 On an absolutely scorchio day the mighty u16 boys headed down to Sevenoaks for a good pre-season workout against Sevenoaks and Surbiton.
Sevenoaks (4-3 loss)
Game 1 saw a decent start with some decent passing from the back with Jake and Toby in the centre and Ben and Harry F patrolling the flanks. Harry, Joel and Charlie were in midfield with Chan, Hobie and Felix up front.
After dominating possession we slackened off and let Sevenoaks into the game and they scored after a scrappy short corner. The second 10mins was better and we managed to get shots on targets but got hit on the break by Sevenoaks and conceded two goals to be 3-0 down.
The boys responded well and Charlie V started the comeback after a great pass from Felix. Then Sevenoaks came through some poor defence to make it 4-1 and we woke up to put pressure on. Harry finished with a nice reverse shot to make it 4-2 and it was game on. Felix finished well after a sweeping move to make it 4-3 with minutes to play. By that stage we were only had 10 players on the pitch and the boys grafted well against a Sevenoaks squad of 17. A loss (4-3) but a lot of sweat and hard work plus some good passing hockey
Surbiton (2-1 win)
After a very brief rest and cool down period the boys looked a bit broken but keen to make amends with Surbiton fresh for their first game.
Rob adjusted the formation with only 10 lads available for this game and stressed the need to keep to a half court press and to pass the ball early and with width.
Due to the heat we agreed to play 10 mins thirds and the game started at a canter.
Surbiton started brightly but the GHC team battled for every ball and worked very hard in defence. When we did get the ball we were direct and Hobie offered a threat every time he got the ball.
Surbiton managed to get a short corner and a well taken drag flick from GHC old boy Ollie W sailed home top left corner. Lesser teams could have folded at this point but the boys worked hard in the middle 10 mins and managed to set Hobie free who finished well on a one to one with the keeper.
WE kept pressing and a nice aerial ball put Surbiton under pressure and Hobie robbed the full back to score. The really got the team energised and we battled (a man down) to keep Surbiton out and Jack our guest keeper was busy. But Sean H also was bust in the Surbiton goal to keep us out.
After a huge amount of running we managed to squeeze home 2-1 winners.
A great day out for the boys in very hard conditions. A nice win and some good hockey played. Thanks to Rob for all his coaching and the help from the parents to refill water bottles and help the boys cool down in testing conditions.
Coaches - Rob & James
Team
Hobie, Toby, Joel, Harry F, Harry R, Jake, Charlie, Ben, Felix, Chan
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