Thame U12s were at Bloxham County Festival

An absolute pleasure to spend a beautiful day with this fabulous group of ten girls. Five games of high quality hockey played over 3 1/2 hrs.

First up: Oxford B. Thame listened & responded well to the pre-match advice which was to go out hard on the whistle. The tactic worked and Thame had 80% of the possession which yielded a goal off a short from Abigail. Winning this first match 1-0 bolstered their confidence & they followed on to win 1-0 against Witney B with a goal from Ava whose positioning on the post was impeccable.

Next up, a somewhat unknown quantity in Henley. They were quick on the ball & despite good passing from Emma & Imogen & the usual tight defence from Eleanor, Hattie & Jasmine, our only goal of the day was conceded with a final score of 1-0 to Henley.

We knew that Wallingford were going to be strong from their scores so far. We changed our structure & played more defensively. This was definitely a good tactic as Wallingford launched attack after attack. Bella in mid-field worked even harder than usual & our superstar goalie Lucy, rose to the occasion, pulling out all her gymnastic moves to save at least 7 or 8 shots on goal. A 0-0 final score was an absolute result for us!

Our final game was against Banbury A & all 10 girls played at some point. Tilly made some great attacks & Ava, positioned once again on the post, scored. Final score was 1-0 meaning we’d won 3 games, drawn 1 & lost 1, which put us joint second in our Pool.

Sadly, we shared second position with Henley, and as they were the team we’d lost to, they went on to the semi-finals & our hockey came to an end.

This team should be really proud of themselves. They worked their socks off, maintained focus over a long period & responded well to advice. Thank you to them & all the parents for their support, especially keeping the girls fed with a never-ending stream of food (mainly Haribos!) And a big thanks to Scott Elmer for making the tough decisions with me & his effective coaching throughout the day.