Girls Development Diary - Easter HOD Tournament
April 08, 2015
The Leinster Girls Development Squad took part in the 26th HOD International Tournament in Holland over the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend. Here is a summary from the diary on how the weekend went.Tournament included
The top two Dutch regional teams (South Holland and North Holland), The Belgium National squad – split into two teams), Club teams from Holland (Den Bosch & our hosts, HOD), England (Wycombe – 3rd highest ranked in England), Germany (2 teams), Russia and Ireland (Leinster Development & Monkstown)
DAY 1: Saturday: Round Robin matches vs 4 teams.
Match 1 vs Belgium (Cubs): 1-3
Leinster went ahead by 1 goal in first 10 mins with some great passing moves and between Jess McGrane, Claudia Cotter and a final tap in by Katie Ronan. For the next 10 minutes Leinster appeared to be well in control before they conceded a deflection goal against the run of play. At 1-1 Leinster still looked to be the stronger team before they conceded a soft goal in defence - heads dropped and they went down 4-1 in the end. It was disappointing...but a lack of experience at the back showed.
Following the game the girls went into round 1 of the penalty shoot-out competition with Belgium and were delighted to knock out the Belgium Cubs. Leinster was very well represented by Lily Lloyd, Ellen O’Gorman and Katie Ronan as the penalty takers and Caroline Nugent as the GK.
Match 2 vs Holland South: 0-1
Leinster came out strong against the Dutch district team with some adjustments in positions. They competed well with great intensity – although under a lot pressure at times. Playing a half-court press allowed the Dutch to run at them – but the Leinster team grew in confidence as the game went on – and put the Dutch under pressure when they moved forward. Final score was a 1-0 loss – however heads were high and girls realised that they might have tied/won if they had brought the game to Holland.
Match 3 vs Den Bosh (Top girls team in Holland): 0-3
The Leinster girls were really fired up for the 3rd game - but nothing seemed to go their way and umpires were not entertaining any appeals re 50:50 balls or feet in the circle! While it was a fast paced game, they looked to be a little flat on the pitch, eventually losing 3-0.
This was the lowest point of the weekend for them – and it was time for a change in tactics ... as managers, team and spectators knew they really needed a win to keep in contention and avoid the bottom 4 play-off games.
Match 4 vs Tus Obermenzing, Germany: 3-0
First change was to their warm up routine ... So following a burst of the Hokey Pokey and Footloose (which den Bosch joined in for) they powered through the German club team to a 3-0 win with two great goals from Katie Hannon and a super strike from Katherine Egan at the top of the D.... Great to see girls finishing the day on a high like that.
That evening it was all about the Three S's - Stretch, Shower and Straighten (hair) ... Before they hit the party tent.... All were in bed by 11pm (we think)!
DAY 2: Easter Sunday: Final Round Robin match and Ranking games.
Match 5 vs Wycombe, England: 4-0
First game was against Wycombe hockey club who somehow fancied their chances having stolen a late equaliser in a practice match on Friday. However, the Leinster squad were having none of it and swept them off the park with 4 clean goals. First was a penalty stroke (Katie Ronan), then a PC tap in by Niamh Gowing, a top of the D strike from Katherine Egan and then a savage reverse strike by Lily Lloyd.
Next up was the penalty shoot-out semi-finals vs Den Bosch. Following three rounds it was down to Katie Ronan/Caroline Nugent combination to take on the best of Den Bosch for a place in the final - but alas Den Bosch won out again
Semi-Final for 5-8th place positions vs HOD, Valkenswaard: 1-0
After that it was a crossover game against hosts HOD who had come 3rd in section 1: The game was played at very high intensity and in good spirits - Leinster took the lead early on with a deflection by Jessica McGrane from Katherine Egan. After that Leinster controlled the play to finish up 1-0 and into 5th v 6th play-off with the Belgians again…
5th/6th Place decider vs Belgium: 0-1
The Belgians split their national squad in two for the tournament and the Leinster girls were keen to seek revenge after Saturday’s results. The Belgium team, were slow to take to the field and 5 minutes were wasted at the start … One short corner was the decider and a squandered chance in a 2 v 1 with the Belgian goalie saw Leinster finish 6th...
Summary
The tournament went very well for Leinster and the results were something to be proud of.
The girls impressed with their skills, speed and intensity of play throughout each game. The organisers and other coaches were quite taken aback that with only 4 girls from the U18 training panel and no Irish U16 players included in the selection, this was effectively a reserve team from Leinster.
· 4 of the teams from their section finished in the top 6 positions…
· They only lost 1-0 to the eventual winners, Holland South,
· They had credible performances against the Belgium national teams and one of the top teams in Holland - Den Bosch.
· They beat a highly ranked Dutch club team, the 3rd best team in England and a German club team...
· And …. They definitely won the warm-up/dance competition!
