BENNO & THE ARGONAUTS

Tournament report: Mike 'Benno' Benson.

ARGONAUT: definition
1. Greek Mythology - One of the heroes who sailed with Jason on the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece.
2. A person who is engaged in a dangerous but rewarding quest; an adventurer.

Game day: Sunday 4th of December and we were greeted by a frosty pitch away at BBHC for the Boys U12 Quad Tournament @ Erith School. 5 teams. 7 a-side. 10mins per game. One way. Wham Bam. BOE had two teams involved. With the Argonauts slightly older, more able and experienced than their Rebel brothers.
My South African brain was close to being frozen as the boys arrived one by one. I hung on to my already frozen Cappuccino and bacon roll from Coach Matt Wilde and hoped things would improve.

But this arctic feeling was never going to dampen my mood because the day was about to get off to an absolute flyer of a start against Burnt Ash Hockey Club with a solid one sided win. (we were totally living in their half the entire 10 minutes is an understatement) They boys again showed glimpses of positive play and hard attacking lines, real character was demonstrated by young attacking forward Raj who was thrown into the deep end when asked to play outside half (defender for non South Africans). He took to the position like a fish to water.......except with a hockey stick and necessary equipment of course! Result 1-0 for the boys!

Next up Gore Court with their towering CH who would've looked at home in the U16s. With a few structural and tactical changes I let the boys know that they simply could not let this slip now and must improve with every game. They agreed strongly "Come on boys let's do this" were the words shouted around before the start. This made me incredibly proud knowing these boys were giving it their all! We started strongly and many scoring opportunities came our way begging to be plundered but the opposition had other plans and kept us at bay. A full frontal attack by our midfield and strikers was relentless but we were struggling to put the game away. Finally after 4 minutes goes by the first strike of the backboard comes, followed shortly by another phenomenal team goal full of passing and running off the ball (that's what we're all about Moms and Dads, team goals!) Final result 2-0. Come on the Amazing Argonauts!

Next in line were BBHC the home opposition...home ground advantage and the atmosphere was building on the side line with expectant parents as I was explaining tactics and structure to my newly developed "Awesome Argonauts". The heroes didn't let themselves down as this performance was something to look at ladies and gents - pure class, absolutely textbook! Now my main focus had been the formalities of getting the job done after two games played and comfortable wins at that. But the Boys had other plans and things were about to get crazy cool. They were on fire and dominated in a 5-0 win over the home team. This I will take any super cold morning! This game saw more brilliance from the likes of Thomas, Ludo and Madani. Having tweaked the formation from a 3-2-2 to a solid 3-3-1 (for those unsure, I just changed things up a bit to test their mental ability and tactics) which worked totally in our favour! John was solid and clearing top everything in defence which allowed Niall to constantly maraud down the wings.

Our brilliant young GK Pieter was sadly frozen with inactivity throughout the tournament as he barely touched the ball. Good for the team but not him. I'm sure there will be days when he wishes for a day like this but time will tell.

'So who's up next?' Shouted the boys in extreme hype and confidence going into the final of all finals, this could not come at a better time, BOE Rebels (Wilde) Vs BOE Argonauts (Benson) this may as well be called The "El Classico"

The Argonauts vs The Rebels

(The match being talked about amongst the kids all morning)
"Sir will we play the Rebels?" "Mike can we please play the Rebels?"

"One game at a time boys, keep it together!" Were my exact words.

What a match we had on our hands, despite the score line, both coaches giving a full go to help their team gain the upper hand! If it were up to us, we would have played and joined in too! (simply because at this stage I could have very well turned into a full blown Eskimo coach)

Back to business...

Great sportsmanship from both teams being respectful but yet playing for the love of the game! From myself and Matt, we couldn't ask for better things to be shown on the park.

Again the theme of the entire day was "Team Goals" and the boys did exactly that and stuck to my word, and proved to everyone watching that passing hockey is attractive hockey, and we all love to look good when playing/scoring.

The back 3 defenders were getting extremely high (a little too high for my liking) boxing the opposition in their own half! And great passing skills were shown through the whole 10 minutes, which was very pleasing to watch. 6-0 final score.

And that's a wrap Moms and dads. A total of 14 goals scored in 40mins of hockey.

Extremely impressive from such a YOUNG bunch. I think this goes to show BOE hockey is on the rise and will be a force to reckon with in the years to come.
Argonauts Players Player of the Tournament: Madani Sidibe - Super Skills & strength
Runner Up: Raj - new defensive stalwart