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Sat 21 Jan 2023
Men's 3rdsNaas 1st Refix
2
2
Its all about the preperation
Dara Crowe22 Jan 2023 - 23:17
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Was Naas Refix not a South African Hockey player ?
The preparation.....
With no training on Thursday night (and no lucozades at the selection committee afterwards) the great leader had a new cunning plan..
He would go 4-4-3, which initialy left the goalkeeper very worried (Ciaran was confused and Ali also showed concern in the dressing room, he even raised an eyebrow before hand - luckily sense prevailed and 4-3-3 was agreed upon, once the maths were understood).
Several guests were available on the day, the 2nd match was postponed (including the army reserves).... and it mattered - they scored.
With improved weather, the match started after the firsts in almost balmy conditions, we got our names on the scoreboard until El Presidente left.
An odd match ensued (but probably a fair result in the end)... the royal presence at the back was generous ..when Tim passed across the line for a tap in... surprising, but accepted gratefully by Naas.
CHC came back into it in the 3rd quarter when surprisingly the substitute umpire/goalkeeper was poaching on the backpost and scored his first every goal for a senior team, the great leaders anti-skill coming in useful in misdirecting the ball to the poacher (if a pesky younger brother had not scored 2 earlier, it would have been a great day for the Mackay's, Moose's claim for a hat trick easily dismissed as fantasy.)
It became interesting after this, after some good attacks (Jake blazed over the bar, Simon tormented the defense, and Jack/Dylan pushing the team forward - no mention of the Windmills)..it suddenly came undone. My official report will say that I deflected a shot wide ...and that after the near umpire consulted with the other umpire ..it was still a penalty corner - (blind dog territory - no mention of a mallet), but to add insult to my injury (chipped bone..ouch)... I deflected the flick past our keeper - I have to own that one. (literally an own goal)
Luckily the team responded and several short corners later a well rehearsed (ha indeed!) corner resulted in Ryan scoring an equalizer (not that Gordy realised, he didn't hear it or see it). With 5 mins to go it felt like a winner was possible, but it didn't come to pass.
However it is now 4 games unbeaten, so the future is positive... and a cup game next weekend.
As for the afters... it was muted ..what might have been ..4 wins in a row would have weakened the reserve, so a draw kept us in check - as for the team diet...we followed the senior team plan .. high protein .. I think(Salt and Vinegar with that?)
With no training on Thursday night (and no lucozades at the selection committee afterwards) the great leader had a new cunning plan..
He would go 4-4-3, which initialy left the goalkeeper very worried (Ciaran was confused and Ali also showed concern in the dressing room, he even raised an eyebrow before hand - luckily sense prevailed and 4-3-3 was agreed upon, once the maths were understood).
Several guests were available on the day, the 2nd match was postponed (including the army reserves).... and it mattered - they scored.
With improved weather, the match started after the firsts in almost balmy conditions, we got our names on the scoreboard until El Presidente left.
An odd match ensued (but probably a fair result in the end)... the royal presence at the back was generous ..when Tim passed across the line for a tap in... surprising, but accepted gratefully by Naas.
CHC came back into it in the 3rd quarter when surprisingly the substitute umpire/goalkeeper was poaching on the backpost and scored his first every goal for a senior team, the great leaders anti-skill coming in useful in misdirecting the ball to the poacher (if a pesky younger brother had not scored 2 earlier, it would have been a great day for the Mackay's, Moose's claim for a hat trick easily dismissed as fantasy.)
It became interesting after this, after some good attacks (Jake blazed over the bar, Simon tormented the defense, and Jack/Dylan pushing the team forward - no mention of the Windmills)..it suddenly came undone. My official report will say that I deflected a shot wide ...and that after the near umpire consulted with the other umpire ..it was still a penalty corner - (blind dog territory - no mention of a mallet), but to add insult to my injury (chipped bone..ouch)... I deflected the flick past our keeper - I have to own that one. (literally an own goal)
Luckily the team responded and several short corners later a well rehearsed (ha indeed!) corner resulted in Ryan scoring an equalizer (not that Gordy realised, he didn't hear it or see it). With 5 mins to go it felt like a winner was possible, but it didn't come to pass.
However it is now 4 games unbeaten, so the future is positive... and a cup game next weekend.
As for the afters... it was muted ..what might have been ..4 wins in a row would have weakened the reserve, so a draw kept us in check - as for the team diet...we followed the senior team plan .. high protein .. I think(Salt and Vinegar with that?)
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