ARMY MASTERSSEASON REPORT 15/16
1.Firstly I’d like to thank Paul Symns for his efforts over his tenure as Master Manager and wish him all the very best in his resettlement
2.Secondly the retirement from playing of Andy Lowe at Army Masters was a great loss and again I’d like to thank him for all his efforts, time and services he’s put into Army hockey as a whole.
3. The season started reasonably well picking up mixed results against Fleet & Aldershot, Guilford and Haslemere and saw the introduction of some old and new (old) faces. The return of WO2’s Joe Ruggiero and Mark Ison added strength up front. WO1 Bazz Marshall came into the Masters after last playing Army Hockey at U23’s and new-comers Lt Col Simon Mason and SSgt Stew Riddle bolstered a busy midfield.
4.The Masters had an away day adventure at Bath Buccs, which may a proved a bit too far for some, having to utilise a few Army Senior players to ensure 11 players. The Masters ran out 10-1 winners against a bit of a disgruntled Buccs side.
5.2016 saw the side start to gear a little towards the Inter Services but January seems to be a bit of a nemesis for the Masters v Salisbury fixture as a frozen pitch claimed the victory in cancelling this fixture for the second year running.
6.The remaining Thursday fixture were the building blocks to the IS’s, with a Sunday fixture against Warlocks thrown in too. These latter games saw the side build well and start to play some excellent flowing hockey and we headed to the IS’s with great expectation.
7.Unfortunately this excellent preparation was undone with several players becoming unavailable through injury, Terry Polllard and James Relph and last minute deployments – Maj Jonty Moore, all 3 of these key in our midfield.
8.Match 1 against the Navy saw a nervy and tight game with both sides failing to convert any of the slim chances created. The Navy ran out the winners 1-0 with a scrappy goal mid-way through the second half.
9.Match 2 against the RAF was played very much like our last few friendlies, fast flowing passes and excellent finishing, leading 3-1 at half time, albeit going down to 10 men just before the break. In the second half the RAF took this advantage and very quickly put us on the back foot. We defended badly from the start whilst still at 10 men and the struck with 2 very quick goals. They scored their 4th goal with over 10 mins to go but we failed to convert any chances we had and eventually lost out 4-3. A very disappointing result given the way we played in the first half.
Congratulations.
10.Despite some poor results there has been some good news from the IS’s, the following players have been selected to represent UKAF at the O40 Regionals, Brig Alex Taylor, WO1 Bazz Marshall, WO2 Mark Ison, WO2 Stu Paterson, WO2 Joe Ruggiero, Al Chick, Terry Pollard. There are also other Regional call ups at O40 and O45’s
11.There was also a call up into the England Masters O45’s for Brig Alex Taylor who travelled to Australia for the Masters World Cup finishing second to Australia after losing the final 3-1
Thank You’s
12.Firstly I’d like to thank all the players that have represented the Masters this year. Especially those that travelled great distances to get to the games on a Thursday evening.
13.Secondly SSgt Carl Jessup who has assisted in running the side with me this year. Carl has done an excellent job stepping in when I’ve been unavailable and helping with the post-match responsibilities.
13.Lastly I’d like to thank Lt Col Tim Wood and Al Chick in assisting in squad selections, Maj Chris Lane for captaining the side during the games and Charlotte for her help throughout the season.