consistently solid at the back with great distribution and Phoebe twice denied the opposition goals from short corners, with a classic “post man” performance of blocking and clearances from short corners. 

Zara, Alice, Grace and Kayuki showed prodigious work rate and concentration in the midfield scoring goals as well as defending and Jessica up front , hassled and showed great skills in the opposition D . Dropping only 4 points over 6 games , there will be a lot of work to do for the next level up at Regional and better opposition but playing together like this - who knows what can be achieved!

 

U12 Boys – Essex Champions

On this particularly windy day the u12 arrived at Redbridge Sports Centre, to play 5 back to back matches with a 3 minute break.

This was a test of intensity & focus. The boys warmed up to some upbeat tunes and this upbeat spirit prevailed throughout the tournament. It seemed as the 'glue' required to gel this team together was present in abundance. The opening match was against the Blue Hornets, we tested our new formation and it took a few minutes for the boys to get into the shape we have been practising. The boys passed well but against strong opposition the 'switch' pass was not to be seen, as it was 'early days'. The boys worked hard and at the end we won with a score of 2:1 (James 2 goals)

Our second match was against Crostyx, who were well drilled and had some good passing play, OLHC boys were now warming and starting to use space and getting to grips with their formation. Some excellent passing, and some great crosses went in giving us a win 2:1 (Izi and James scoring)

The next match was Chelmsford. Our boys were now fully warmed up and could see the results a clever passing game could bring them. They passed square, switched play, enticed opposing team players to commit and then passed past them. The crossing was magnificent. The end result a 5:0 win (goals from Izi, William , Max and 2 from James)

Next was Brentwood, a sharp start from the playmakers saw the ball being passed an incredible distance in a well judged gap. This led to an immediate goal. In frustration the Brentwood goal keeper decided to air one of our players what could only be described as a football tackle. This resulted in a penalty flick which was dispatched into the net. A convincing 5:0 win (Oscar, Max, sawyer and 2 from James)

The final match was against Waltham Forest, an ever improving team. Our team now had developed the trust to pass and pass well they did. An excellent display of hockey passing and changing direction of play led to a 7:0 win (Gus, Max, Theo, 2 goals from Izi and 2 goals from James)

Our u12 Boys took gold and won the tournament overall, with Blue hornets coming second.

As coaches we believe the boys are starting to see that the ball must be passed quickly, squarely and changes of direction from high pressure to low pressure resistance must take place, all central passes just led to the opposition coming right back at us. WE do believe a lot of inter player trust was gained and we all look forward to our next battle.

A special mention to Alex our keeper who as always gives his best, throughout the tournament. There were many shots at goal, including penalty corners, many shots he saved only 2 goals got past him.

Another special mention is for William and the Jameison family who dropped everything at a half-hour notice and brought William up to the tournament. William your commitment to the team has not gone unnoticed.

Well done boys. Keep up the good spirits and the vibe....

Thank you to all the parents who came out to support the team.

Sanjoy, Nick, Jag and our invincible manager Jannine

 

Items for HH to office by Monday 10:00 please