Men’s 1s at the Essex Cup, 31st of August
The men played 4 games winning 3 and losing 1. As such they finished second in the group, but missed out on a place in the finals. The day started slowly which was unfortunate given that the first game was against Havering (the strongest of our opposition), the game finished 2-1 after Ed gave away a flick when the ball hit his thigh on the line. From there things got better as the team started to warm up and play some fast passing hockey. A natural goal scorer in Jacko has been found and the goals came slightly more readily against Southend and Upminster. The final game against Ramagaria had the potential to get quite rough, however the superior passing and movement off the ball meant that Forest cruised past the opposition, finishing the tournament in style. All of the signs are encouraging for next week when the Men take part in the invitational Plum Cup.
Ladies 1s at the Rosebowl Cup, 1st September
The ladies took a strong squad and were amongst the favourites. Under new coach George and learning a new system the team took a while to get into the flow, however they still found the net in the first game, beating the hosts. The passing continued to improve as the players became more accustomed to the formation and style of play. The ladies followed up their good start with wins against Phoenix and Old Southendians, whilst drawing with Crostyx. This left them needing a win in their final game against Southend to top the group. The ladies gave their strongest display of the day easily beating a Southend team they had lost to earlier in the preseason. This set up a tense final against Brentwood. The ladies started well and dominated play for long periods, however they were unable to find the goal and Brentwood struck with two quick attacks. Despite a late push which saw large amounts of play in the opponents D, Forest couldn’t find the net and finished runners up on the day. The signs however are positive for the season, and expectations for promotion must surely be high after such a performance.
