Once more we participated in the Sesimbra International Tournament over Easter. This year they organised their 25th Tournament and it was an honour to be invited to present 2 teams, Under 15’s and Under 17’s.

We departed from Luton on Wednesday 31st March in the morning arriving at Lisbon around midday and returned to England on Sunday 4th April. During our stay we had 3 training sessions, 2 warm up games on the Wednesday evening, one for each team against Sesimbra, which gave us an opportunity to play all the players and try different tactics and team combination’s. The results were good as Intermediates drew 1-1 and the Schoolboys won 6-1.

The Management Team:

Head Coach: Carlos Amaral
Assistant Coach: Arthur Corr
Manager: Joe Wheatley
Assistant Manager: Mike Neville

The Intermediates Team:

Kasia Parfitt
Matt Constable (1st game) & Oliver Johnson (2nd game)
Oscar Smith (vice-captain)
Lewis Greenwood
Jack Tucker (captain)
Harry Parfitt
Ryan Barnes
Alex Jones
Scott Neville
Matt Stearn

Due to problems in getting Intermediates goalkeepers we took Kasia and Matt with us, who had been given permission to play by the organisation. Matt Stearn’s participation allowed us to progress the development of all 3 goalkeepers for Project 2010.

Schoolboys Team:

Peter Hunt
Oliver Johnson
William Smith (vice-captain)
Sam Norris
James Neville
Sam Norton
Liam Conroy (captain)
Matt Constable
Josh Taylor
Reuben Alam

The tournament started on Thursday 1st April and the Schoolboys played Sesimbra.The final result was 5-2 to Sesimbra (half-time 1-1) with the game finishing near 1am on Friday morning.

The team started in control of the game with our defence system working very well, man to man restricted with pressure on the man with the ball as well as the players helping each other for the 2nd tackle. This way we created good counter attack moves and it was no surprise that England were 2-1 up with fantastic counter attack one touch moves. Unfortunately because of the late time of the game the players showed a lot tiredness and the Sesimbra players took advantage of this as they usually play games late at night. The first half was a very competitive 1-1 with England always closer to scoring the second goal. We started the second half the same way and our second goal (2-1) was deserved. Then the game changed, our players lost their consistency in defence and attack which allowed Sesimbra to score 3 goals in counter attacks.

On Friday the Intermediates team had their first game against Sesimbra, the final result was 3-1 to Sesimbra (3-0 half-time). In this tournament we presented a very young team with 3 minors players and a Ladies goalkeeper. The team started the game a bit nervous and the result at half-time was no surprise, although 2 of the goals could have been avoided. Our second half was brilliant, as planned we changed the goalkeepers with Kasia replacing Matt for the second half along with fielding the younger minor players. The team response could not have been better with the scond half sore 1-0 in our favour. What impressed me in the second half was the team attitude never gave up and when we played the youngest players Alex, Lewis and Harry the team still dominated the game both in defence and attack.

On Saturday, the final day of the tournament, we played both games for 3rd & 4th places with a large crowd.

England Intermediates played an exciting game against the Setubal Regional Select with a final result 2-2 (half-time 2-0 to Setubal). We lost out in the penalty shootout 2-1 which meant that we finished 4th. Again the team showed their nerves due to the level of the competition that they are not used to and in the first half, this caused us to be inconsistent in our man to man restricted and lack of concentration in defence. As in the first game of the tournament the team never gave up and we come back in to the game to push the other team into the penalty shootout. As planned we had changed goalkeepers at half-time this time Matt replacing Kasia and we also played the youngest players and they were involved in the turn around of the game.

England Schoolboys played Hoquei Santiago for 3rd place with the final result 6-2 in our favour, (half-time 2-1 to England). A very consistent performance in defence and attack, our restricted man to man was very good creating a lot of counter attacks. Our concentration in the first half was very important to keep a very competitive team (most the players born 1993) away from our goal and the result reflected the work done by both teams. In the second half the England Schoolboys had one the best performances I have seen with their third goal coming from a set move when England started the second half with the ball. This goal then motivated the team for the rest of the game against a very strong competitive team.

In the closing ceremony the Intermediates were presented with the “Fair

Play” and 4th Place Cups and Schoolboys were presented with “Best Defence System of the Tournament” and 3rd Place Cups.

A lot of comments were made on the final day of the tournament by coaches, managers, referees, players and supporters regarding how much English Roller Hockey has grown.

One of the comments was made by Mr. Carpelho, International referee: “I am very impressed with the development of English Roller Hockey in the last 3 years and today I could watch one very competitive Intermediates game and referee a fantastic England Schoolboys performance against one of the strongest teams of Lisbon region. Well done to Carlos Amaral for developing English Roller Hockey tactics and game play in a way that ensures they can play competitively against international teams, which I have seen in the last year’s International Competitions as well as this year Sesimbra Tournament.”

Finally I would like to emphasise that both teams played the same system in defence and attack as well as set moves shown during the games which is where I want the development of English Roller Hockey to be heading. This system is taught to the youngest player to the oldest player in the development projects for consistency in the present/future which is reflected in the National Teams.