U11’s finish as runners up in International tournament in France.
St Omer 7/8 April 2012 Under 11
Tournament Report
This is the annual International “Jocelyn Savreux” tournament organised by Le SCRA (Skating Club Region Audomarois) based in the town of St Omer in France.
Final Placings:
1st SCRA “A” 5th Lyon
2nd HBU 6th SCRA ‘B’
3rd Valkenswaard 7th Cronenberg
4th Chemnitz 8th SCRA ‘C’
Teams came from France (SCRA and RHC Lyon), Germany (RSC Cronenberg and ERC Chemnitz) and Holland (Valkenswaard).
The HBU team was the normal U11 squad:
2 HUCKSTEPP Luke
4 ISAACS Archie
6 BASSOM Max
7 EMSLIE Sian
8 DALY George (Captain)
9 LATHAM Noah
10 LEONARD Jamie (GK)
St Omer is just 25 miles from Calais and the players and their parents travelled to France in groups by the Tunnel or on the ferry and stayed overnight in the centre of St Omer.
On Saturday, the HBU matches (and results, scorers) were:
14:45 HBU v Valkenswaard 4 – 3 (half time 3 – 1), Emslie 3, Daly
17:05 HBU v SCRA B 3 – 3 (half time 3 – 1), Latham, Huckstepp, Daly
19:25 HBU v Chemitz 0 – 2 (half time 0-1)
Sunday:
Quarter Final – HBU v Lyon 6 – 3 (half time 3 – 3), Emslie 3, Daly 2, Latham
Semi-Final – HBU v Chemnitz 3 – 2 (half time 2 – 0), Huckstepp, Emslie, Daly
Final – HBU v SCRA A (2 – 6), Emslie 2
Matches
Day 1
HBU v Valkenswaard
HBU came out of the blocks strongly with Emslie scoring twice in the opening 4 minutes. Valkenswaard responded with a goal in the closing minute of the first half but Daly immediately restored HBU’s lead. Emslie made it 4 for HBU just after the restart and this lead proved crucial as Valkenswaard found their composure to block out HBU’s attack and score 2 for themselves. A good start for HBU against a team who proved to be one of the strongest in the tournament.
HBU v SCRA B
While “B” sounds a lesser team than “A”, SCRA “B” contained some slightly older players to make up the squad. Even so, HBU had control of the match in the first half but the half-time break went on for 15 minutes or more while SCRA called a photo-session which had been scheduled for before the match started. This completely disrupted HBU for the second half which allowed SCRA B back into the match for a draw.
HBU v Chemnitz
Chemnitz were a well-organised team and HBU needed its best teamwork if they were to take the match. It was pretty even in the first half but Chemnitz got a direct free-hit which they scored. HBU had to play themselves back into the match but found it hard to make it through the Chemnitz defence. This resulted in over-commitment that left an opening for Chemnitz to break through and score their second.
A win, a draw and a loss put HBU 3rd in their group and facing the second in the other group for a tough first match on Sunday (but the latest start so a good night’s rest).
Day 2
HBU v Lyon
RHC Lyon were a well organised, strong team with an outstanding player. HBU’s tactic had to be to make sure this player did not get many opportunities. Even so Lyon went 2 – 0 up before Emslie scored twice to level the score. Lyon scored again but this time Daly restored the balance. Expecting a clear win, Lyon went into half-time clearly rattled. They came out after the break and went at HBU with everything they had but the HBU defence and Leonard in goal were up to it. As the second half came to a close Lyon’s commitment to attack gave HBU their chance and 3 goals were scored to give a decisive closing score line. HBU looked like a different team to the one that had played on Saturday and the other teams now saw HBU as a serious contender.
HBU v Chemnitz
Having beaten HBU on Saturday, Chemnitz had also seen HBU beat Lyon who were second in the other group. HBU’s Huckstepp popped one into their net after 2 minutes. Chemnitz kept to their team game but Emslie struck to make it 2 – 0 at the interval. The match carried on as team play versus team play and HBU took their lead to 3 – 0. The Chemnitz manager called a time-out with 3 minutes on the clock. This disrupted HBU’s control of the match and whatever was said led to Chemnitz coming back with 2 quick goals but there was not enough time for them to level the match.
HBU v SCRA “A”
No team, including any HBU team has ever beaten the SCRA “A” team in a final of their home tournaments so this match was a daunting prospect. It would take team work and HBU started strongly with 4 good chances on the SCRA goal all kept out by the SCRA keeper. SCRA then scored a freak goal from a shot that was going well wide of the HBU net but hit an HBU boot and deflected in. This unsettled HBU badly and allowed SCRA to dominate the first half and score 3 more. The second half started where the first half left off and SCRA took their lead to 5. In the scoring of this goal HBU keeper Leonard was injured. HBU started to come back into the match but it is was clear that Leonard had to come off. With no reserve keeper, HBU took advantage of the new rules and substituted their keeper with a 5th out-player. This perplexed everyone and made for an exciting close. SCRA scrambled a 6th goal but were clearly unused to dealing with 5 out-players and HBU came back with 2 goals of their own.
A notable and gallant 2nd place with Leonard hobbling out with his team to collect his silver medal.
This is the highest position ever achieved by HBU in a SCRA tournament and earned compliments from all the clubs. Last season in this event our U/11 team finished in 7th place and the huge improvement shown with this result is very satisfying
Ron Barker Team Manager said: “After our first day’s results we were faced with playing Lyon, the favourites to win the event, in our quarter final. I know we have good players and a good night’s rest made all the difference. A composed performance against Lyon shocked all the other clubs there. The warning was picked up by Chemnitz to no avail but we were out of steam by the final and we were faced with the home team SCRA who had had the easier ride through. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed teams all came from our group.”