Under 8
Matches
Sun 06 Oct 2019
Fareham HC
09:00
Portsmouth Hockey Club
Under 8
Fareham Festival 2019

Fareham Festival 2019

Jamie Moore10 Oct 2019 - 20:55
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https://www.portsmouthhc.co.uk

No Slow Start For Portsmouth HC Inaugural festival

U8’S festival @Fareham
We arrived to a usual unorganized affair in Fareham for our first festival of the season.
So the children squeezed proudly into their brand new Portsmouth hockey club shirts and took to the pitch as keen as mustard to play Fareham b’s in our opening match with the instruction “Just go and enjoy yourselves” (I’ve always been a great strategist).
Now, myself, and many other parents were expecting the traditional slow starting, thumping defeat of a game which usually follows the summer break, but we were all very mistaken.
Granted, Fareham had most of the possession but we were lively and stood up to everything they threw at us and gave one of the best defensive performances I have ever seen.
We were strong in the tackle, not rushing to just smash the ball away, using the width and trying to begin attacks from the back.
0-0 , Player of the match : Sophie
1-0
Match 2 Havant
The children were congratulated on their previous performance and were encouraged to try and move the ball forwards, again using the width but also to run with the ball. They did this with aplomb. After a quick sideline ball was passed down the line to Albashe calmly carried the ball into the ‘D’ and slotted the ball into the goal to score her first goal in her first festival!
A similar move was finished off by Thomas, also getting his first festival goal.
2-0 Win, Player of the Match: Alba

Match 3 Petersfield
Petersfield have very few players so always have a very strong side of mixed age groups. We did not let this fluster us and put in another brave defensive performance, ultimately we were undone by a stronger, well drilled team. The score could have been much more had it not been for the sterling efforts of Dexter, ‘Dizzy’, and Nathan at the back.
3-0 Loss, Player of the match :Dizzy

Match 4 Haslemere B
We quickly forgot about the previous match and again talked about not playing the ball across our own goal, but moving it quickly, hard and down the lines. Again this payed off and Thomas found himself on the scoresheet once again.
Players of the Match : Thomas and Elliott

For our last two matches there was more encouraging play all over the pitch, everybody was helping each other, moving for each other and even showing some forward thinking. Stop, Move,Pass,Move!
Players of the match for Match 5 v Haslemere A: Alba and Josie
Players of the Match for Match 6 v Fareham A: Josie and Elliott
The Team

Sophie: No slow starts this year, straight into the action tough to beat, great passing all day.
Dexter: Solid as always, considers all of his options from dead ball situations and generally chooses the right one.
Nathan: steady all day at the back, could be amazing if he trained. Must mention the outstanding pirouette and release down the line in the first game.
Dizzy: Made many goal line saves, is very vocal and controls the team very well at the back, could be a great leader.
Thomas: Has grown massively in confidence over the summer, he now believes he can do it! After scoring a couple of goals let’s hope he has the taste, well done Thomas.
Alba: what can I say…. I think Alba could be a great asset to the club, shone in her first tournament , strong on the ball tackles well, distributes well, works with her teammates and scores goals. My player of the tournament. Keep it up Alba!
Elliott: Play with so much passion he frustrates himself…. Really used his skills well, not everybody was Indian dribbling and ‘V’ dragging Elliott! Desperate to score goals, if he keeps playing like that he’ll score many. Don’t worry they will come, very well done.
Amber: has decided she like to play wide which is great, she seems to have so much time on the ball, worked amazingly well in midfield with Alba, Josie and Mia. She makes it look easy. Took the sideline hits to create the goals mentioned earlier.
Lorenzo: Just wants the ball! He’s a terrier, wins the ball with solid tackles and is not afraid to run with it. You don’t have to be big to be strong, well done Lorenzo every team needs an engine.
Mia: absolute trooper, she kept picking up knocks but pleading with me to go back on, great character. Likes to be in the thick of it.
Josie: Has had two training sessions, that’s right, two! I know, I couldn’t believe it either! Its quite tough to get a player of the match award and you got two, in your first festival! Not afraid to get stuck, already starting to move with the ball and has great awareness of where she should be and what she should be doing. Really has picked up the game well, fantastic debut.

There we have it, sorry if I’ve missed key points, but I have a brain like a sieve and I was very busy.

We all had great fun though, thankyou.

So the next two festivals are Haslemere on 27 October, and own Home festival on 17th November, please set your availability for both on Pitchero.
I’ll give more details when I have heard from Haslemere.

Many Thanks

Jamie

Match details

Match date

Sun 06 Oct 2019

Kickoff

09:00
Team overview
Further reading