England 0 Argentina 9 (Half-time 0-7)

England found very difficult to cope with the speed and ball control of the Argentinians which resulted with us conceding 6 goals in the first 10 minutes. Time out was called to address the positioning of our players on the rink especially in defence. The team absorbed the information very well and only conceded in the last 10 seconds of the first half the 7th goal from penalty spot.
At half time we re-enforced the need to defend the restricted area pushing the Argentinians to play from outside, we also asked the players to work for each other more off the ball and to ensure that we minimized goals scored from our area.
So, the second half England showed different attitude, more consistent defending with more second tackles and more ball possession creating good goal opportunities which unfortunately were not converted (including a penalty).
We have finished 3rd in our group which was expected however we did have a good showing of our potential in this competition.
Knock out stage will start on Thursday and we are looking forward to play USA at 11:30 hours and we are confident of a good result.

England 1 Switzerland 5 (Half-time 0-4)
England after a good win in the group stage versus Switzerland started this game with lack of concentration and showed a lot of tiredness which cost us the 4 goals in the first half. The team didn’t work for each other as well as they had done in the first game.
At half-time we tried to get them to re-focus which they took on board and this showed in 1-1 second half score.
Goal scorer:
Jack Tucker

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England 22 India 1 (Half-time 15-0)
We knew this would be an easy game after Argentina beat them by 27-0. So, we decided to rotate the team and asked the players to work for each other and as consequence of this the goals came naturally.
England pressured full rink in the first half and to the half way line in the second half and scored some lovely team goals.
Goal scorers:
Sam Norton – 5 goals
Liam Conroy – 4 goals
William Smith – 4 goals
Michael Carter – 3 goals
Josh Taylor – 3 goals
Nick Flint – 1 goal
Han Wei Lim – 1 goal
Sam Norris – 1 goal

England 1 Chile 3 (Half-time 1-0)
England Under 20 team is the youngest team in this World Championship with 7 players first year in this category and they rose to the occasion.
England started this game very confident in restricted man to man defence, pressuring the man with the ball against one the best teams of this competition (4th last worlds). As result many attack moves were foiled and we managed to score a great top corner flick to go 1-0 up until half-time.
The second half our team still were very focused, however the experienced Chile team (players 1 and 2 years older) managed to break through with their increased pressure resulting in 3 goals conceded.
This was an extremely exciting game to watch and a great opportunity for England to beat a quality team. Our objectives were not aided by the referees decisions which could resulted in 2 penalties for us when the score was 1-0 to us and then 2-1 to Chile which could have changed the course of the game.
Goal score: Liam Conroy

England 2 Andorra 4 (Half-time 0-2)
A bad performance in the first half against a well organize team with an outstanding player who scored all their goals which cost us the game.
We knew that playing Andorra would not be an easy game as they are a club participating in Cataluña league as well as most of the players played in last year’s Europeans in Northampton.
At half-time we spoke to the players to re-enforce the instructions given in the tactical meeting earlier as in the first half the players were panic too much and never got settled into the game.
We started second half with different attitude players look to work more for each other in carousel attack but unfortunately the Andorra captain managed to break through and score a great individual goal. As we about carry out substitutions to make a more aggressive attack the team on the rink reacted well scoring 2 goals, one from a brilliant counter attack and one from a long shot. At 3-2 we called time out and we have made a decision to full pressure Andorra this result in 3 clear opportunities which unfortunately we missed and with increased space they managed to score one more goal with 1 minute to go.
Although we are in here with full team of debutants we need to learn how to stop individuals to make sure we can win more games as we are more than capable. Also we nee to work for the future even more on reaction capacity, hard and faster passing as well as the power in our shots.
Goals score:
Max Dunand – 2 goals

England 2 Italy 7 (Half-Time 0-3)

England started the game as usual, defending with restricted man to man and pressure on man with the ball, in order to explore the counter attack. We created a couple of good goal opportunities, however as Italy couldn’t get through they resorted to using long shots which unfortunately gave them the first 2 goals which were deflected on way to the goal. At 2-0 down our objectives for this game had changed and the team had to take more risks to win the ball that resulted in more ball possession for us, on other hand we gave them more space which with their individual skills they managed to pull away from us.
The good point was that with our increased ball possession we forced Italy to make 10 team faults and we managed to score from the direct free hit and also from a good attack move.
Goal scorers:
Scott Neville & Jack Tucker

