Kings Heath  v  Yardley -  April 26^th

Normally our season ends with the Wales tour but this year we decided to go on for one more match.  It was a great idea because it gave us the chance to exchange photographs and collect a DVD of the previous weekend’s activities.

It was a perfect morning, warm, sunny, and the pitch in perfect condition. We agreed to not have goalkeepers so we were in for a large tally of goals. And goals there were –  in plenty. In the first five minutes Heider and Zak both found the net followed by Alex  and Owen.  Kings Heath replied with a glancing shot from a well taken free hit just outside the circle.

  Pradeep was doing a great job with sixteen yard hits now finding Lily on the left and her brother Jeevan on the right wings. Both our girls were much improved – maybe the practise with Jonathan and Tricia was paying off.

In the second session our opponents re-organised their defence allowing us only one goal from one of Owen’s sweeps which he is becoming very fond of.

   It was Jeevan who opened the scoring in the final session with a fine goal and much celebration. Heider scored again, Kings Heath replied with a breakaway goal, but it was Usamah who put paid to King’s Heath’s aspirations with an opportunist shot a few minutes before time. We all shook hands, gave three cheers and agreed that hockey is a wonderful game.

The final score was Kings Heath 2,  Yardley 8, a great finale to the season.

                                                                                                        J.S.

Hampton  v  Yardley under 11s  -  April 5^th 2009  

When we arrived there was a great deal of activity among the four Hampton coaches, parents and teenagers. We soon realised that they were preparing three narrow pitches for some kind of end of season festival. There were to be no goalkeepers, nobody over 11  and no circles. That meant Jacob, Haider and Jeevan had to join a Hampton under 13 team on pitch 3 while we were to do battle with  Hampton ’s predators – the Sharks, the Lions and the Eagles in three consecutive games.

    In the end we played four matches on the trot having to face the vicious Sharks twice and despite our initial surprise at being caught off-guard by swooping Eagles in the first match, we enjoyed the festival and the food they supplied afterwards.

      There were some great performances.  Usamah at right back saved three certain goals by turning them round the corner.  Alex and Owen scored a hat-trick each and Zak bagged a couple making our grand total over the four matches of eight to Hampton ’s seven. Pradeep, Lily and Kathrine all played their part and considering that our gallant seven played their four matches without a break we can count this as one of the highlights of the season. We heard from the under 13 coach that our three lads had given a good account of themselves – especially, I was told, the one with the fair hair. Now who could that be?

    Man of the match was Alex with his blistering runs and crosses from the right wing.  It is fitting that on the previous day he received the John Lockwood stick as the most promising young player of the year.

Yardley  V Bromsgrove  -   March 29^th

    This was a new fixture for us.  We guessed they might be a bit smokey when they appeared in all-black numbered tops with matching black shorts for the boys and trousers for the girls. When a team takes the field immaculately turned out you just know they mean business. And it wasn’t long before they had three goals under their belts with no answer from us. In the second session after a bit of re-organising at the back Haider put the finishing touch to a ball hammered in from the midfield, and Owen – his first this season, turned a nice pass from Jeevan on his right into the left hand corner. Bromsgrove got a consolation goal five minutes later, but that session was ours with a 2-1 win.

   In the last period we fell apart again. Bromsgrove were well organised using the full width of the pitch. They had by now sorted our weaknesses. With Jacob on County duty at Cannock we needed someone to hold the midfield.  Bromsgrove scored a further four goals, and while we had a couple of near misses from Alex and Zak neither had their shooting boots on. There are two more matches this season – Hampton next week, and Kings Heath on April 26^th the week after the Wales tour.                                                                                                                             

Yardley  v  Hampton Sharks    March 1^st

^{St David’s day felt like the first day of Spring – sunny and warm as we greeted the Hampton squad, two teams of eight in pristine green and black, with at least ten parents and coaches in support. They wanted a round robin but realising that we would be on the side for one third of the time we thought that idea was a non starter. So we had our usual three sessions of fifteen minutes and we agreed to play whatever team they threw at us.}

