England women’s coach Hope Powell (pictured left) is campaigning for girls to be allowed to play the game with boys beyond the age of 13 in this country.

Writing in ”The Times’ on Monday, its Deputy Football Correspondent Matt Dickinson highlights this latest campaign to offer girls here the same rights as their European counterparts.

He reminds us that “the age at which mixed football is allowed in England was raised from 11 to 13 last year after a three year study, including research from Brunel University and in the wake of discussions within the FA that took more than a year. 

However in Scotland, mixed football is allowed up to 15, in Germany until they are 17, up to 19 in the Netherlands and there is no restriction in Norway and Sweden.”

HTJFC ,which has until recently run all-girl teams up to under 16′s and continues to offer mixed football to under 10s, will no doubt monitor this situation with interest but of course be guided by the Chiltern Church League’s rules and those of the Berks and Bucks FA.

In the Chiltern Church Junior Football League, rules have changed to try and eliminate the effect of huge scores, which can have a bad impact on defeated sides.

Therefore if there is a tie on points for any league position, mainly those that impact league titles or medal winning positions, then order will be decided on the results in their head to head games. If these still fail to produce a clear winner, then a play off game will be necessary.

As our teams have gone into their Christmas and New Year mid-season break, probably it’s a good time to look and see where they are in the league tables.

Jaguars U16s
Holy Trinity Thistle are competing with KCA Argyle at the top, these two teams being well clear of the other 6 sides. Both are unbeaten but the Amersham outfit have a three point lead having played one more game than Thistle. These two teams drew 2-2 in their first meeting and the reverse fixture in March could be the title decider!

Holy Trinity Hazlemere are an Under 15′s team competing in this league and have naturally found it tough coming up against bigger lads. However they have won 1 game so far and sit in 7th place.

Panthers U14s
Holy Trinity Lions are in second place, just three points behind unbeaten KCA Rovers but Lions, who have won 5 and lost 2, have also played a game more.

Holy Trinity Sharks are once again having it tough and have yet to register a point from their 6 games.Maybe the New Year will bring a turnround in their luck.

Cougars U13s
HT Jedi are currently at the top of the league with 5 wins from their 9 games but have played 4 more games than KCA Dynamos. If level on points at the end of the season, positions will be decided from the head-to-head results.

HT Troopers have been struggling to field a full side this season and have only played 3 league matches, so far without any success.

Lions U12s
In what is looking quite a tight league of 6 teams, HT Hawks are currently 4th with 2 wins and 1 draw from 5 games. Every side in that league has lost at least one game, so plenty to play for in 2012.

Leopards U11s
Again quite a close situation here and HT Eagles are currently 3rd, but just 2 points off top place. Eagles have won 3 and drawn 1 of their 6 games.

Tigers Red U10s
HT Mariners are in 2nd place just 3 points behind Westwood Park with whom they had some good tussles last season, I seem to recall. Mariners have played 7 , won 3 and drawn 3 games.

Tigers Blue U10s
HT Knights are 3rd out of 7 teams having won 3 of their 5 games to date.

Lynxes U9s
HT Rangers are  5 points behind leaders Westwood Park Warriors with both teams having played 6 games. Knights have won 3 and drawn 1 of theirs.

No league tables published for Under 8s and Under 7s.

Happy New Year Everyone – see you in 2012

The Football Association voted at its Annual General Meeting last week to extend mixed football up to the Under 13 age group from next season.

This change will be incorporated by the Chiltern Church Junior Football League who will now allow girls to play in their mixed teams up to and including Under 13s in season 2011-12.

Previously mixed football was only allowed up to Under 10s but at HTJFC we have run all girls teams for a number of years, thanks to the initiatives taken by Mark Barrow, Karen Barr, Steve Roy and Russell Thomas, all supported by the club committee.

and well done the Eagles – Tigers league runners up.

Holy Trinity Mariners who lost to Westwood Park last weekend in the Lynxes Cup Final, took on the same opposition this Saturday but for league points.

The game was played at Westwood Park’s ground and the Holy Trinity Mariners won 4-0 to not only win the league but also gain some revenge for last weeks Cup Final defeat.

Whilst the Mariners are 3 points ahead of KCA County, County have one game to play.  However if County do draw level, then the league title would go to Mariners who have the better of the head to head games between these two sides with a win and a draw.

WELL DONE THE FISHY MEN!

The Chiltern Church Junior League held its Presentation evening on Friday 20th May, when the HT Mariners Managers Paul Baldock and John Dashwood received their league trophy.

The HT Eagles also receive their league runners up trophies at the same event at the Ken Williams Memorial Pavilion at the Hazlemere Rec.

Holy Trinity Mariners went down 0-2 to Westwood Park Under 9s in the Lynxes Cup Final of the Chiltern Church Junior Football League held this Saturday 7th May.

