OUTDOOR TRAINING RESTARTS:

Just a reminder to help you run off the Christmas cheer!

 

• Men’s adult training is on tonight at the club (5th Jan) and Ladies training restarts tomorrow (6th Jan).

 

• Minis are back on Saturday (9th Jan) in their usual slot of 9.30 am and Youth Academy restarts next Tuesday (12th Jan).

 

• Girls Colts will be back on Wednesday 13th and Boys Colts will restart training on Thursday 14th.

 

WANT TO BECOME PART OF THE OLD LOUGHTS TEAM?:

The Club are still currently looking to recruit a replacement Bar Manager/Manageress as we say goodbye to Heather Sandhu shortly.  The position is a part time role and we need someone who will be willing to manage and oversee all aspects of the bar operation including stock ordering and organising staff.  If you would like to be considered for the position or want further information please contact Julie Warwick-Munday directly; juleswm@virginmedia.com.

 

A GREAT DAY OUT FOR U13 GIRLS AND BOYS AT TONY SMITH TOURNAMENT:

On 20th December Old Loughts made a very early start to make their way to an U13s Tournament at Surbiton Hockey club. The Girls began the day with Greta coaching them to an early success, winning their first game 2-0. This settled their nerves and led to them winning the next 3 games, 2-1, 2-0 and 2-1. Competition was tight but the girls never gave up and worked extremely hard, running until the last. Their team work was amazing and although not all the girls had played together before, they fitted perfectly as a team. Winning their pool, they went on to play in the semi and secured a 2-1 win and reached the final to great excitement. At the end of full time the score was 1-1, which meant penalty flicks! After the best of 3 the score was 3-3 so next it was sudden death! Kiera took a great penalty and scored. The opposition then took their penalty and Molly saved the shot. Having not put on a Goalie kit for 3 years, a special well done to Molly for helping out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following the girls victory it was the boys turn. The team apprehensively made their way on to the pitch for their first match as they consisted of a mixture of U13s and U12s who had not had much chance to practice together and were allowed very little warm up time. It did take them the first 5 minutes to settle in as a team, but they managed to create a number of chances and after the first goal went in, the team settled to play some outstanding hockey and won their first game 3-0. This set the stall out for the rest of the day, the boys played brilliantly together, working hard on and off the ball; passing the ball around fantastically and scoring some great goals. This resulted in 5 games played, 5 games won, 21 goals scored and 0 conceded. There were some wonderful individual performances, but most impressive was how well the boys played as a team, which was re-enforced by the fact that everyone in the team, bar William in goal, scored at least one goal!

 

It was a great team effort by both girls and boys and they deserved to bring home the Tony Smith trophies. WELL DONE TO ALL - and a big thank you to Greta, Rachel, Jill and Rob for managing and coaching the teams!

U16 GIRLS CLAIM SILVER MEDALS AT THE INDOORHOCKEY.CO.UK TOURNAMENT:

Enthusiasm, hard work and some skilful hockey from all nine of the squad, saw the U16 girls rightfully claim the runners up spot in the Indoorhockey.co.uk tournament held in the Olympic Park Cooper Box venue on New Year’s Day.  With 5 other teams entering the tournament, the girls faced a gruelling schedule of 6 matches after for many a late night out seeing the New Year in! As ever with this group though, they faced up to the task with enthusiasm. In their first match they saw off a talented Hertford side which seemed to be comprised of many of the Hertfordshire county players; Caitlin converting 2 short corners & JP adding a third to give a 3-1 win. In their second match they faced local rivals Chelmsford. They quickly exerted their authority, with Zoe Wright imposing at right back and creating some great forward runs, to produce a winning scoreline of 2-0. Chloe and JP scoring and Phoebe saving a penalty stroke.

 

In their third match they played Saffron Walden who they had only managed to draw with in the regional championships, so there was an old score to settle. Again the girls started strongly with JP looking particularly threatening on the break. She converted a well worked short corner to give Loughts the lead and Chloe Stack added a second pouncing on a loose ball in the circle and calmly finding the back of the net. Saffron Walden came back strongly but Phoebe who was outstanding in goal throughout the tournament, produced a string of fine saves to give the Loughts team a deserved win.  

