HT Troopers

End of season report for 2010-2011

HT Troopers 

The 2010/11 season was a testing one for HT Troopers.  The team had inevitably ended up moulding itself around one very talented player over the previous two seasons and, with that player having moved on, this year was all about bringing on the team as a whole and working on individual skills. 

Our squad this year was: Goalkeeper: Sam Wainman, Defenders: Amin Zouine, Jordan Watts, Tom Roy, Bradley Smith and Charlie Harnett, Midfielders: James Smith, Sam Cloke, Matt Sewell, James Lewis, Sam Woolldridge and Ally Howe, Forwards: Tino Muringani and Darius Adl. 

The addition of two new players in the January ‘transfer window’ – Kyle Mockett and Oliver Down, increased our squad size to 16 for the second half of the season. 

Results were mixed over the season – the Lions Under 12 league includes several talented teams, and with the Troopers needing to find their feet, a win proved very hard to come by.  A common theme for the Troopers seemed to be for them to give the opposing team a two or three goal head start before getting to grips with their opponents and coming back strongly in the second half.  The absence of a proven goalscorer reduced the chances for the Troopers to outscore their opponents early on and to get the upper hand and win matches. 

Although chasing that elusive win, it wasn’t a completely bleak season!  The Troopers fought hard in several very competitive matches, often winning the second half of their contests.  In late January 2011 many of the Troopers parents supported a move to introduce some midweek training for the team on the astroturf pitch at Woodrow High House.  This has been immensely popular with the players who were able to take part and we saw a big improvement in the Troopers’ competitiveness in their matches in the second half of the season as a result.  It is clear to those of us who have watched the boys train on a Monday night that they have really enjoyed the experience, with the bonus that the boys’ have shown improvements in their teamplay, interaction and fitness levels too. 

Probably the most notable matches this season were the 3-2 defeat to a 10-man HT Jedi  and a 2-1 victory in the final game of the season against St James Swifts.  Both were very close and exciting games to watch with a great mix of spectacular goals, near misses and fine saves as well as great team work by many of the Troopers.  You can find most of our full match reports over the season (including reports for the two matches just mentioned) on the Club’s website: www.htjfc.org 

The Year ahead

Hopefully, the advances many of the boys have made this season, in terms of reading the game and taking a more active role in matches, will continue in 2011/12.  We may be saying goodbye to a couple more players in the closed season, Tino Muringani recently moved to Oxford and Tom Roy is showing some promise playing Rugby for RGS.  We may therefore have room to take on a couple of budding Didier Drogbas or Robin Van Persies next season! 

We’d like to add some thanks to Tony Woolldridge and Steve Roy for their help with training this year.  Peyman Adl and Dion Cloke have also been a real help with transport for several players this year, which we are sure is much appreciated by their parents.  Finally, we’d like to thank the Troopers’ parents and grandparents for their excellent support at matches again this year! We look forward to your continued support next season!  

Mark Smith & Mo Zouine