TWHC u13 vs Ashford - EH Tier3 Match Report

A socially distanced crowd (including Banjo the Mills’ dog) gathered at Kent College, Pembury for the long-awaited England Hockey u14 Tier 3 opening fixture against Ashford’s u14 A-team. Despite foul weather, the team played with a calm authority, winning 2-0 with goals from Poppy and Alice. The game was probably more even than the scoreline suggests, but TWHC never looked like conceding despite some strong Ashford attacks in the third quarter when the officious opposition umpire was blowing his whistle like he was at a 1990s rave.

It was a hard-fought victory, but ultimately well deserved. The opening half was dominated by TWHC with Holly, Poppy and Milly controlling the midfield and putting some good width on the ball to Alice, Maisie, Bea and Gigi. These wingers kept their shape and had the beating of their opponents which culminated in plenty of ball for Hattie and Sophia who forced some powerful saves from the Ashford ‘keeper. If Maisie had been wearing a Fit-bit she would have covered her 10k recommended daily steps by 10:35am – showing great skills in attack and commitment in defence. She ruled the left flank.

Ironically, it was the second half that brought the two goals despite a much-improved performance from Ashford. Poppy scored the first from a move that she started on the halfway line and after a one-two with Maisie, took a shot from the top of the D that ended up in the bottom right hand corner. Alice soon followed this with a reflex bunt after Holly’s powerful drive had deflected up from the ‘keeper’s boot into Alice’s path for 2-0.

I’m not sure if the team dropped down a gear because of the tiredness from playing on a bigger pitch or whether the more powerful 14 year old opponents started to tell, but the last 20minutes of the match was all Ashford. The good news is that the defence stood firm and didn’t concede. Greta, Amy, Antonia and Jemima all made excellent tackles, interceptions or blocks and Holly managed to clear one away from the line in a goal mouth scramble. Grace - as goalkeeper - marshalled her defence well and made some telling saves. She gives the back four such confidence and it was great that she could be heard from 60m away instructing her defence.

It’s game one and there’s plenty for all of us (coaches included) to learn. Areas we need to work on in the coming weeks include better composure on the ball – especially not giving it away too cheaply. After we went 2-0 up I’m not sure we strung more than 3 successive passes together. Accuracy and precision can be improved and we should strive for better movement off the ball. That also involves more running. As coaches we need to spend more time with the girls to help them better understand their roles on the pitch, so that when we’re doing the rolling subs they can slot into a position and know what is expected. They’ll get better at this with experience but for the majority of them this was their first or second competitive 11/side match and they did really well. Next up Blackheath away on the 18 October. Will Banjo be there for that one?