Champagne Hockey

Following last week's great start Beavers A continued to improve, producing some of the best hockey I have seen in over two years watching the development of this team.

From defence through midfield to attack every player played committed and intelligent hockey, with passing being the key to unlocking Triton. The urge to try to do too much was replaced by a clinical passing game that ensured that Beavers A kept possession and tired out the opposition.

With only eleven players Chester had no ability to make substitutions and every player worked tirelessly from beginning to end. All four defenders, Matthew, Lukas, Ffion and Ruby, remained sharp and ensured that no attacking players got in behind our back line which provided a strong platform for the midfield to advance up the pitch. The passing through Jack and Elliot brought Lauren (in her first game for Beavers Athis year) and Ella into the game allowing Chester to stretch Triton by moving the ball down the wings. Particularly pleasing was the way both Ella and Lauren waited to draw the opponent towards them before laying clinical passes off to Charlie and Marcus. With Charlie right in front of goal but not guaranteed to score, slipping the ball to Marcus was intelligent, unselfish and resulted in an unmarked tap-in to score.

Special mention to Will, stepping in for Finn in goal, for the moment when he took both ball and man - goalkeeping at its finest.

The scoreline suggests that Triton were weak, but it was the quality of our play which led to the high score in the first 3 quarters. One word of caution. In the final quarter Chester did get carried away, despite warnings from the coach, players began to dribble too much, leaving their positions and creating opportunities for a capable Triton to break away and score. The end result - Triton 2 Chester 0.

If Beavers A plays as it did in the first 3 quarters and not as in the last a very successful season could be on the cards.