Ladies 2s vs Dutch Bs, Sat 31st Mar

Physical. Tough. Dirty.

 

Strong words usually reserved for the Dutch team but not on this occasion – more on this later though! J

This was the Ladies 2^nd XI's third outing of the season and they have now played (arguably) the 3 toughest teams in the division in the THC Ladies 1's, SCC and now the Dutch. In all three games the girls have applied themselves admirably gaining invaluable experience and improving with every minute played. This game was to be no different.

 

Once again the sun was shining for the pushback and both teams came out with the intention of playing some sexy attacking hockey. The Dutch, playing without a keeper, had the extra man in the hotly contested midfield area and the Dutch number 8 was pulling all of the strings in the opening exchanges. A short period of sustained pressure produced a goal for the Dutch and it was definitely their reward for some slick passing and movement.

 

The goal seemed to knock the Tornados up a gear and the girls started to pass the ball around nicely, building up from the back, through to the midfield and up to the front line. Chloe was an ever present menace running at the Dutch defence, turning them at every possible opportunity. At this point the game was finely balanced and THC had the opportunity to capitalise with a short corner routine but alas it was not meant to be. Unfortunately for the girls the Dutch put together another tidy move together which resulted in a composed finish from the Dutch centre forward – 2-0.

 

Some teams would have got their heads down after this but not the THC 2^nd XI – they battled on and really mixed it with the much bigger Dutch team. Joran had asked the girls to be more physical before the game and they did not disappoint....

 

The first incident of note occurred after a short corner for the Dutch – the details were sketchy but after a little bit of verbal with our skipper Jane, the Dutch left forward was next seen crumpled into a heap on the far side of the pitch. We still don't know what happened (and probably never will!) but the Dutch gave Jane a wide berth after that!

 

At 2-0 the girls continued to push and we're almost rewarded with their first SHF goal of the season. Chloe broke free, skinning the Dutch defence for pace and advancing into the D but was cruelly denied her goal as the umpire had already blown for the short corner. I think the most disappointed person at SK was Joran who spent the next 5 mins rolling around on the floor like he had been shot in the chest. Don't worry Joran – we'll score this season! Tough on the girls too but ultimately a fair decision – at this point it is worth noting that both umpires were excellent on Saturday.

 

The second half did not go according to plan unfortunately and some tired legs under the hot sun resulted in more goals for the Dutch ladies but we don't need to dwell on that. Suzanne kept up her superb form with some great stops and the back line again put in credible performances.

 

Now for a special mention to Shirley Lee. As you know, Shirley is no giant and was easily the smallest player on a pitch full of Dutch girls who are bigger than most of THC's men! Despite this physical disadvantage she still managed to almost KO one of the Dutch defenders with a head butt worthy of an MMA fighter. Shirley tells me it wasn't deliberate but I could see the glint in her eye. SHF beware – she may look like butter wouldn't melt but under that exterior is a vicious beast. Top skills Shirl.

 

On this showing the girls will absolutely pick up points this term providing the effort and commitment remains high. Both myself and Joran were impressed with the level of aggression too – something that has been missing from previous games.

 

As I started writing this report on Monday and it's now Thursday I have completely forgotten who got MVP! From a coaches perspective it could have gone to any number of individuals. I promise that I will mention the recipient in next week's report!

 

Have a great Easter and don't eat too much chocolate over the break J

 

Coach Kris.

Tornados Ladies A vs IA A's : 3 - 0 wooohoo

Saturday 31^st March 2012
The socialites and travelers of Tornados A’s must have been out and about on Saturday evening but we managed to get 11 players on the field for our 7.30pm match. A big thanks to Kirsten who volunteered to play goalie last minute even though she was enjoying her Maccy D’s.
Tornados A’s started off strong with determination to win after been booted out of our goal at warm up time with about a thousand orange hockey balls! Our very versatile goalie Sayj was determined to show off her goal scoring ability and managed to get the first goal on the board. Chris and Sam were on fire and Sam managed to get the second goal with some fantastic passing between the two.
We managed to show Indian Association who’s here to win with a third goal from Kim in the second half. A solid effort from Gem at back of the diamond meant Helen and Teej rarely saw the ball.
A great effort all round, we walked away with a 3-0 win and that leaves us undefeated to date.

Tornados Beez 0 - 1 SCC B - 11 very tired men

Tornados Beez lost narrowly in a game they didn't deserve to lose. With only 11 players available, and all already having played a hard game yesterday, this was always going to be tough but the Beez battled well and should have come away with at least a point. At times the Beez were down to 10 men due to injuries to Nick and Nazza but both valiantly returned to the field to help the team.

Both sides rarely troubled the opposition keepers and in the end it was an unlucky deflection off a Tornados stick at a PC that won the game for SCC towards the end of the second half. The Beez pressed for a late equaliser but were never able to get a stick to numerous dangerous balls across SCC's D.

This result leaves the Beez 5 points behind one of their main rivals in the fight to stay in Div 1.

Better availability will be the key to improved results in the coming weeks. The Beez captaincy now passes into the hands of Anton.

Big thanks to Sanjay and Nazza turning out whilst injured. To Rego for making a big effort at the last minute to make himself available and to Sayj for filling in as manager.

also to Lynn, Mitch and Becky for turning out to support.