 

In their next match they were up against Surbiton, entering the competition for the first time. Surbiton produced some excellent hockey and the girls did well to limit the score to 3-0. Liv Corry was a stalwart in defence, with some exemplary tackling. Again Phoebe thwarted many a Surbiton chance: including another penalty save! So the final game saw the girls needing to beat Havering to secure at least a silver medal. Caitlin opened the scoring early from a short corner and JP added a second with some determined forward play – the score was not really in doubt however, but the match was not without its drama. As the girls tired and with the clock ticking down Havering found a quick breakaway – Phoebe, whose timing had been spot on all afternoon, just caught the attackers stick. She was carded and Havering were awarded a penalty stroke. After some discussion, Caitlin donned Phoebe’s helmet to face the flick and with the last touch of the game pulled off a save much to the team’s delight. In the play-off match, Surbiton again proved their quality running out winners and claiming top spot. Congratulations to all the girls and many thanks to Mark for stepping in to coach the side. 

 

 

The squad: Phoebe Menear (Co-Capt); Olivia Corry (Co-Capt); Caitlin Black; Charlotte James-Pajwani; Charlotte Collier; Chloe Stack; Georgie Batt; Venetia Bailey; Zoe Wright.

 

U10 AND U12 BOYS PLAY INDOOR:

The U10 and U12 boys got their year off to a great start at the indoor tournament at the Copper Box stadium on Saturday 2nd January.  The venue was an inspiring and the parade at the start of the tournament very exciting, but once this was over, it was first down to the U10s to compose themselves and get focused on playing hockey!

 

For most of the team this was their first time playing competitive indoor hockey and they got off to a solid start beating Brentwood 1-0. The next game saw the boy’s face an impressive Canterbury team which took advantage of a lapse in concentration to win 4-0. However, the boys quickly re-grouped and came back strongly to beat Chelmsford 5-0. They then went on to play their best match against Blue Hornets, but in the end neither team could break through the others defence so the game finished 0-0. They maintained their momentum and went on to beat Crostyx 2-0 and then Hertford 4-0. A fantastic team effort! There were some great performances from the boys: 8 goals from Arvind, 3 from Sparky and 1 from Luca who also defended with great composure. Matthew played really well in goal commanding his defence and making some important saves when required. Guy took on the central position and grew into the role brilliantly making some great tackles and setting up some good goals and Leo came just the width of a post from scoring his first goal. Sawyer and Tej came on in a variety of positions, made some important tackles and good passed and ensured that it was a complete team effort.   The end result 1 loss, 1 draw and four wins with a total of 12 goals for and 4 against and when all the points were added up it saw the boys gain 2nd position. What an excellent result!

 

Next it was the turn of the U12s and like the U10s they got off to a solid start with a 1-0 win against Hertford. Having blown a few cobwebs away they improved the quality of their play for their next match against Saffron Walden and played really well to earn another 1-0 victory. They next played a fiercely contested game against Canterbury and despite coming close on a number of occasions failed to put the ball in the back of the Canterbury net who managed to slot one passed Loughts. The end result a 1-0 win to Canterbury. The boys took their frustrations out on a Chelmsford team, who once again suffered an Old Loughts backlash, beating them 3-0. Canterbury didn’t lose a game so the boys finished second in their pool and went into the play offs playing for 3rd position. The disappointment and the long wait took its toll and the boys lost a little bit of concentration and conceded a couple of early goals against Surbiton. They worked hard to pull it back and threw players forward, but this allowed Surbiton to hit on the counter-attack resulting in another 2 goals. The result a 4-0 win for Surbiton which was not really a fair reflection of the way the boys played for the rest of the tournament!

 

As always the boys played really well as a team, never let their heads drop and at the end of the day, despite playing some very strong teams, won 3 games, lost 2 including giving the eventual winners a real close run for their money and finishing fourth overall. Another very strong performance from this team and it is clear there is more to come.  Well done to all the boys who took part you really did your parents, supporters and the club proud!