Still reeling from their exploits in Vietnam, the Chix could muster only four brave souls for their game against Jensonites in the Singapore Indoor League.
And so Gemma, Chris, Lauren and Lou gingerly, and somewhat lethargically, stepped onto the pitch to play against a full compliment of 10 young things including a keeper.
The Chix started brightly and were 1-0 up within seconds thanks to a link up between Chris and Gemma, started by Lauren.
Lou, Player of the Match, was superb in defence and kept the entire Jensonites front line at bay for most of the first half. The Chix conceded a penalty goal and 2 short corners but with Gemma's 2 additional field goals the half time score was 3-3.
Some canny tactics, combined with a team spirit still fizzing from the weekend and buoyed by determined support from Lauren and Chris, enabled Gemma to sneak 2 more in a tight second half without reply.
All four players were outstanding and they thoroughly deserved their 5-3 victory.
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Monday, 8 November 2010
1s Make Hard Work of C&C Win
The Rhinos kept their charge to the playoffs on track but made hard work of a 4-3 win over 10 man and second-placed C&C.
THC were a goal up within 2 minutes, thanks to some determined play from Neil, battling into the oppo circle. The new-look formation clicked together smoothly from the start as the Tornados continued to build a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Adam and Barney.
As the rain and drizzle continued to fall, and the unpenalised stick tackles continued to fly from C&C, the Tornados lost their shape and let their opponents back into the game. They were soon struggling with a 3-3 scoreline, despite an outstanding performance from Paddy, Joran and John in front of an impressive Gary in goal.
Barney, Passan and Kamran had been linking up beautifully all through the game and THC had them to thank for all 3 points as Kam jinked his way along the back line, played the ball with precision across the goal to Barney who, with just 8 minutes to go, dinked the ball cheekily between his legs for his second and THC's fourth.
The Rhinos then hung on to collect all 3 points, stake a strong claim for 3rd place in the league and make a statement of intent about the playoffs.
THC were a goal up within 2 minutes, thanks to some determined play from Neil, battling into the oppo circle. The new-look formation clicked together smoothly from the start as the Tornados continued to build a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Adam and Barney.
As the rain and drizzle continued to fall, and the unpenalised stick tackles continued to fly from C&C, the Tornados lost their shape and let their opponents back into the game. They were soon struggling with a 3-3 scoreline, despite an outstanding performance from Paddy, Joran and John in front of an impressive Gary in goal.
Barney, Passan and Kamran had been linking up beautifully all through the game and THC had them to thank for all 3 points as Kam jinked his way along the back line, played the ball with precision across the goal to Barney who, with just 8 minutes to go, dinked the ball cheekily between his legs for his second and THC's fourth.
The Rhinos then hung on to collect all 3 points, stake a strong claim for 3rd place in the league and make a statement of intent about the playoffs.
Monday, 1 November 2010
Kiwis win inaugral Agro Cup
Picture this: sunday afternoon, Hockey Village awash with players, supporters and families, the BBQ sizzliong away and some high quality hockey from within the club. Well, if you were there, that picture would be imbedded in your mind right now!
Sunday 31st Oct was time for the inaugral Agro Cup, and event put together by the social committee in order to honour a leaving legand, Stephen "Agro" Whitton. Agro heads back to New Zealand in order to see just how green his fingers are, and drags Mrs Agro and Agro Boy and Agro Girl along with him. Agro has been a stalwart of the club for many years now, and helped move the club to the position it is in now: mens teams in 3 divisions, Ladies Champions in 2010, a second ladies team joining in 2011, and a great mix of expat and local covering the most time zones in the world.
With that in mind, the Agro Cup was formulated in order to show that aspect of the club. Teams from England, New Zealand, the Celts, Europe and Asia (including Australia) competed in a 6-a-side round robin competition over a few hours at Hockey Village. The spirit of the day was exciting hockey, and that spirit held through until late int eh evening.
The games were never one-sided, some close games throughout. The fantastic atmosphere brought together some players throughout the leagues. A big hand to the goalies who jumped, saved and showed what a depth of goal keeping talent we have in Tornados.
The final between the top two teams ended up with New Zealand versus England, for which the kiwis came away 2-1 winners.
