TEAMWORK THE KEY TO UNDER 15s PERFORMANCE

Tournament three of the Eastern Counties under 15s 1st division took place at Bushfields the home of Peterborough RHC. The Ely Greens with a new team with some inexperienced players at this level had found the first two tournaments hard going with only one win in seven matches. Things were not expected to change with games against the top three teams in the five team league.
 
The first match against unbeaten leaders Kings Lynn was a battle form the start with Ely soon finding themselves 4 – 0 down. The team did start to find their feet just before half time with two goals giving a respectable score line of 4- 2 at the break. Ely defended well at times in the second half but the size and strength of the opposition was always a key factor with Kings Lynn finally winning 8 – 2 (goals Callum Thoday and Simon Thompson).
 
With instructions to defend tight and use speed on the counter attack Ely started brightly in the second match against Cottenham and established an early lead. Cottenham fought back and were soon level just after the break. However Ely’s response was excellent with three more goals to none in reply giving a 5 – 2 victory against a team that had beat them 10 – 2 earlier in the season (goals Max Dunand 2, Emily Barrow, Thoday and Thompson).
 
With confidence gained from the previous match and the team starting to play to their strengths the final match against Peterborough proved to be the best yet this season, Peterborough who had earlier beaten Kings Lynn attacked from the off but the Ely defence and goalkeeping of Hattie Ford was excellent. It was Ely however who got the first goal which seemed to lift spirits even more. A feature of the match was the teamwork, that restricted Peterborough’s chances, with Ely’s counter attacking working well. Ely had a 4 – 2 lead with two minutes left but Peterborough stepped up the tempo grabbing two late goals. A 4 - 4 draw perhaps slightly disappointing in the end, but against opposition that had beaten them by 7 clear goals on both previous occasions a result to be proud of (goals Thoday 3 & Dunand).