In a match that possibly belied Mariners higher league position it was Westwood Park who had the lions share of the game, forcing a number of corners and some superb saves from the Mariners Man of the Match goalkeeper and captain Alex Dashwood. Alex was superb in his catching, diving at feet and pushing other shots wide of his goal. Once he was grateful to the cross bar coming to his aid with the ball then falling kindly into his arms.

However Mariners did manage some good attacks from time to time and on another day might have had more success. Notable players were Henry Andrews and Jack Crawford who battled manfully in midfield and attack to try and force a goal. However all the Mariners’ players fought hard  and deserved the applause and encouragement from the sidelines.

Howevere in the second half the Westwood dominance started to tell and they broke away to score the vital opening goal with a superb angled shot into the opposite top corner. With nothing now to lose the Mariners pushed forward  but were unable to find an equaliser. Just before the end a quick throw by Westwood Park caught out the Mariners tiring defence. The Westwood Park attacker dribbled down the left and crossed for an easy tap in at the far post.

Jack had one final effort on goal but this was comfortably saved by the goalie as the final whistle blew.

Disappointment for the Mariners and their noisy army of parents and supporters but they are still in with a chance of winning their league.

The Mariners are managed by the ever cheerful and enthusiastic Paul Baldock (pictured right receiving a Manager of the Month award earlier this season) who gets plenty of able assistance from John Dashwood.

Saturday 16th April finally saw the Holy Trinity Troopers get a win in the Chiltern Church Junior League:

Under 12s: St James Swifts 1-2 Holy Trinity Troopers

Troopers manager Mark Smith has finally got over the emotion to report:

Overall, it was a fantastic way to end our league season, with a 2-1 victory over St James Swifts in what was a fairly evenly contested match.  Having finally got a result in the 2010/11 season, the excitement blurred our memories of what actually happened (and when!) so actual events are a little hazy!  It was nice to have so much support for an away game – and those parents who saw the match appeared to enjoy it immensely!

We reported earlier that in the Chiltern Church Junior League Cup tie last Saturday, HT Troopers (pictured left) went down 2-3 against their local ‘rivals’ the HT Jedi (pictured right). Click each picture to enlarge.

HT Troopers manager Mark Smith submitted this match report:

Troopers squeezed out by 10-man Jedis

Well last week’s cup match against the Jedis didn’t disappoint, did it?!  The result was unfortunate, losing 3-2, but much of the second half of the match was played in the Jedi’s half and the result could so easily have gone the Troopers way.  

The match started in the traditional Troopers format, with the boys waiting to see what the 10-man Jedis would hit them with and not playing with any real conviction or confidence.  An early goal for the Jedis was the answer.  The Jedis were unlucky not to make it 2-0 soon after with a high bouncing lob clearing our goalkeeper, Sam Wainman, but then hitting the crossbar!  The Troopers started to get into the game towards the end of the first half, thanks to some dedicated defending from Charlie, Tom, Jordan and Amin - who all played well – but chances for the Troopers to score were very limited.  On the plus side, thanks to some good defending, the Jedi’s didn’t have that many chances either and it gradually looked like a fairly even match. 

The boys needed a rousing half-time team talk from Mo – which definitely appeared to do the trick.  The Troopers started much more confidently, showing glimpses of some really good football, getting the ball under control and looking for simple, easy passes.  Some of the passing was still a bit below par but the pitch definitely didn’t help as it was pretty lumpy and cut up through the middle!  

The Jedis again managed an early break which saw their centre forward get clean through the defence and slot the ball past Sam W.  The Troopers kept their cool though and gradually played their football further and further in the Jedi’s half.  This was well rewarded with a surprise goal from James Smith - taking a throw-in near the corner flag, with the ball controlled and passed back for James to hit a hard, looping shot which cleared the Jedis goalkeeper and dropped in the far top corner!  This obviously gave James a thirst for more goals – ten minutes later the ball rolled out to him halfway into the Jedis half – which James instinctively hit – the shot soaring over the Jedis keeper and just creeping in under the crossbar! Jedis 2 Troopers 2!  The Troopers then dominated most of the half, keeping the Jedis pinned back and creating several good chances. 

When the Jedis did manage to break out, some excellent last-ditch defending by Jordan contained all but a few attacks.    Not to take anything away from the Jedis, who did eventually manage to break through, hitting the crossbar again on one occasion and scoring the winning goal on another! The Troopers had several chances to draw level and take the lead but conspired to miss all of them, including a couple of goalmouth scrambles and an almost open goal. 

It was encouraging to see the whole team competing and working better together as the game wore on – Ally and Darius kept the Jedis defence busy, while James Smith, Sam Cloke, Matt Sewell, James Lewis, Kyle Mockett, Sam Woolldridge competed well in midfield. Sam W had very little to do for much of the second half!

 Man of the Match was James Smith - for his two long-range goals and a solid captain’s performance too. Well done James! 

I think the parents who came along to support the boys all enjoyed the game, which was a lot closer than some we have played this season. We wish the Jedis lots of luck for the cup semi-final!

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.