U-16 FOUR NATIONS
Largs (SCO), 22nd-24th July 2009
DAY 1: Wednesday 22nd July
On the opening boys match of the 2009 4 Nations it was to be a Wales against England showdown. The boys took great inspiration from the girls match but sadly the scoreline was not to me as close.
Wales contained England well in the first 15 minutes and stirred the welsh crowd with a few bursts into the D.
But then the stalemate was broken and the goals rained in from England leaving the score 4 nil at half time.
The second half started very well and again Wales limited England to just 1 penalty corner which Chris Howells saved superbly down to his right. Rhys Davies had a chance to pull one back for Wales with his trademark drag flick when awarded a penalty corner but a tremendous diving save by the keeper denied him.
England converted a penalty corner and added an open play goal to there tally before ending the game 6 nil. All credit to England, they took their chances and deserved to win. Lots of positives to come from the game for Wales though and a good platform to build on for when we play the Scots.
Wales Girls began their campaign with a traditionally difficult match against England who are always strong opponents. England scored the first goal after 15' but Wales fought back with a strong run from midfield by Phoebe Richards who finished the move with a shot on goal to equalise after 27'. The score remained 1-1 at half time. England stepped up the pace after the break and after just ten minutes of the second half had scored a further three goals to go 4-1 up. Wales continued to battle on and were not daunted by the score. Sustained pressure from Wales led to several penalty corners. After 54' Wales captain, Wiz Mumby, struck the ball into the bottom corner from a well worked penalty corner move to make it 4-2. Another ten minutes later Hannah Lewis finished off another penalty corner move with a sharp tap in to make the score 4-3. Wales continued to press but England kept them out and scored a fifth goal from a penalty corner awarded right on full time.
| 13.00 | (girls) | England | 5 | Wales | 3 |
| 15.00 | (boys) | England | 6 | Wales | 0 |
| 17.00 | (girls) | Scotland | 2 | Ireland | 2 |
| 19.00 | (boys) | Scotland | 0 | Ireland | 3 |
DAY 2: Thursday 23rd July
What a game, breathtaking from start to finish. Everyone was on the edge of their seats from the off. Wales saw glimmers of a repeat of the England game early on when in the first 5' a Scottish forward got his stick on the end of a fast delivered ball that ended up in the back of the net, much to the surprise of the forward.
Not long after and Scotland capitalised on a miss hit from the welsh full back and converted a 2 on 1 opportunity. Wales then stepped up to the plate and put their bad spell behind them and played some great hockey.
Great 1 on 1 elimination skills from Sam Forman and a foul by the keeper meant Ashley Lewis converted the flick for Wales to pull a goal back.
Wales started the second half with fire in their bellies and had most of the posession. 2 yellow cards saw the Scottish limited to 10 men on 2 occassions and with 5' to go Alex Grafton went rampaging up the field from half back to deliver a rocket ball across the face of goal. A delicate touch by Matt pacey saw the ball safety into the back of the net and the bench erupted.
The last 5 minutes were high intensity hockey, and a welsh win was almost sealed when Rhys Davies wound up for a reverse shot, an unlucky slip stopped him from connecting with the ball so it was not to be.
A great game to watch and a positive draw for wales - the standing ovation from the English and Irish wasn't bad either.
After the strong performance from Wales the previous day the Girls were looking forward to achieving a positive result in the match against the Scots. Wales set their stall out and made their attacking intentions clear right from the off, spending most of the first ten minutes in the Scots 23 metre area. Despite continued pressure and much of the possession it took Wales until the 29' to take the lead with another deadly strike from midfielder Phoebe Richards.
Scotland came right back at Wales and were able to equalise within a couple of minutes to make the score 1-1 at the half time break. Wales defence had begun to display confidence and control transferring the ball around the back smoothly but despite this Scotland managed to score early in the second half. In many ways Wales were still the stronger side but could not make that advantage pay in the form of goals. The final score was 3-1 to Scotland after they were awarded and converted a penalty flick after 64'.
| 13.00 | (girls) | England | 3 | Ireland | 1 |
| 15.00 | (boys) | England | 1 | Ireland | 0 |
| 17.00 | (girls) | Scotland | 3 | Wales | 1 |
| 19.00 | (boys) | Scotland | 2 | Wales | 2 |
DAY 3: Friday 24th July
The Welsh U16 boys faced a mountain to climb in the last day of the U16 4 Nations Tournament. With a 3 nil win over Scotland and a close 1-0 to the English already under their belts they were certainly shaping up to be a force to be reckoned with.
Still soaring from their performance that resulted in a draw with Scotland the day before the Welsh lads were led out with their Captain Ollie Davies belting out the Welsh national Anthem before getting down to business.
The Irish blasted 2 goals in early on and were looking strong however just before half time a penalty corner routine for Wales created a scoring opportunity for Matt Phillips who half volleyed a dropping ball into the back of the net for Wales making the score at half time 2-1 to Ireland.
The Welsh dressing room was buzzing at half time with confidence and belief and after a rousing team talk from Head Coach Gareth Tyler who encouraged the lads to make the most of their last 35 mins of international hockey this season the team headed back out to the field.
Wales started the second half brightly and an excellent wing press from the forwards meant that Dan Lewis- Williams was able to steal the ball from the Irish full backs and create a 1 on 1 with the keeper. Dan pulled the ball across to his reverse stick and unleashed a scorcher which was helped into the back of the net by Jack Carr to equalise.
This was answered shortly by Ireland with a field goal by Josh Moffett, doubling his goal tally for the game.
In the 44' Sam Forman was awarded a flick for a foul by the keeper and Ashley Lewis calmly slotted home his second penalty flick in as many days to make it 3-3.
In the last 20 minutes the welsh boys really turned up the pressure and managed to piece together everything that we have been working so hard at all year. Some more sensible pressing and Wales created a 2 on 1 in which forwards Sam Forman and Dan Lewis-Williams collaborated to slot a 4th home for Wales. With the end clearly in sight and a tiring Irish side Jack Carr fired a shot at goal from top D and Matthew Pacey was on hand to deflect it past the keeper. The game ended with a Welsh 5-3 victory, a great way to top off the coaching and management teams 2 year cycle and a very apt reward for all the players who have worked extremely hard on and off the pitch all year. Congratulations to all.
Ireland Girls were in confident mood after having won against Scotland and only narrowly lost to England 1-0 the previous day. Ireland had the best of a fairly even half and were ahead 2-0 at half time. Wales took the field for the second half more determined than ever to get back into the match. All the Wales players gave absolutely everything they had but the Irish defence held strong and the score remained at 2-0 at full time.
| 10.00 | (girls) | Wales | 0 | Ireland | 2 |
| 12.00 | (boys) | Wales | 5 | Ireland | 3 |
| 14.00 | (girls) | Scotland | 0 | England | 4 |
| 16.00 | (boys) | Scotland | 1 | England | 3 |
* please note the rest period between Thursday and Friday Schedules.
Final Positions
Boys: 1st England, 2nd Wales, 3rd Ireland, 4th Scotland
Girls: 1st England, 2nd Ireland, 3rd Scotland, 4th Wales
