Men's 3s v THC Chix - The Rematch

A blisteringly hot Sunday at Delta saw the eagerly awaited rematch between the Tornados men's 3rd team and the Chix.  With the guys eager not to suffer a second loss to the Chix and the girls not wanting to give up their undefeated record for the year it looked like we would be in for a spectacular battle.  That was until the match was rearranged to take place less than 12 hours after most of the ladies team had stumbled home after a night celebrating two birthdays and a leaving party.  You have to hand it to them, they guys, evidently scared after the shock defeat last week looked like they had had a slightly tamer night (most of them anyway) and were well prepared for the match. 

Battle commenced and almost instantly the effects of the previous night on a slightly disjointed ladies team could be felt and we knew it was going to be a long afternoon.  The men's superior speed and drive saw them dominating the middle of the pitch, which seemed to open up as wide as the England defense to allow numerous attacks on the ladies goal.  The guys began by taking shots from almost anywhere in the D with 2 of them finding the back of the net before the ladies had realized the match had even started.  While the men had only 2 goals on the board the ladies breached their defense and the ball was slotted past a sprawling Rob who had been deserted by the rest of his defense.  But this was not a turning point in the match. The guys continued to pile on the pressure with some slick passing which suggests they will take their league by storm, and will hopefully emulate their Sunday opposition.  It was only some sterling defending by Tara, hurling herself in front of pretty much every ball that kept the score to a respectable 4-1 at half time. 

The second half began in pretty much the same fashion, although the ladies did begin to play with more of the cohesiveness that preformed so well this year.  But the guys speed and determination meant they never looked to be under too much pressure.  The men's shots were becoming more ambitious although the more successful ones were those that stayed on the floor and a penalty flick came well... umm... not so close!!  As the match wore on the ladies began to attack the men's circle more often, but without much striking opportunities.  The end result is anybody's guess but 6 or 7 to 1 would be a good bet.  Hopefully the guys had fun and it was a useful exercise.  Good luck in the league and do us proud.
 
The chix were also celebrating the last game for two of their players, Laura and Melanie, who will leave Singapore soon. Both have been instrumental in the Chix' success and will be sorely missed.

 

Em, Gem, Teej

Men's 3s v THC Chix

Last night's friendly between the Tornados Div3 Boys team and the Tornados Chix finished with no casualties, a few beers, a 4-3 win for the Chix and some useful lessons for the boys to take into their season, which starts in a few weeks.

With a good portion of the boys new to hockey, the Tornados or both, the evening provided much needed training under match conditions and the boys performed well against the Ladies Div 1 Champions. Down 2-0 after about 20 min, the girls manage to get back to 2-2 before the break with a field goal from Kirsten Searle and a penalty corner by Gemma Thomas.

After a longer than usual break, the girls came back with a vengeance and Micha Weiss scored almost immediately on one of her, now famous, runs. The boys, however, would not give up and Dan Clements manage to get past the Chix' defense and score from the edge of the circle. At 3-3 the game intensified with the boys bent on a pride-saving win, but it was a shot by Laura Schmidt, deflecting off Tim Barkham's stick, that proved their downfall. The final score of 4-3 for the Tornados Chix extends their unbeaten run to 15 games.

Stay tuned for the rematch ;-)

Tornados Secure Coveted Double

Tornados Secure Coveted Double in Women's Division 1 (by SHF)