The day was ended with a sausage sizzle by Dr Bob, speaches from President Jerry, Agro and Fishy, and a comemorative No 11 jersey was handed over to Agro for his potting shed. The day must have been hot, there was a lot of sweat running around during those speahes and the farewells!
A great family day yet again at Hockey Village, and a big thanks to all that made it possible: Fishy and Kirsten and the rest fo the social committe for getting the day together, Richard for orgnaising the teams and play order, Dr Bob for the sausage sizzle, Vear for the pitch and bar work and all that came along to show their repects to Agro.
The Agro Cup is now planned as an annual event. See you next year - or next tournament!
Sunday 31st Oct was time for the inaugral Agro Cup, and event put together by the social committee in order to honour a leaving legand, Stephen "Agro" Whitton. Agro heads back to New Zealand in order to see just how green his fingers are, and drags Mrs Agro and Agro Boy and Agro Girl along with him. Agro has been a stalwart of the club for many years now, and helped move the club to the position it is in now: mens teams in 3 divisions, Ladies Champions in 2010, a second ladies team joining in 2011, and a great mix of expat and local covering the most time zones in the world.
With that in mind, the Agro Cup was formulated in order to show that aspect of the club. Teams from England, New Zealand, the Celts, Europe and Asia (including Australia) competed in a 6-a-side round robin competition over a few hours at Hockey Village. The spirit of the day was exciting hockey, and that spirit held through until late int eh evening.
The games were never one-sided, some close games throughout. The fantastic atmosphere brought together some players throughout the leagues. A big hand to the goalies who jumped, saved and showed what a depth of goal keeping talent we have in Tornados.
The final between the top two teams ended up with New Zealand versus England, for which the kiwis came away 2-1 winners.
The day was ended with a sausage sizzle by Dr Bob, speaches from President Jerry, Agro and Fishy, and a comemorative No 11 jersey was handed over to Agro for his potting shed. The day must have been hot, there was a lot of sweat running around during those speahes and the farewells!
A great family day yet again at Hockey Village, and a big thanks to all that made it possible: Fishy and Kirsten and the rest fo the social committe for getting the day together, Richard for orgnaising the teams and play order, Dr Bob for the sausage sizzle, Vear for the pitch and bar work and all that came along to show their repects to Agro.
The Agro Cup is now planned as an annual event. See you next year - or next tournament!
Sunday, 31 October 2010
1s Rue Missed Chances
The 1st XI battled through a tough fixture against SRC, but failed to take advantage of their opportunities as umpiring errors flattered the RECS with a 6-1 scoreline.
The 1s were denied a goal for a 'dangerous' ball a few inches off the ground at the start of the second half, SRC were allowed to play the ball over the back line to score their 3rd goal and stick-tackles from the opposition proved to be an effective and unpunished way of preventing THC attacks. The 5-meter rule has evidently yet to reach Seng Kang.
Despite this, the Tornados looked quite capable of giving the younger side a tough game for much of the match, creating several shots on goal as well as many (albeit unawarded) short corner opportunities.
Gary showed what he had been keeping quiet all season, putting in a good display in goal, and Adam did his best to impress his lady friend in the stands with several shots on target.
Despite some good performances, the team is ultimately suffering from a stop-start fixture list which has seen several breaks of 3 or 4 weeks, and the consequent lack of momentum and training committment that follows. Against younger, well-drilled teams, the Tornados will continue to struggle to do themselves justice.
The 1s were denied a goal for a 'dangerous' ball a few inches off the ground at the start of the second half, SRC were allowed to play the ball over the back line to score their 3rd goal and stick-tackles from the opposition proved to be an effective and unpunished way of preventing THC attacks. The 5-meter rule has evidently yet to reach Seng Kang.
Despite this, the Tornados looked quite capable of giving the younger side a tough game for much of the match, creating several shots on goal as well as many (albeit unawarded) short corner opportunities.
Gary showed what he had been keeping quiet all season, putting in a good display in goal, and Adam did his best to impress his lady friend in the stands with several shots on target.
Despite some good performances, the team is ultimately suffering from a stop-start fixture list which has seen several breaks of 3 or 4 weeks, and the consequent lack of momentum and training committment that follows. Against younger, well-drilled teams, the Tornados will continue to struggle to do themselves justice.