ENGLAND 4 SWITZERLAND 0 (Half-time 4-0)
England started the game showing lots of confidence, our restricted man to man pressuring the man with ball was perfect in the first half allowing us to create fantastic counter attacks which resulting in the first 2 goals.
In the second half the team was brave always a player between the ball and the goal and working for each other at all times.
As we expected the team is improving game by game which reflects our consistent game in defence and attack.
Goal scorers:
Scott Neville – 2 goals
Jack Tucker – 1 goal
Ashley Barton – 1 goal

ENGLAND 0 PORTUGAL 10 (Half-time 0-5)
As expected our team improved from the first game, with the nerves gone and we were more consistent in defence, two fine goalkeeping performances, more ball possession and good attack moves creating great goal opportunities.
Portugal probably one the best 2 teams in this competition pressed us full rink all game, despite their constant pressure we still managed to break away for long periods of the game due to our players moving well off the ball using the set up moves from our intensive training.
Although the result looks heavy on paper this is not a true reflection of how the game was played.
In the first half we conceded an early goal but the players reacted well with good restricted defending, which allowed us to create counter attacks with good goal opportunities. When we failed to take these opportunities, Portugal could use their speed to break in counter attacks against us which resulted in further 4 more goals.
At half-time we calmed down the players and adjusted our positions on the rink when defending and attacking. As a result of this we held Portugal for 9 minutes without conceding and created clear goal scoring opportunities. In the final 6 minutes we conceded a further 5 goals due to the tiredness of our team.
I am pleased with the improvement from the first game and I have to say that we probably have created more goal opportunities in this game than in any previous years.
I am a bit disappointed with the refereeing as we should have had 2 penalties and direct free hit, I believe referees with less experience find hard to make penalise the top teams.

ENGLAND 0 FRANCE 6 (0-3 half time)
With all the hard work, training and trips abroad nothing can prepare you for the reality of the competition.
We present in this competition a complete new team with no experience at this level which includes 5 players which still are eligible for next year’s Under 17 Championship.
We started the game very nervous took us 25 minutes of the game to be confident enough to retain the ball and develop opportunities against an extreme robust French team with 4 players from last year in Northampton (the game last year versus Project 2010 finished 2-2).
In the first half we struggled to retain the ball which added to our defensive pressure as result of this France scored 2 goals inside the area in the first 5 minutes, time out was called straight way to calm down the players and re-organise and re-assure the team.
In the second half the team started as first half and conceded 2 more goals in the first 5 minutes only then we start play more consistent and the last 5 minutes of the game we had lot of ball possession and more goal opportunities.
The main thing is that we know that we can do better, we will play Portugal tomorrow which will be a very hard game. The objective of this game is to improve the players confidence and team play.

Here are the player groups and group timetable for September National Training. As previously emailed September NTW takes place earlier in the month on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th, due to me being away in competitions. For further information on the England Roller Hockey competitions please go to my website at www.jcasports.co.uk

Under 17 Open Sessions (Project 2012)
This month we start the open session for the assessment of players as part of the preparations for the U17 European Championships 2012. Any player who currently attends level 4 or level 5 on Saturday, and born in 1996 and 1997 are eligible to attend this open session. As we did for for the preparation for 2011, players MUST still attend the Saturday session, as well as the Sunday open session. Players who have not previously attended National Training and would like to be a part of the open session, must contact me prior to attending, as they will be required to attend Saturday as well as Sunday.

PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR THIS MONTH ONLY THE U17 OPEN SESSION WILL BE 3PM TO 6PM AS PER TIME TABLE ABOVE. NEXT MONTH WE WILL BE BACK TO NORMAL TIMES

Under 20 Open Session (2012)
Players born in 1993, 1994 and 1995 are eligible to attend the U20’s open session as part of the preparation for U20 European Championships in 2012. These sessions will start in October.

FOR THIS MONTH ONLY ANY PLAYER BORN IN THESE YEARS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME TO ATTEND LEVEL 5 ON SATURDAY BETWEEN 5PM TO 8PM AND/OR U17 OPEN SESSION ON SUNDAY BETWEEN 3PM AND 6PM

Please can you let me know if you are attending NTW in Sepember or not as soon as possible.