MotM: Rego

DotD : Nobody

now thats over with I can just go back to being the noisy fat bloke at the back :)

Tornados B 0 - 3 NYP : Flat Performance from the Beez

After their monumental effort last week the Beez looked very flat this week against a young NYP team anchored by some experienced heads. Once again availability was a major problem. Despite Rahul and Misso returning early from injury the Beez lined up with only 12 players against an opposition with a full bench.

The Beez dominated the early exchanges but lacked any real punch up front and soon fell 1-0 down after some sloppy marking. This was made 2-0 close to half time when Garf was only able to force a 1 on 1 wide and the NYP forward coolly slotted the ball in off the shoulder of Towers who had made a valiant slide across the goal.

In the second half NYP frequently caught a tiring Beez team on the break but the defence held firm until 10 minutes from the end when NYP scored with a very well worked deflected PC goal.

Tornados did have a few chances to grab a goal back but never really troubled the NYP keeper.

The Beez will be looking for a better performance tomorrow against SCC B

MotM : George

DotD : none really but Towners can have it for his yellow card

Ladies 2nd XI vs SCC

The second game of the season saw the Ladies 2^nd XI facing a typically strong SCC outfit on a hot and muggy afternoon down at Sengkang. Fresh off the back of an encouraging game against the Tornados Ladies 1^st XI the week before the 2's were fired up and ready to give the SCC a real test.

SCC probably started the better of the two teams but the Tornados defensive line and midfield quartet broke down play well and started to knock the ball around extremely nicely in patches. Once again Suzanne looked to be on form as she saved a number of fine shots from the SCC strikers and she was ably supported from an impressive back line of Abi V, Jennie, Debs and Pei Ling. The girls also looked strong on the counter attack and had some strong shouts for short corners turned away by the (dare I say it biased) SHF umpires. It was tough for the girls not to get their rewards after so much hard work (Lynn even pushing herself to the brink of cardiac arrest!) and even more frustrating that they were also playing against the umpires as well. Despite all of their efforts the girls went into the half-time break 2-0 down – and in fairness the goals that were conceded were nothing special either!

Half time came at a good time for the girls and it gave them the much-needed opportunity to re-group and re-set themselves for the second half. Whatever Joran said in the changing room at half-time seemed to have an immediate effect as Tornados came out of the blocks quickly and looked to capitalise on some aggressive pressing and forward momentum. Special mentions go to Annalise, Samantha & Doro who started to boss the midfield portion of the pitch distributing nicely to the wide players and forwards whilst under a great amount of pressure from a dogged SCC team. However, probably against the run of play at the time, SCC fashioned another opening and punished the Tornados again. 3-0.

Even at 3-0 down the girls never once moaned about the heat, about losing the ball away or indeed the umpires complete lack of competency. I'm not sure how they did this especially in reference to the last point as in parts it was bordering on ridiculous. The last goal which made it 4-0 will be put down to horrific umpiring and discounted in the THC result archive. If anyone wants a description of it ask Mitch – he was still annoyed about it on Sunday evening! In short the SCC girl hit the ball from around half a mile outside the D off a short-corner and the goal stood. I spoke to the goal scorer after the game and she was embarrassed about scoring it – not as embarrassed as the umpire should have been though. Anyway....

A loss at the end of the day but another major stride for the girls who keep impressing with each week that passes. From where they were last season to where they are now is testament to all of the hard work they are putting in at the training ground. Keep it up girls!

Congrats to Abi V who was voted MVP by the rest of the team – a long time overdue and a big improvement on her green card exploits from the week before!

Coach Kris

Tornados Beez 0 - 3 Hollandse A

The Tornados B's put up an admirable performance in their first game since stepping up to Division 1. Cut down late to just 13 players due to an injury to Rahul and with Simmo and Anton both having the lurgy, meaning that it was always going to be a tough day.

Starting slowly as ever the Beez carelessly gave the ball away in the first few minutes allowing the Dutch to grab an early goal. After that the Beez really stuck to their task and held the Dutch to 1-0 at half time. Josh, Nick and George fought hard in the middle of the pitch and the back three of Towners, Yoda and Rego thwarted the Dutch time and time again. The Dutch managed 2 second half goals but this was a really promising performance from the Beez.

MotM - the Fat Cat

DotD - Kotters

Ladies Derby - Ladies 2s

On a typically stinking hot day down at Sengkang we saw our new look Ladies 2^nd XI taking on our Ladies 1^st XI in the opening game of the 2012 season. Over the past few months the girls have put in a tremendous amount of effort with a large majority of them never picking a stick up before and a few returning from a good few years out of the sport as well.

 

It's always a daunting task playing against your own clubs first XI but the girls were well prepared and raring to go on what would go on to be an extremely positive and rewarding first outing. Last season the ladies 2's turned out to be the 'whipping-girls' of the division and it is safe to say that this will not be the case this term. Defensively we looked very strong backed up by an awesome display from our new star in goal, Suzanne. I've never seen somebody take to a position so quickly and look so natural – even with all of those pads on! Despite being a little bit short of numbers in midfield we battled hard and closed down space well – reducing the threat of the Ladies 1's playmakers. Reachelle looked equally assured up front as well as in a defensive role and she is going to be a constant threat this season for the 2's.

 

Last season the girls were extremely limited with options going forward but by winning a short corner in the second half we have beaten our previous seasons best already. I'm going to predict that the girls will cause a few upsets this season and when we have our full quota of players we will be a difficult team to break down.

 

Great start to the season girls and keep up the good work!

 

Ps. We lost 3-0 but that was the only negative of the day J

 

Kris Emerton

Ladies 2s Coach