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The draw for this years competition at Swansea on Sunday 2nd February 2014 placed last years finalist, Whitchurch Saints and Gwent Hockey in the same pool along with Abergavenny, Brecon and our own Whitchurch Saints ‘B’ Team. The other pool comprised of Swansea, Penarth, Camarthen, Llanelli (with only 9 players) and Gwent ‘B’ team, who were late replacements for Fishguard and Goodwich who withdrew. Abergavenny were originally in group B but were moved over to group A to replace F & G.
With only 25 (one late withdrawal due to illness) players available to coach Rebecca Daniels from a squad of 57, was a disappointment and very challenging for the coach. Clearly Whitchurch were not able to name the required 16 players for either the ‘A’ or ‘B’ Teams. The previous weeks form and results against Gwent ‘A’ & ‘B’ at Malpas where Whitchurch won both games comfortably with more players available, was therefore of no consequence for the Cup Competition.
The first game in Pool A at 10:00 hrs was between Whitchurch Saints ‘A’ and Whitchurch Saints ‘B’. With Rebecca taking a neutral role, Tyrone Moore stepped into the breach and marshalled both teams. The cobwebs being blown away; the ‘A’ team got off the mark with a 6-0 win against a very young ‘B’ team who made their more senior squad members work hard for their victory.
Menna Davies, Morgann Williams and Cath Fleck were officiating as umpires in the Pool B games which gave Whitchurch a very good representation at the tournament and these young members should be complimented for the giving of their time to assist with the smooth running of the competition. Comments were in fact made of all three for their fairness and knowledge, by the organisers and the teams whose games they took control of.
In the meantime the Saints ‘A’ played Abergavenny and appeared to be coasting to a 4-0 win but a lapse in concentration in the Saints defence allowed Abergavenny to pull two goals back. Tiredness may have been a cause for this lapse due to the lack of players to rotate. Coach Rebecca was quick to react and reorganised her team and her tactics sent them back on the offensive and they managed another score, although this has been contested. The result mattered, the Saints won.
Next up was Rebecca’s young guns in the ‘B’ team who were to play Brecon who are always competitive and strong opposition. The young Saints showed their opponents little respect and challenged every ball and what they may have lacked in experience and skills was made up with sheer endeavour. It was no shock when the ‘B’s after skilfully defending their goal broke clear and with some fine inter-passing attacked the Brecon ‘D’ which resulted in a fine goal. The final score 1-0 to the Saints ‘B’ giving everyone a huge boost with Rebecca doing cartwheels all around Swansea Bay.
Gwent with a bolstered squad were easing through their games, whilst Swansea were untroubled in their group. After a break for the Gwent derby, Brecon were next up for the Saints ‘A’ Team. Losing to the Saints ‘B’ seemed to spur Brecon on and they came out firing with all barrells against the Saint ‘A’s who appeared nervous and took a while to settle into their game. Brecon took the lead with a contested goal, nevertheless 1-0 to Brecon. After long periods in the Saints half of the field, the Saints players began to find their confidence and took the game back to Brecon. Two quick goals put the Saints on top and a further two goals gave the Saints ‘A’ a comfortable 4-1 win. The ‘B’ Team followed this game with their tie against the might of a Gwent ‘A’ team bristling with international standard players. This was a tall order for the young team who for the early part of the game matched their more senior counterparts. The experience and the strength of the Gwent team began to take over and they soon scored a couple of goals in quick succession. The Saints youngsters, encouraged by Rebecca and Tyrone, kept contesting the game and made the Gwent players use all their skills and experience in order to win the game. Final score 7-0 to Gwent and apart from a short period either side of half-time the Saints players equipped themselves well and competed with Gwent for periods in the game.
At 16:00 hrs the ‘Match of the Day’ was scheduled, a re-run of last years final, Gwent –v- Whitchurch Saints ‘A’ arguably the best two teams in the competition. Already with a depleted squad and now one player at hospital with a finger injury and another ‘Sick’, Rebecca’s options were diminishing. However, the Saints took the field anticipating that a win against their old rivals was what was required. Gwent started off by attacking the Saints defence with vigour and each time they surged into the Saints ‘D’ the ball was cleared. An isolated attack brought a cheer and a goal for the Saints to make it 1-0. This gave them confidence and the Saints began to counter the Gwent attacks and put their defence under pressure, unfortunately the second goal did not materialise. The second half began with the Saints wondering if a one goal advantage would be enough to see them through to the Semi-finals. Gwent were able to send out fresh legs which helped to put pressure on the Saints. Both sides forced series of short corners at either end of the pitch, all of which were cleared successfully. With the minutes ticking away, Gwent again forced another series of short corners and on the forth corner Gwent drilled the ball towards the Saints Goal which took an agonising deflection and unfortunately for the Saints into the back of their net, score 1-1. The Saints attempted to regain the lead, but it was not to be and when the final whistle was blown both teams were exhausted and the Saints even more disappointed when it was announced that Gwent would win the group by scoring the most goals throughout the tournament.
At 16:45 hrs with the light fading the Saints ‘B’ were to play their final game which was the last game of the day. Having played in the very first game of the day and having watched the disappointment of the ‘A’ teams result in the previous tie, a patched up ‘B’ team took to the field against Abergavenny. As with all their previous games the ‘B’s were playing against stronger opposition but again this did not deter them from giving their all. They fought very hard and chased every ball and put pressure upon Abergavenny. In the end the strength in depth of the opposition told and although the legs of the young Saints players tired, their enthusiasm did not. Although losing by 2-0 they were not overawed by Abergavenny or indeed by any of their other opponents. A disappointing day as far as results were concerned, but for the twenty five players, the Head Coach, Rebecca Daniels and assistant Tyrone Moore, together with the umpires Menna, Morgann & Cath Whitchurch Saints Hockey should feel very proud of what they all achieved, even though we have lost the cup without losing a game. In fact the senior under 15 year girls have won the Welsh Cups at under 13 yrs and under 15 yrs in consecutive seasons.
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