Saturday 12 Feb 2011 – KCA Dynamos vs HT Troopers, Venue: Hervines Lane, Amersham.

Mark Smith reports:

The Troopers went down 8-2 to KCA Dynamos.  That score line looks bad but in reality, these heavy losses are starting to look like they flatter our opponents!

The pitch was horrendous with the mud “patches” we were warned about resembling Peruvian sink holes – so it’s a wonder we still had a full squad left by the end of the match! Obviously, the pitch was the same for both teams but KCA seemed to make the most of it, starting brightly and catching the Troopers’ defence half-asleep several times. 

By the last 10 minutes of the first half though, there was very little to choose between the sides and the Troopers kept KCA pinned back in their own half.  The second half started much the same as the first half, with the Trooper’s defensive frailties exposed several times, resulting in more goals – not helped by the failure of several midfielders to get back behind the ball once KCA had possession.

However, there were many positives to be had from this match.  The Troopers got the upper hand mid-way through the second half and again showed superior fitness (is that the Monday night effect?) over the last 20 minutes, stringing some really good passes together and, most importantly, keeping the ball for long periods and creating several chances, missing a couple of “sitters”, and eventually scoring two goals.

Without the four soft goals we gave away, including another own goal, and if the Troopers had managed to put another couple of great chances away, the score could quite easily have been 4-4 – so some good results are just around the corner I’m sure!

There were some notable performances – Tino was again singled out by the opposing coach as a player with some real talent, proving a real handful for the KCA defence.  Darius showed good maturity; using his power and strength to hold off KCA players and scoring both Troopers’ goals – making him our top scorer so far this season on 5 goals.  Sam Cloke showed some nifty footwork and made some great passes.  James Smith fought hard in midfield and later at centre back and created chances with his free-kicks and corners.  Matt Sewell also fought well in midfield and was involved in several good massing moves.  Sam Wainman was again excellent (and very busy at times) in goal – showing real confidence in coming out and diving at KCA players’ feet to claim the ball.  Man of the Match was Amin Zouine.  Having played well in the last few games, Amin continued to improve his game against KCA and was our most consistent player last Saturday – stopping pretty much every KCA attack that came his way and showing real maturity in keeping hold of the ball until he could see, and make, a good pass – something he also does consistently at Monday training – so well done Amin.

Last Saturday Holy Trinity Troopers entertained Kings Church Amersham Dynamos . The game was always going to be one of the tougher tests of the season as KCA Dynamos were running second in the Lions U12 league table (having won the league last year).

 The Troopers continued their recent spate of slow starts and were punished early on with the first three attacks seeing KCA break through each time to score. The Troopers gradually got into the game and started to compete – with Tom Roy and Jordan Watts continuing their effective partnership at the centre of defence backed up by a goalkeeper, Sam Wainman, in excellent form.

With Bradley Smith and Amin Zouine also making several good tackles in defence (followed up with some accurate passing), the Troopers managed to keep KCA at bay for long periods. The Troopers managed a few attacks in the first half but KCA’s ‘keeper was rarely troubled.

The second half started much as the first half had ended – but, with nothing to lose, the Troopers started to play some of the football we know they are capable of and there were times when the Troopers’ passing ability shone out as they put together several decent passes. However, the Trooper’s attacking options were limited – both by KCA’s competent defence and the Troopers tired-looking attacking line-up. KCA managed to add several more goals which resulted from the Troopers not being able to clear their lines and for several periods in the second half, Sam Wainman was the busiest player on the pitch!

The Troopers finally made a breakthrough, with Tino Muringani being bundled over inside KCA’s ‘box and James Smith coolly slotting the resulting penalty into the bottom left-hand corner. The final score was 8 – 1.

Sam Wainman was awarded Man of the Match following what can only be considered as his most outstanding goalkeeping display so far. Sam fought really hard the whole game, diving at the opposing striker’s feet, punching crosses clear and making some fantastic shot stops and coming so close to saving three of KCA’s eight goals. Sam’s performance was certainly appreciated by both team’s supporters and he richly deserved the MotM award this week!

Saturday 6th November saw Holy Trinity Angels (pictured right) due to play an away match in the Bucks Girls Football Under 16s League Cup competition.

Our Angels were hoping to clean up when they travelled to play Bedmond Ajax but the game ended in a 2-2 draw with Madison Fox getting both goals for the away team.

Our younger girls team Holy Trinity Vixens were also away from home with an Under13s League Cup match where they were hoping to tame the Woburn Lionesses FC Clarets. Howeveer despite putting up a good show, the Vixens lost 3-5.

Holy Trinity Junior FC has two all girl teams this year playing in the Bucks Girls Football League.  

Holy Trinity Angels (years ten and eleven) play in the Under 16 South League Their first league game was on Saturday 18th September when they lost 2-6 at home to last years champions in this age group, Chesham United. The Angels’ goals came from Lucie Ogles and Player of the match Katie-May Watts.        This was followed by a 1-12 defeat in the Cup competiion to Moretonville Juniors FC Phoenix.

Holy Trinity Vixens (years seven and eight) are in the Under 13 South League Their season started on 11th September with a 2-12 home defeat against Marlow United but on the 18th they did much better, losing only 0-2 away to Crendon Corinthians. On Saturday 25th the Vixens lost 0-3 to Milton Keynes City FC in the Under13s Cup competition.

For slightly older girls (17 and over) Hazlemere Ladies FC are inviting new players to join them at 11am at Hazlemere Recretation Ground every Sunday for training. Just turn up or call Mark Barrow on 01494 716766 or 07802 607735

Jaguars Cup Final 2010: HT Rovers 2-0 Harefield United Under 16s

A tight hard fought affair with the sides equally matched in the first half which ended goalless. Rovers had to re-shuffle their team due to Dan Hardy’s injury and their superior tactics after the half time team talk helped them dominate the second period.

They then played more creatively thorugh the midfield and the first goal came about 10 mins in when Adam Thomas played Chaumie in with a beautifully weighted lob….Chaumie then took it first bounce, before lobbing the keeper. 10 mins later it was Adam’s turn to get on the score sheet when he rose high above the Harefield centre back to head a superb Craig Marshall free kick into the top right hand corner. Matt Hosseiny almost made it three with about 10 mins to go but the Harefield keeper made a brilliant save from a thunderbolt of a shot.

Congratulations to Steve and the team on a deserved victory. Afterwards winning Manager Steve Hardy said:”Magnificent performance from all the lads, they all raised their games brilliantly……made me very proud !”

For more details on the Rovers’ season, see their section under Our Teams on the Home Page Heading