The Tornados Hockey Club secured their first ever Singapore Hockey Federation (SHF) Women's Division 1 double after beating a determined Hollandse Club Max team with a golden goal yesterday at Delta Sports Complex. Gemma Thomas was in scintillating form as she scored two goals in the Tornados 2-1 triumph the Dutch club. Team Max surprised the league champions with a disciplined display that gave them a lion's share of the proceedings. Gaining six penalty corners during 70-minutes of normal time, Max could only convert one to tie the game 1-1. Geertruida Langezaal cancelled off Thomas' 32rd minute first half strike off a Tornados' penalty corner.
Thomas expertly placed the ball between the legs of onrushing Max defender Alison Shannon and past the hapless Monica Winnubst in the Max goal. The goal was against the run of play as Max were spending increasingly more time in the Tornados' half.
Nonetheless, the champions though somewhat perturbed by Max's command of the game were very much a threat. Much of their lacklustre was due to the adept shackling of Michaela Weiss by Max's Karlijn van de Kamp. The duo were locked in many a battle with van de Kamp availing herself considerably.
With the brilliance of Weiss countered, Max went about in search of that elusive goal in a tight battle under the cool sunset atmosphere at Delta. Thomas and Laura Schmidt continued to provide continued to combine well to breach the Max defence lines, but they could not find the opening they sought.
With captain Melissa Mikaere putting yet another accomplished shift, Max knew that the evening was going to be a long one. To compound the issue, Victoria Tudor Jones was a rock at the back with Tara Quin equally blessed in what was an excellent exhibition of hockey.
Max matched Tornados play for play and Langezaal from the centre of the Max defence launched many attacks through Marike Hordijk in the Max central midfield and the deadly Alexandra Roosen (Sascha) was lurking time and again only to see her efforts either find the wrong sides of the goalpost or stopped by the steady Emilie Petitjean in the Tornados goal.
There was a big sigh of relief and not to mention celebration when Thomas broke the deadlock so close to half time. Tornados' coach Richard Ayres knew that he now had the chance to claim a rare double for a team that finished obliviously in mid-table last season.
Meanwhile, there was relative sombre at the Max bench, mostly due to conceding a goal so late in the half and also because it totally came against the run of play. Licking their wounds, Max together with their coach, Kanan Packrisamy knew that they would get back into the game if they kept playing the same way.
The second half got off at a faster pace than the first and the crowded stands (only in the central areas) were going to be treated to more good hockey. With Patricia van Putten marshalling the Max defence ably, it allowed the rest of the backline to push up more and pressure the Tornados side.
The move paid dividends after 46-minutes when Langezaal shot home a penalty corner from a neat Sascha lay off. The goal turned the heat up once again and both sides were going for the win at this stage, knowing that the next goal would probably win the Play-Off title.
It was not to be despite some good work by Systke Rijkens for Max down the left flank and determined endeavour on the part of Weiss, who at one stage produced a moment of brilliance and escaped the glue of van de Kamp and dribbled her way into the Max scoring circle but banged her trademark reverse shot out, however it did look like Winnubst got her angels right.
The match then went into 15-minutes of golden goal extra-time and it only took Thomas three minutes to deliver the fatal blow to Max's challenge to their supremacy this season. Umpire Mohd Amin awarded a penalty stroke to Tornados following a barrage of tackles from the Max side on Weiss. Despite the astonishment of the Max players and their protest, albeit in subdued fashion the stroke award stood and Thomas stepped up to despatch an unstoppable flick to Winnubst's top right corner.
Tornados cap a wonderful season in which they have remained unbeaten throughout. Going by the standard set this season, we can expect the women's division 1 to be more exciting next season.-story by SHF

---

Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft's powerful SPAM protection. Sign up now.

New Kit Has Arrived

The latest kit has arrived. Please contact your captain and let him know what you need.

Men's Shirt: $40 each (home and away)
Men's Training Vest : $35 each (maroon and white)
Men's Shorts: $30

Ladies' Shirt: $40 (home)
Ladies Skort: $30

Socks: $10 (home and away)

Chix Do the Double!!!!

The Tornados Chix achieved the double in only their second season with a last-gasp penalty flick from the leading scorer Gemma Thomas.

The Dutch Mex played a strong game throughout and the Tornados owe much to their solid defence, who have conceded only 6 goals in the league and just 8 in all competitions this season. The Tornados found it hard to step into their rhythm, but their teamwork and self-belief were strong enough to see them go into half time 1-0 up, thanks to a short-corner goal from Gemma Thomas on 30 minutes.

