Storm vs Caterham Cougars 8/1/11
By Ivi Kottasova, Storm player
Lacrosse might not be the most exciting sport to watch, but the crowd of fans at this game wouldn't say so. What a fight! In the first post-christmas (read: post-turkey/mince pies feast in front of the telly) game, Storm faced a young and eager team from Caterham Cougars. "They might be young, but we have 15 more years of experience," Hannah Lang said. And she was right. After a bit of a slower start, Storm's defense showed some great play - mainly double-teaming on ball, great communication around the goal and some fabulous interceptions.
By the half time, Storm was two goals down, but determined to fight. Having small squad and no subs, it was challenging to keep up with the pace of the youngsters, supported by dozens of parents on the sideline. "They might be young, but we are old," Sarah O. summed up the situation. However, Storm managed to improve the game and slow down in the attack, settle around the goal and prepare some nice plays. Double teaming in the midfield was very successful and so there was a lot less fast breaks from the opposition. Storm fought for every ball (and won a great deal of them!) until the very end.
In the breathtaking finish, the opposition was a tiny bit luckier, wining the game by one goal difference. But Storm showed some great effort and improved massively during the game - something that will come handy in the games to come.
Final Score 9-10 to Caterham cougars
Scorers:
Temi 6
Helena 2
Toks 1
Storm vs Reigate 18/12/11
Last game before Christmas, 2 days after epic social, Nat caught Norrovirus, someone else's car didn't start, long journey to Reigate... A squad of 18 dwindled down to 11, not a great start. However, where we lacked numbers we had fighting spirits. Oppositions were a relatively new team and a lovely bunch who offered us mulled wine (tactic?) and mince pies. Some spectacular fastbreaks followed by some more impressive assists to goals resulted in a satisfying 12-4 win to Storm.
Scorers:
Liz Harvey 2
Verity 4
Temi 4
Marthe 1
Toks 1
Storm vs Hitchin 06/11/11
By Mel Mackay Storm Player.
It was with some trepidation that the Storm team faced Hitchin having narrowly beaten them in a tough Rosebowl match the previous week. Storm began the first half strongly scoring two goals in the first five minutes. As the half progressed both teams were fighting for the ball straight from the draw and working hard to defend transitional play in the midfield. Storm's defence worked hard on calling thier man when Hitchin's attack settled play and utlised the double effectively to mark out dangerous players when necesary. At times loose ground balls in the fan caused Strom some problems however Emily Chong's quick reactions resulted in some excellent saves.
In attack, Storm kept a calm head when in a settle with players showing the confidence on the ball to wait for the best option before passing and there was some nice movement round the fan. Well timed drives from Temi and Toks Ogunsany ended in some fabulous goals. In the second half, Storm appeared to loose some of our momentum with Hitchin scoring several times quickly off the break.
However Storm regrouped following a time out where sensible passing and taking the safe option was discussed. Storm then pulled it back scoring several more times following some poised movement round goal. A close game all in all with fantastic play from all involved. All players pulled together and showed what Blackheath is about, husteling to the end.
Final Score: 11-13 to Hitchin
Goal Scorer's
Temi: 6
Toks: 4
Shirl : 1
Legends VS Harpenden 16/10/11
By Lucy Wilby, Legends Captain
A tough match against Harpenden. A great start and we were the first team to score. The attacks were working hard on creating movement and It worked well. There was some great defending back in the mid field and we came up with most of the loose ball. In the second 15 minutes we let Harpenden get away from us a bit and heads dropped. However the second half we came back hard and raised the game through the defence with great transition play in the mids. Some sterling work from Izzy in goal and a good team effort right to the last goal that we scored.
Final score was 17-6.
Goals scorers:
Aggie 3
Lizzie Brown 2
Claudia 1
Storm vs Newbury Royals 16/10/11
By Ivi Kottasova, Storm player
Most other teams would probably run away after learning their opposition consists mainly of England and Wales players. But not Storm, who managed to keep their heads up and showed some great teamwork against the Royals - a new team to the league, aspiring to go straight up into the premiership.
The game started with a couple of quick fastbreaks from the Royals, but Emily Chong in the goal showed some superb saves and the score did not change as rapidly as it could.
After the Royals scored a couple of goals, Storm took a timeout to talk about the defence. And it was a good talk, as the team work improved incredibly in the second half of the first period. From some well timed double-teaming to much lauder and more efficient defending around the goal, Storm made it a lot harder for the Royals to shoot.
Although the score was rather horrific by the halftime, the team did not lose their spirits and concentrated on midfield defending, safer clearing and tried to calm down the play around the goal. There was some incredible effort in the middfield and the ball stayed in Storm's possesion for a lot more than in the first half.
Finally, after two goals that didn't count for various reasons, Temi Ogunsany scored from a nice settle game, and thus Blackheath Storm finished the game in a good mood.
Scorer:
Temi Ogunsany - 1
Blackheath Legends Vs Blues 2/10/11
By Laney Radcliffe, Legends Vice-Captain
Result: Lost: 6:9
Venue: Away
Conditions: V. Hot and sunny
A rushed warm up and blazing conditions didn’t stop the team’s determination and fight. The focus was to start the game with a big first 5 minutes then to maintain discipline and apply the settled attack practiced at training. There were some great individual moments of grit from Chantal’s dynamic cuts to Izzy’s incredible saves in goal. Although the main point to take away was what amazing team effort we showed. Blackheath had 70% of possession showing the potential to becoming one of our strongest teams and an exciting season ahead.
Positives:
Great fight
Doubling in 2nd half
Draw control and team work around the circle
Goalie saves!
Mid field transition
Off ball movement
Support in midfield
Improvements:
Skills
Shooting
One on one’s
Set moves in attack
Give and go’s
Threatening the goal
Picks
Goal scorers:
Claudia 2
Aggie 3
Chantal 1
Voted by team
MVP: Claudia
Player’s Player: Laney
Storm VS West London II 2/10/11
By Fiona Cross, Storm Captain
A great start to our season with lots of fantastic lacrosse played by everyone.
A slightly nervous start to the game but everyone soon settled down. Good fast breaks, and dodging producing most of the goals during the game, but some nice settled plays were also set up. An injury to Charlie cause everyone concern, however we kept our concentration and ended the first half 4-4. The opposition managed to get few quick goals in the second half but everyone composed themselves and stopped their goal scoring run, keeping them at bay doing some brilliant defence on the fan, and we were able to pull some back with great team work in the attack and midfield. There are some areas to work on in training, but an impressive game by all.
Goals scorers:Temi Ogunsany – 3
Emily McGrath – 1
Toks Ogunsany – 4
Teresa Manero – 1
Legends VS Clapham 25/9/11
By Lucy Wilby, Legends Captain
Great start to the season.
Final Score 13-3 to Blackheath!!!!!
A Great Team effort and some moments of beautiful Lacrosse. Izzy showed some great reactions and a new innovative goalkeeping dance! but had a strong game in goal.
The defence was strong in the midfield with some well timed doubles and great team defence, although a little bit disorganised on the second slide. The mid-field transitions improved through out the match as we learnt to trust each other with the support passes coming in from all players. The attack was swift and although at times a bit rushed was dynamic with most shots on target. 8 different goal scorers! when we settled the ball and played wide, the gaps showed and the goals came thick and fast.
Some clear points to work on in training but a fantastic base to build from and an incredible energy on the field!
Goal Scorers
Aggie 3
Verity P 2
Claudia 1
Jess M 1
Lizzie Brown 2
Shirls 1
Chantale 1
Bex Gannon 1
Charlie L 1