^{With Pradeep and Jeevan at the back, Haider, Jacob and Usamah in midfield we looked a solid defence keeping a clean sheet in the first session while Zak scored two up front with Alex on the right wing providing the crosses. On the twelfth minute Haider got into the act with a goal through the middle.}

^{Thankfully Lilly was back after a week off providing the link on the left wing for Pradeep’s hits from the circle. Noah came on as a substitute and nearly scored but for Haider’s wayward pass during the third session. Hampton had scored while Jacob was off but coming back on with four minutes to go a pass from Alex again came to Jacob and he made no mistake with a resounding clunk into the Hampton goal.  The final score was Yardley four, Hampton one.}

^{The man of the match was Zak for setting the pace with his early goals.}

^{We have decided to put Jeevan and Haider forward for County trails at under 13 level this summer. Congratulations to them.                                     J.S}     

     We arrived twenty minutes early on a cold dull morning. The temperature was exactly zero with a light Easterly breeze coming straight from Russia . There was no sign of our opposition so Jonathan got busy with a short corner routine. We only had seven players and that included Noah, and with no goalkeeper again we wondered how we would fare against this reputable club with Nisar Choudhry the Hockey England development officer as the club coach. Nisar told me two years ago that I was too old to join his coaching pool in Birmingham so I had an old score to settle.

     We finally got started ten minutes late. Blossomfield hadn’t a goalkeeper either and their team looked a bit disorganised with shirts ranging in colour from blue white and even a red one. In contrast Yardley in red numbered shirts looked ready for action from the start.  Jacob was the first to find the net with a hard low shot in the left hand corner but it was ruled out as only a push was to be allowed in the D with no goalkeepers on the pitch. Then Zak scored two in quick succession just before the 15 minutes was up.

      In the second session Blossomfield scored first with a breakaway goal catching  us offguard but Alex replied in typical Alex style and then it was Jacob’s turn, this time with a legal push. Lilly was coming more into the game out on the left and it was good to see great passing moves between Jacob, now at right back, Alex and Usamah now up front alongside Noah waiting in the D.   Jeevah had also switched - to right midfield to control their left striker who had scored the goal and who was their most dangerous player.

      The third and final session saw Blossomfield at their best but two goals from Usamah settled the matter with assists from Alex and Lilly. Everyone remembers their first goal and today Noah will remember February 1^st as that memorable day. Noah is the youngest smallest member of the team and he scored for his team in the last five minutes of the match. There was no way back for Blossomfield after that with a final score Yardley 7  Blossomfield 1. Man of the match was Usamah Iqbal. 

Sutton v Yardley   January 18^th

14th December  .v. Old Sils

This was our last match of 2008. We ended the year as we started it with a good win conceding only one goal and scoring seven. In the first of three 15 minute sessions we quickly took command scoring four goals through Alex’s scorching runs down the right flank and blistering crosses for Heider to put away. He scored a record 4 goals.

Switching our attack and defence in the second session resulted in a more even game with Jacob scoring for Yardley with a sizzler from the edge of the D. Lily was now left wing and her brother Noah defending at right midfield alongside Kathrine doing her utmost to spoil the Sils attacks.

Pradeep and her brother Jeevan began to integrate into the team, Pradeep’s enthusiasm paying off in the third session when he scored his first goal for the team from a pass in the D from Zak. Zak displayed his usual flair throughout the match scoring a goal of his own through his sheer determination.

Over the years we have had some great battles with Old Sils but this 7-1 win was a record score. They didn’t have a goal keeper, but neither did we. As I waited in the car park to transport the team who should walk past me but our goalkeeper carrying a squash raquet. I called him back. "What’s this then?" "Playing squash now" he said as he disappeared into the centre. Well he might have had the decency to tell me rather than let me find out that way .Man of the match was Alex. Although he didn’t score himself Alex demonstrated a wonderful team spirit with his selfless assists.

Happy Christmas everybody, see you all on January 11^th