Andover HC on the map!

Having been at the Club for a couple of years now, I have heard great things about Trojans and felt the pain of defeat to a strong Bournemouth U8 squad last year. I had not, however, heard people talk about Andover with such reverence. That is, until last Sunday when our U10s and U8s showed just how good we are.

Although I did not have much chance to see the U8s in action (don't tell my son!), I do know that they put in a stalwart performance and were the stand out team in their pool. So it looks good for the future. I think that I am correct in saying that they were unbeaten with one draw. We hope that Bibi Watson manages to cope with having a colourful nose for this week after taking a ball to the face!

The U10s managed to put out 2 full teams, which was great to see. After a decent performance in the first tournament of the season at Winchester (we ended up the wrong side of breaking even), I wanted to see how we would fair with our strongest team. This did mean that the B team was lacking any of our strongest players, which put them at the rough end of some results but this will hopefully inspure them to practice rather than let their heads drop. Although they lost all matches, a couple were close and one should have been a draw (according to Thea Milton), as the goal was a poor refereeing decision.

The good news is that our A team was truly awesome. We were against other clubs' B and C teams but also against a couple of As. A series of 5-0 victories tells the story and it would have been a clean sweep if we had not given Bournemouth Joshua Taylor on loan so that we could play 8 against 8. As we repeatedly pummelled them in their D, Joshua had a great game in the Bournemouth defence and managed to thwart every attack, leading to a 0-0 draw in the opening match. Luckily, the remaining clubs also had 9 players so it meant that everyone played each game.

The U10 performance bodes well for the regional tournament at the end, where we shall field our best U10 team. If they control, scan and pass the ball like they did on Sun, then I have high hopes for success. They are only going to get better!

Greig (U10 Coach)