Chaos 6 Gorge 1

Another strong second half performance saw us brush aside a tenacious Gorge team at Hampton Park. Up 1-0 from Miranda's early goal and dominating the first-half, we lost possession very cheaply and they scored on a quick counter-attack. We had numerous chances prior to their goal but couldn't find the right pass or shot when it mattered. It just goes to show how goals can change games when you dominate as we did but go into the half-time break even.

Similar to last week you gave an immediate and improved performance in the second. Two quick goals from Mara and Kathleen in the first five minutes put Gorge on to their heels and from there it was pretty much one-way traffic. Mara, Kathleen and Nina put the finishing touches on the win, but not before Sydney made a fantastic "skate"save with her left foot. Had Gorge scored there it might have been a different story.

Tea Cups

Once upon a time in England it was customary for players and coaches to enjoy a cup of tea at half-time in their changing room. Trust the British to enjoy a "cuppa" instead of a something that actually give their team a energy boost or jolt like an espresso or oranges! Anyway, if the team was playing badly often the coach (or manager, as they call their coaches) would smash the tea cups to demonstrate how "disappointed" he was in their first-half performance.

I didn't have any tea cups to smash, or for that matter a change-room to do it in, but from our excellent performance in the second-half I'm guessing the Chaos received something of a jolt from our half-time talk! We emerged for the second half with the intensity and desire we lacked in the first half and scored nine goals. It's not about how many goals your score, or whether you win, but the sheer volume of goals would indicate we didn't apply our selves all that much in the first thirty minutes. And that's all Doug and I can ask for - for the girls to apply themselves to their maximum ability every game.

So thanks for proving me wrong ladies :-)

Goalscorers came from all quarters today and some happened so fast that the official score recorder might have got some of these wrong, so here goes: Robyn 2, Jadyn 2, Maggie 2, Mara 1, Sydney 1, Kathleen 1 and McKenna 1. Is that it? If not I'm sure I'll hear about it on Thursday.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and remember to vote on which tournament you want to enter. It appears we have reached consensus on which one, but we want to hear from everyone.

Never to early to get the girls hooked on civic responsibility!!

End of Season Tournament

It's time to start considering which tournament(s) we want to enter in March and April. The largest and most competitive tournament is the Gordon Head Jamboree. This is one of British Columbia's largest girls tournaments and last year my U12 Storm entered and we really enjoyed ourselves.

This year's U11 games have been tentatively scheduled for Lochside Park, so that's an extra incentive for us to play. The tournament is scheduled for April 4-5, which is a couple of weeks after Spring Break and just before our own World Cups Festival (April 10-12). If we want to register for this tournament then we need to move fairly quick as it fills fast with teams from the Mainland.

There are other tournaments such as the Prospect lake Minis and Gorge Minis which we might want to consider. Dates for these tournaments have not yet been posted but then generally take place in early to mid-March.

The club covers costs of up to $250 for one tournament only, so if we want to enter the GH Jamboree we would probably be looking at an additional cost of $10-20 per player. Other tournaments are within our $250 allotment.

I've posted a poll asking which tournament you would like to enter. Closing date is two weeks from now so dont forget to vote!

Chaos Show Few Signs of Rust!

For the first game after a lengthy and snowy Christmas Break I thought your performance today was excellent. We were first to the ball more times than not, our passing and movement resembled a team having played more recently than mid-December, and our four goals were all good finishes. The only thing missing was a net on the goals to emphasise the ball had actually gone into the net!

Special mention goes to Nina and Genevieve on scoring their first goals of the season. Both of them were very nice goals after defence-splitting passes from Mara. In between Jadyn scored off a nice feed from Maggie and near the end Erin potted our fourth after a similar cross-field pass from Mara. Our passing and decision-making from throw-ins and corners was very good.

We rode our luck a little bit at the end as Peninsula looked to spoil our shutout, but Mr. Post and Mr. Knee got in the way of four of five shots in a twenty-second span. You have to feel a little bit sorry for the Peninsula players, but you take all the luck you can in soccer so I'm not going to complain about it!

Have a great weekend!

First Game of the New Year

Our first game of 2009 is scheduled for 9:45am this Saturday at Blue Heron Park in Sidney. We will be playing on the field farthest from the main parking lot. There is also parking along the west (highway) side of the fields so that be a better option.

Alsoa friendly reminder of practice on Thursday at 6pm. Hope to see you all there!

Turf's Open - Practice Thursday

The turf is available from 6pm so Doug and I thought we would call practice. Hope to see you all tonight.

Bottle Drive on Saturday

The club is holding a bottle drive this Saturday to raise funds for the Turf. Very few of you are likely aware because someone forgot to let everyone know in December. Looks bad on the Club President that his team(s) aren't involved, but there you go!

Anyway, Chaos players can still participate by dropping off any bottles and cans they may have hanging around the house at the field Saturday morning. Your parents may even have some full bottles they might consider emptying before Saturday ;-).

The bottle drop will be located in the parking lot at Lochside Park from around 10am onwards.