MK Hockey Festival – Junior Match Reports

MK Festival Under 11s report

U12s MK Festival Match Report

The under 11’s play their last tournament under the guise of the under 12’s.

We started off against Milton Keynes in usual fashion – going behind early on but a great goal from Daniel Owen saw us draw level, and through several shots from Katy Roffe and Mason could have seen us go ahead.

The second game was brilliant, seeing us win 4-2 with a goal from Mason, two from Rhys, and Daniel popping up again to score.

We needed to win the last game against our great rivals Leicester as they had the same results as us. This seemed to make us more determined, giving us a win by 3-2 with the ever determined Katy scoring and the ever reliable Rhys getting two. This meant that we won the tournament, our second tournament win of the season. This time the winners received medals which went down very well.

I am so proud to coach a fantastic bunch of children who always give their best. I could mention lots of players who consistently play well. Sam Hardwick was excellent constantly running, Holly being strong at the back, Louisa being strong in any position she played.

Steve Roffe

U11s Coach

Under 9 MK Festival Match Report

A sunny morning in Roundabout City saw a few of my usual Mighty Nines merge with some of the younger U11 squad members to create a crack team of Tenacious Tens, ready to take on all comers.

After a bit of on-the-hoof juggling of positions to comply with the tournament rules we lined up for our first game against Milton Keynes 1. Dauntingly to say we were outsized by the opposition would be an understatement, however although they were obviously players at the upper end of the age band, we were not completely outclassed. Some very furious and committed midfield work gave us an opening and Sam Wood slotted the ball home to give us an early lead to lift our spirits. Our advantage was not to last long however, and Milton Keynes soon pegged the scoreline back before stealing a winner in the closing minutes as their greater size and experience began to come to the fore.

Next up, Bedford. As with the first match the Tenacious Tens lived up to their name and fought hard but despite coming close on a few occasions could not quite get the ball over the goal-line. Bedford however, despite equally not producing many chances of their own did manage to make the most of the opportunities presented to them and got the result in very closely matched game.

Quickly switching pitches again, we were then into our 3rdgame in succession against an extremely strong Leicester side. Leicester dominated possession and despite some fantastic tackling and defensive work – including a excellent goal line save by Amelia – we just could not extract ourselves from their vice-like grip on the game and they ran out comfortable winners.

After a good break, and a few tactical positional changes, we regrouped for our final match against Milton Keynes 2. After the disappointment of the defeat to Leicester, the Tenacious Tens managed to restore some confidence with a complete reversal of roles from the previous game. A rampant display of determination and firepower saw shots peppering the opposing goal with Sam (3), Amelia (2) and Ewan all hitting the target. At the other end – Jack, our final volunteer full back, had to put down his edition of War and Peace just once so he could climb out of his deckchair and swat away the Milton Keynes advance on our goal. It was a great way end to the day.

Thanks to all Amber, Joey, James, Sam, Macy, Jack, Harmony, George, Amelia and Ewan for their great play on the day. Our overall standing in the tournament could have so easily have been different and even with the broad spread of ages within our team, they showed that Saints can compete well against other big clubs in our area.

Players of the day: Macy, Amber, Amelia and Jack for their excellent efforts and fantastic team spirit in volunteering in turn to don the dreaded orange shirt and playing as designated full-back for each of our games.

Final Results:

Saints: 1 MK1: 2

Saints: 0 Bedford: 2

Saints: 0 Leicester: 5 (possibly 6!)

Saints: 6 MK2: 0

Overall standing on the day: 4th

Phil Adams

U9 Coach