Div3 lose 2-0 to tough SCC team
The Div3 tornados, hit by injury and travel, lost a tough game against SCC 2-0 on a cool Sengkang afternoon.
The game didn't go to plan rights from the start, with Tornados going down to an early goal after about 10 mins and then Barry having to be carried off after 15 or so with a pingged hamstring, the team were stuck with only the 11 players left on the pitch.
The team battled on, trying to keep structure through out the game. That was difficult when SCC brought on some of their youngsters who were being marshalled from centre half. Early in the second half a bit more goal-mouth pressure ended with another goal, and it was possible that Tornados could go down to quite a nasty defeat.
After an over zealous tackle, matters were made worse when Shahroull was yellow carded, forcing the team to an even larger disadvantage.
According to the sideline, Rob pulled a couple of saves off that stopped the rout, and shoulder getting in the way to a final attack from SCC meant the game ended a 2-0 loss.
This loss means the Div3 team will find it difficult to qualify for the semifinals, but hope is still there, and an as yet unscheduled game against CSC is a must win to stand any chance of making those games. Other results will have to go the Tornados way, so we'll just have to wait and see.
MoM - Rob Glover - some fine saves (always seems wrong writing that about yourself!)
Friday, 29 October 2010
Men's Indoor Team get off the mark
The Men's indoor team finally got some points on the board beating Jansenites 10-6 at CCK.
some fine combination work between Izzie, Frenchy and Billy the Frog saw Tornados build a comfortable half time lead against a young Jansenites team playing 1 player short. However, in the second half Tornados allowed Jansenites back into the game by failing to finish the hatfull of goalscoring chances which came their way.
The Tornados indoor team will have to improve in their next game in 2 weeks if they are to stay in contention for the final.
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Ladies Indoor Clash
It was the long awaited indoor clash last night with Tornados A taking on Tornados B - so many questions needed answering such as; Where on earth is CCK stadium; Who would be in goal next; who would forget their shoes; and most importantly where were the sticks? Thankfully most people managed to find the CCK stadium, and some even turned up early and could watch the transformation from a badminton court to an indoor hockey pitch - complete with newly laid yellow table indicating the wobbly circle. As 7pm rapidly approached you could forgive both sides for getting a bit nervous as the goals still weren't constructed and the umpires looked utterly confused when we asked for sticks. Thankfully the man in yellow managed to find a bag of sticks and balls from somewhere. 30 minutes late - finally we were ready and battle could commence.
TJ and Queenie donned the keepers kits (TJ as punishment for not turning up to last years indoor tournament despite having the keepers helmet - we will not forget) and I am sure Lauren is looking forward to her turn for getting lost and turning up late last night. I know I am looking forward to my turn after missing the last match due to food poisoning. Tony was coaching the Bs and Rich was coaching the As. The Bs having a slight numbers disadvantage after Bridget made it all the way to CCK only to realise you do actually need shoes to play!! Thanks for staying to support and please come again soon Bridget.
At the whistle we were off - now I apologies but I have a really bad bad memory for what happened when I am playing but here goes. I do remember the As taking the lead from a short corner before stretching their lead with a goal from open play - only to be pegged back by a determined B team who managed to score from a short despite TJs sterling running. The first half consisted of a lot of short corners - the pitch wasn't very big and I swear it felt like only 3 or 4 strides between each circle- some determined play from Megan in the middle who was influential in the attacks from the Bs (who weren't paying any attention to the poorly executed half court press by the As). The half time score was 5-2 to the As (Sara scored the second for the Bs with a fantastic sweep under TJ)
The second half saw the As focusing more on running and a better execution of the press (we tried anyway) and both sides had a lot of short corner practice. There were some more goals - Cynthia felt the need to get in on the action and looked utterly shocked when her pass went straight in. Queenie had a storming game in goal - and despite the lack of protective shorts save countless shots with her thighs, hope the bruises aren't too bad.
The As built on their last performance where they sneaked past the premiership Jansenites 3-2 with TJ, Chris and Rox scoring and looked to be getting back to match fitness, while the Bs looked like a well drilled team who will give Jansenites a run for their money next week.
The As are at 7.30 next week and the Bs at 8.30 so it looks like we won't have to build the pitch this week. See you all then and if you can come down and cheer each other on.
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