With the cold weather upon us we had the 1st of the winter series of tournaments at Havant. City had a full day playing seven 10 minute games Winning 3 Drawing 2 and narrowly losing 2.

In the First game COP drew a hard fought battle with Gosport with neither side managing to break the deadlock and with little goal mouth action. It was hard fought and a good way to start the day. In the 2nd game COP beat the youngest Havant side, the Hawks, 2-0. Dermaid opened the scoring with a strong run down the right, a moment only topped by Lucy scoring her 1st tournament goal after good team passing from Cameron and Jacob.

City were warmed up and played straight after winning against Petersfield convincingly 5-0. Dermaid scoring the first of his brace with a fierce shot having been put through down the right. Dan netted the second passing the ball into the goal following a cross from Lucy which looked much like the training exercise from the day before. Lucy then got onto the score sheet twice before Dermaids second and Jacob finishing off the tally for this match.

City then had a long break and played Fareham in what was probably the best game of the day. It was an end to end battle with some great tackling from the youngest members of the side Oliver and Thomas setting the standard. The training to make solid tackles seem to be working and the resultant attacks resulting in gaol mouth scrambles where Lucy, Dan and Dermaid could not quite squeeze the ball home. Farehams attacks had been ably stopped by Jacob and Louis only for the boys in black to score with the last strike of the match.

Playing Gosport again resulted in a 0-0 draw however City looked the likely winners on this occasion. Gosport keeper made a number of stops including one that crept the wrong side of the post when Ben went through the middle and shot hard towards the corner. Cameron was wounded taking a hit on the hand which meant he had to come off the pitch. Disappointed that this may be the end of his day he bravely came back to play in the final games having attended to his injuries and warmed his hands.

The final 2 matches were against the other Havant side the Harriers. The first of the games City took the lead twice only to be pegged back in a game of high standard and endeavour. Lucy Netted her 3rd goal of the day running through the heart of the Havant defence and Louis made it 2-1 when he went round the outside of the last defender and slotted the ball into the corner of the goal. Havant pressed hard and scored after some resolute defending blocked the ball only for it to be shot hard into the net. The 2-2 result was unlucky however strong play highlighted how well the team had progressed through practice. Jacob passed a defending hit wide to Louis who swept the ball down the line to a waiting Oliver who stopped the ball and passed inside to Dan just as we had done in training 24 hours earlier. Another highlight to savour was the tackling from Ben and Jacob that showed those hours of tackling practice followed with accurate hitting into space is being used to good effect.

The final game was probably one too many for a now tired City Side. Playing the Harriers again city tried to attack as a team and were hit in the final moments by a fast Havant break. Legs were tired and concentration fading due to all the hard effort throughout the 3 hours. Dermaid was struck on the heel by a hard shot which finished his day and the 8 remaining players struggled hard to not quite score.

With Players and parents alike ready for the warmth of home I think that all can be very proud of the way we played and with the improvements being made through the season......We are ready for the next set of matches at Haslemere in 2 weeks time.

Team – Lucy, Jacob S, Louis G, Thomas T, Diarmaid, Ben H, Dan H, Oliver P, Cameron.

With Halloween upon us the under 8 team played frightfully well and were full of spirit last Sunday at the Chichester Mini’s tournament. With each team on the day losing at least one game City probably came out top of the pile.

In the First game COP lost a hard fought battle with Chichester 1-0. It felt like the team needed to wipe away the cob webs a little as for most of the 12 minutes the team resolutely defended with few breaks out into the opposition half. City conceded late on as a scramble broke to an open Chichester attacker who placed their shot into the corner.

With Hot Chocolate to spur the side on and high spirits City performed much better in their second game against Fareham. Both sides had opportunity to attack through good play in the space down the width. City opened the scoring through Louis G surging ahead when a fine tackle from Jasper gave him the ball. The second goal from Dan H was a great team goal. Good passing from Dermaid was assisted by strong play and a reat pass from Lucy despite being knocked to the ground afterwards. From there Dan turned and swept the ball into the goal for his first ever score and a 2-0 victory.

After a Spooky long wait City played Petersfield next and started the game as they had the last. Jacob and Ben positioned themselves well in defence so that if any ball came through they ably tackled and distributed the ball to the flanks. Thomas demure in stature also tackled hard and with this solid team effort a base was created for attacks to build. It was again Louis who scored twice to confirm the victory running into space from the mass of bodies in the centre of the pitch. Oliver playing in his first tournament never stopped chasing throughout the game and truly enjoyed his first match experience. Petersfield managed to score late on but did not come near to drawing level with city finishing deserved 2-1 winners.

The final game against a very young Gosport side had one Man of the Match. Jacob scored a Hat-trick with fine movement down both flanks. Encouragingly City tried to play passing hockey rather than just run individually with the ball which meant that everyone contributed in moving the ball forward. The smiles and cheers went to Jacob though as he was at the end of each of these moves and he ably slotted the ball home on three occasions and probably should have scored a fourth but had his shot saved on the line.

The group of players and Parents really enjoyed the hockey and had set themselves up for the rest of the day ahead where they were ready to swap Goals for Ghouls and their pink shirts for their even more Scary Halloween outfits.....Next Stop Havant on November 21st

Team – Lucy, Jacob S, Louis G, Thomas T, Jasper T, Diarmaid, Ben H, Dan H, Oliver P.