The second half was certainly a thriller for the crowds, if not for the hockey purists, as the two teams doggedly fought out a scrappy but fast-paced game. The Dutch dominated midfield and eventually pulled back a goal to make it 1-1. With 15 minutes to go the Tornados finally found their form and were able to put a sustained amount of pressure on the Dutch defence. Micha Weiss came close to a fairy-tale finish when, with just seconds left on the clock, she took the ball past 3 defenders and hit a reverse stick strike just wide of the left post.

However, the score at the end of normal time remained 1-1, and so the teams went into sudden-death golden goal extra time. The Tornados carried forward their momentum and pressured the Dutch goal from the start. With 5 minutes gone their efforts were rewarded with a penalty-flick. Gemma Thomas stepped up to fire the ball into the top left corner for her 15th goal of the season, leaving the keeper stranded and claiming the Division 1 Cup for the Tornados Hockey Club.

Ladies Finals Sat 5th June @ 6pm

 

---

Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 09:56:32 +0800
From: jernayalsingh@yahoo.com.sg
Subject: SHF Div 1 Ladies Finals- Sat 5th June@6pm,Delta.(Tornados vs Dutch)
To: anzatornados@hotmail.com; rich.ayres@gmail.com
CC: david.misso@gmail.com; sanjay8866@hotmail.com; ribouleau_stephan@hotmail.com; halliwell_tony@yahoo.co.uk; queenvicster@gmail.com; Jason.j.parry@gmail.com; soclkf@nus.edu.sg; gt248@yahoo.co.uk

Hi all, it's a great pleasure to note our ladies having won the Div 1 League title unbeaten are now headed for a historical double with the Grand Finals due on Sat 5th June @6pm at Delta. Well done Ladies, proud of you all. Keep up the great job Rich and the coaching team and officials. Can we rally and also get as many of our members, family and friends alike to come support our ladies and be part of the celebrations at the finale.  The Dutchies are gonna be orangie all around and I would suggest we try be in our Maroon tops or red and have a loud and enjoyable evening cheering our ladies on. Time to get the drums,trumpets and hooters out there. Could I suggest the club with everyone's bblessingto set aside a sum of money ($200) or whatever is aagreeableto celebrate their feat. Over to you TBT.       See you all at Delta.                     Viva Tornados. Rgds,       Jerry

---

Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft's powerful SPAM protection. Sign up now.

Ladies in Grand Final!!!

The Tornados Chix yet again demonstrated their credentials with a 3-1 win over Buccaneers to reach the final of the SHF Div 1 Championship.

Buccaneers had signed up 2 ringers in an attempt to stifle Tornados, the outstanding team of the season. Defending heavily and playing a long ball game, Buccs kept the Tornados defence on their toes for the first fifteen minutes with Tara, TJ, Pei Ling and Cynthia all working hard to deprive the Buccs front line of meaningful possession.

As the first half wore on, Tornados began to assert themselves with some neat passing moves through the midfield. This culminated with a goal in the 25th minute from Micha and an assist from Gemma - the dream pairing getting into their formidable stride. A tense first half ended with the Tornados 1-0 up.

The second half started in much the same tempo and Buccaneers levelled after 40 minutes with a well struck short-corner that managed to find a gap on the near post. Tornados were quick to reply with a field goal from Rosie to put the Tornados back ahead.

Then came the Tornados best spell, with several chances on goal during a 15 minute period with only an outstanding performance from the Buccs keeper preventing Bridget and Abi getting on the score-sheet. The continued pressure eventually got its reward with a goal from a short-corner by the league's leading scorer Gemma.

Tornados can expect a return to familiar territory this Saturday when they play the winner of tonight's semi-final between the two Dutch teams. Whoever wins that will be most assuredly guaranteed an uphill task as the Tornados machine rolls on.