Slazenger Hockey Club

York

Report: 11-04-2010 – GU14 Play off Finals

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11th April – Halifax HC – 9.30am – 2pm

Fianalists Teams:

Doncaster, City of York, Wakefield, Thirsk, Harrogate, Kingston upon Hull, Ben Rhydding, Slazenger

2 leagues of 4 Teams:
League 1: Doncaster, Wakefield, Harrogate, Ben Rhydding
League 2: City of York, Thirsk, Kingston upon Hull, Slazenger

Slazenger League Results:

Slazenger v Kingston upon Hull – Win 1 – 0
Slazenger v City of York – Draw 0 – 0
Slazenger v Thirsk – Lost 1 – 2
The top 2 teams from each league went through to the semi-finals, of which Slazenger was included.

Semi Finalists: Slazenger v Doncaster / Harrogate v The City of York

Slazenger qualified for the semi finals on goal difference and met a very polished Doncaster 1 XI.

The final score belied the actual performance with every single Slazenger player giving 150% to their game. Hannah Fields was outstanding in her debut performance as Goal Keeper, making a now difficult choice for the young player – ‘Outfield or Goal’ – we believe she is very capable of both…not bad considering she is only 11 years old (sorry Hannah, 12 next month!)

Slazenger lost the game 0 – 4. With Doncaster proceeding to meet Harrogate, the winners of the other semi-final against The City of York, in the final.

The GU14 squad presented gifts to Alan & Karen Bates as a way of saying thankyou for all their efforts this season coaching and managing the side. Their was a distinct choke in Alan’s voice and I am sure if you looked closely…well…Kleenex at the ready!

A very big well done to all our players and coaches and not forgetting the ever present supporters in the guises of parents and family etc.

Hopefully we will be posting photos of the finals onto the website.

Report: 06-03-2010 – Mens 1st’s (0) vs (2) York University 1st’s

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Slazengers mens first eleven travelled to top of the table York University knowing they were in for a tough game and it was York who eventually came out 2-0 winners. York dominated much of the first half possession but were limited to a few speculative shots whilst Slazengers were happy to sit back and hit York on the break. It was York who took the lead mid way through the half, keeper James Walker was defeated by a wicked deflection off Slazenger captain Will Buckley. Slazengers were then reduced to 10 men after Jonny White was yellow carded but York weren’t able to take advantage.The second half again saw York with good possossion but no real threat in front of goal with Slazengers trying to build some opportunities for themselves only to see the final pass go astray. As the half progressed, Slazengers began to press higher up the pitch and were eventually caught on the break by the younger students who were able to pass round the defence and run the ball into an open goal.

Slazengers enter the last three games of the season knowing that 2 wins should be good enough to fend off relegation and will hope to get the first of those at home to Doncaster on Saturday.

From Ben Graham [6th March 2010]

Report: 2009-12-06 – Boys U10’s at Pocklington

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The Team: Emillie Ritchey (GK); Katie Minchella; Harry Buttery; Nick Calderley; Sebastian Lister; Ryan Denton.

Slaz 2 v Airedale B 2
We got off to a shakey start when we conceded 2 goals quickly in the first half despite 2 good chances by Ryan and Nick.  The defence just couldn’t make it back and Emillie was left to defend 2 attackers.  However the guys settled into their positions in the second half and seemed to stay more in position and use the space well.  A long corner from Nick in towards the D was collected and converted by Harry with a super slapshot. There were a couple of scarey 16s where the attack managed to intercept and get into our D but Ryan, Nick and Sebastian made some great tackles, Emillie made a some lovely saves and the ball was played back up towards Airedale’s D.  The width of the pitch was utilised very well by Katie, Sebastian and Nick and another good pass to Harry on the edge of the D beat Airedale’s keeper.

Chapeltown A 0 v Slaz 3
The team kept their form in the second game and again used the space well.  The guys played more self passes in this game as their confidence built up. After a bit of a mess in Chapeltown’s D we were awarded our first short.  Pushed in by Harry to Nick the defence were on it and the ball left the area.  However Ryan picked it up in midfield and got it back towards the D to Sebastian.  Some great teamwork between Katie and Seb scored us our first.  Everyone worked really hard in midfield to keep the ball in Chapeltown’s half.  The ball was played through on one occasion to an attacker and Emillie made a great one on one save sending the ball back towards midfield.  Sebastian took the ball to the edge of the D and showed great awareness in his pass to Harry who was waiting to slap in another past the keeper.  Harry definately knew where his position was by this time and picked up another lovely pass from Nick to score the third.

Slazenger 2 v York B 3
We knew this game would be tough as York had won their previous games 3-0 and 6-0.  In the first half we seemed to lose the structure a little bit with the defence and midfield chasing the ball again.  York played with at least one attacker up front all of the time and he was free to score 2 past Emillie despite her efforts.  Again great work in midfield passing the ball out wide to Katie and Nick and then in to the D again to Harry who powered in the first. The second half was better and Ryan stuck to that attacker like glue so as not to give him another clear shot at goal.  York had to work hard against us for their 3rd goal and Ryan, Seb, Nick and Emillie all battled hard in our D but eventually York’s 3rd crossed the line.  From the restart Nick took the ball towards the D there were some great passes out wide again to Katie and strong tackles by all of the team on the way up and eventually the ball found its way to Harry in the D who took the shot. It was saved by the keeper but he followed up the rebound and beat the keeper.  Great defending by Ryan, Nick and Seb and another great save by Emillie torwards full time kept the score 3-2 to York.

Overall a great day all round.  Can I just say how impressed I was with the team today.  It seems like such a long time ago since we played our first tournament at Halifax in October where we lost every game and only scored one goal.  The kids seem to have improved so much since then and their confidence is coming thick and fast.  Considering they haven’t all played together since October they got along really well and played brilliantly together.  Ryan who has only been playing at Slaz for a month or so settled in great, it was like he’d been playing with them for ever.  It was such a joy to be with them and watch them today.

Special thanks to Dean Michella and Mark Calderley today for helping me out.

from Sarah-Jane Ritchey

Report: 07-01-2007 – Girls U14 Tournament 9-01-07

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Frustrated Slazenger U14s started the new year in dominant form in terms of possession but were disappointed with their three-match results.

Slazenger held Leeds to a goalless draw, were unfortunate to lose out 2-0 to Kingston upon Hull, and talented goalkeeper Adam Davis restricted York to a 2-0 win.

Amber Johnson and Lara Colwood impressed for Slazenger.

Report: 10-12-2006 – Boys U12 Tournament

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Bennett’s hat-trick boost for Slazenger

JAMES Bennett’s trio of goals helped Slazenger U12s Boys to a respectable finish in a recent tournament in Leeds.

Slazenger A had been promoted to pitch C to compete in the higher league and they got off to a flier with a single goal victory over Thirsk.

Their second game saw a goalless draw against an impressive Driffield side but Slaz could have easily taken all the points after dominating the encounter.

The only defeat of the day came against the strongest team in the league in York, with just the single goal separating the sides before Slaz went onto further victories against Leeds and local rivals Wakefield.