MATCH REPORT

The U12 tournament on Saturday was bright and sunny if seasonably cold at Horncastle.  With lots of parents and siblings present to lend their support Long Sutton Hockey club lived up to its reputation as a family friendly club.

The A team are still settling together as a team and with the new rules requiring 2 girls on the pitch at all times the rotation of players took a bit of getting used to.  However encouraging our youngsters to be versatile is essential to enable their development as they progress through to the senior game giving them an understanding of each position and vision on the pitch.  It was a day of mixed fortunes for the A team who came away with 2 wins, 2 losses and a draw to finish 3rd out of 6 teams.  With some impressive skills on show from individuals we now need to work on making these skills work for the team.  A big step up for Brad in goal and a solid performance from Mackenzie and Josh N providing stability for the A team so they can continue to move forwards.  Alfie scored some impressive goals aided by Ollie and George while Josh worked hard in mid field and Jemima grows in confidence every game.  Lily ran her socks off for the team too.  If we continue to work on going round the opposition rather than through and pass smart to make the ball do the work we will keep seeing results.

The B team have been developing now for the last year and have come so far from their first tournament and achieved their best finish to date in joint 1st in the B league with 4 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw.  Confidence increased throughout the tournament as the team battled hard and defended valiantly leaving Alfie from the Long Sutton keepers family with very little to do.  The scoring partnership of Emma and Martha is increasing in efficiency and Ben was unlucky not to get a goal from the post position!  Daniel dispensed some unstoppable smashes into goal and up the other end Jake was essential to the defence proving he is a very adaptable player as he complemented Brad and Josh at the back.