This season has been an interesting one for the Haileybury 1st XI Girls. They are a really talented bunch and have played some of the best hockey I have seen a group of girls at this school play. Their build up play and combinations in pairs and threes as they work up the pitch has been exceptional at times, and it has been a pleasure to see on the occasions I have been with them.
Along with the good times though, as with any team, there have also been moments of frustration. The first sign of this was during the opening game of the season. This was a game under the lights on a Friday Night at the Olympic Park against Epsom College. They were a good team, but we played, as mentioned before, some exceptional hockey between the two 25s both in attack and in our press. Our struggle came though in converting that pressure into goals. We did not look ruthless in the circle and our huge number of corners were not turned into goals. We won the game, but it was clear where we needed to focus our attention over the coming weeks. A couple of easier games followed, which allowed the team to score 11 goals in 2 games, and that potentially diverted the attention away from the need to focus on some growing areas of concern.
This is a team who won 15/15 games in Saturday games for two years in a row. They seem to know how to win games, and are proud of their record. In the fourth game of the season though, we played The Perse, who were not the strongest team we have played against over the past couple of years. We had the vast majority of possession, countless circle penetrations, and a large amount of corners. The Perse had two counter attacks and won the game 2-0.
The County Championships followed shortly after and we started with a 0-0 match against Queenswood. It was a nervy game with both teams creating and missing chances. Queenswood, however, went on to score 10 goals more than us over the next few games, so even though we did not lose a game and did not concede a goal in the entire tournament, we came second on goal difference. Second was not the end of the world as we still qualified for the Regional Round, which we played on Tuesday this week. Similar events followed with us dominating large amounts of posession, having a lot of circle entries, and struggling to convert shots and corners into goals. We managed to finish second in our group and earn a place in the Semi against Felsted. We drew 1-1 in a game that we dominated and lost on penalties.
On Thursday night, we played against Princethorpe College in the second round of the Independent Schools’ National Cup. We won 3-0 and it was a chance for the girls to get back to winning ways and quickly get over some of the disappointments of two days prior. It was great to see the girls back in good spirits. My worry is that many of the aforementioned signs were again present with a sea of chances not being taken.
Tomorrow, the girls take on Framlingham College at Fram, which will undoubtedly be the hardest challenge of their season. Fram have a fine list of players and are led by Jamie Kingston; someone I think is an extraordinary coach. They will be well drilled but also have the licence to play with style and creativity.
The above sounds very doom and gloom; it is not. It is a reflection piece about being able to see the signs that are being shown in performances and then making a plan to solve that problem. Winning so frequently over the past couple of years has potentially led to some complacency, especially when we now have potentially the most talented team we have had. Winning does not come easily. It comes through detailed preparation based on constant reflection of the problems we are facing and the potential opportunities that we could take advantage of. Anyone who has taken the time to read my posts over the past couple of years knows that I am keen for the girls to play against the very best because the challenges are real and the victories mean something.
Exciting times.
Darren Cheesman 