It was cold but most importantly it was dry at Fettes, which was welcome relief given the horrendous conditions we endured on the same pitch last week. We played 5 games of hockey against Sedbergh, Craigclowan, Belhaven, Fettes and Ardvreck, scoring29 goals and conceding just 1 – a feat that is truly remarkable and testament to the excellent hockey that we played at times.
Cody was instrumental in midfield and attack, scoring many of the goals – not just individual ones but ones which were great team efforts. As captain, he led his team by example and kept his team going throughout the afternoon. Xander, who played in just behind Cody for most of the day was excellent as that central defensive midfielder sitting in front of the back two defenders. He was terrific at cutting out the long balls down the centre and set up some of the goals with great passes. His effort on the field was outstanding today.
Harry has worked incredibly hard all season and in the Autumn term. His confidence on the ball grew as the day went on and he was terrific at cutting out any passes, reading the game intelligently and getting that ball away from danger. It was down to him mostly that Thomas in goal, did not have a lot to do. However, our keeper did well when called upon and made some great blocks when he slid out on a one on one situation. Charlie was Harry’s partner at the back for much of the game time until he got the chance to play up front against Ardvreck in the final match and scoring a nice goal. His defensive play in getting the ball away from danger improved after getting lucky in our opening match against Sedbergh when he tried to be a little too clever in front of his own goal. Following that, he barely put a foot wrong all afternoon and was incredibly reliable.
Maximilian played on the left for most of the afternoon and always seems to find himself in the right place at the right time. He played some passes with his head down and we are going to work on getting that head up to spot the runner but, his effort in tracking back and marking was superb and for that alone he deserves a huge pat on the back. James has been playing in this team for two years now and his pace on the right flank is a great weapon to have. What was pleasing about him today was his variation of passing from early balls as we broke into the final third to set up Charles, to his running to the baseline and cutting it back. He scored a few crackers today from his fierce shots and with more practice, I expect to see those penalty corner shots becoming more consistent.
Charles was back to his own self up front and as well as scoring a terrific reverse shot in the top corner against a strong Fettes side, he scored what was my vote for our team’s goal of the tournament against Craigclowan. We built it up down the left from our own 16 where Maximilian found Charles who laid it off to Cody who returned the pass back to Charles who made a forward run and then reverse hit it low and past the keeper. Tom, our only Form 5 in the squad, has the ability to turn defense into attack very quickly with his energy and pace which allows him to skip past defenders. He is working on his passing to make sure it is a bit stronger but his movement off the ball to take up positions in space was brilliant today.
Overall, we passed the ball very well as a team and were very clinical in front of goal. At times we might have been a little over-confident and that cost us the chance to score more goals. We are all aware that there will be things to work on ahead of the IAPS Finals on the 18th March down at Rugby but the boys represented their school terrifically today. Very well done, boys.
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Welcome to Cargilfield! We hope this short film gives you a glimpse of what life is like for the girls and boys at our school. We would love to welcome you in person to tour Cargilfield and explain more fully exactly what makes a Cargilfield education so special and so different. Please get in touch with Fiona Craig, our Registrar if you would like to find out more; her email address is [email protected] or you can telephone her on 0131 336 2207.