Private School News

Charterhouse Outclassed by Canford: Boarding Schools Cup

Charterhouse outclassed by Canford

Boys’ Hockey – Boarding Schools Cup

Charterhouse 0 Canford 7

Goal scorers Simon Hanley, 5 Tom Darby 2

Canford’s entire team played very well, especially after only one practice game. The bad weather over the past few weeks may have caused postponements of all the warm-up matches, but this has allowed the players to improve on their fitness levels.

The team was captained superbly by Simon Hanley who managed to score five of the seven goals, with Tom Darby adding the other two. Charterhouse pupils and parents were also a credit to their school, applauding the display of hockey the Canford players had shown. However, as our players will know, the score could and should have been into double figures, so there is still work to do on the practice field.

Charterhouse School’s match report:

Charterhouse tumbled to their worst ever home defeat against another school on Tuesday 19th January. It would be reasonable to point to a total lack of pre-season practice plus the loss of Charterhouse’s lynch-pin midfielder, Alex Rozier-Pamplin, after only a few minutes play as some form of explanation, but the simple truth is that Canford were a very slick unit who dominated the game from start to finish and who might well have scored even more than the seven goals they achieved.

The visitors pressed from the opening minute and only an outstanding display of goalkeeping from Joshua Doble kept them at bay. It was ironic, therefore, that a slip by the Charterhouse keeper should allow Canford to open the scoring after just seven minutes. The barrage continued throughout the half and it was remarkable that Doble was able to keep his goal intact. Then, in the 28th minute, Charterhouse finally got into the game: a quick break found Oliver Greenhalgh in front of goal and a cynical foul on him gave Charterhouse a penalty stroke. The thought of drawing level after such a bettering was evidently too much for the home side and James Kinsey’s feeble effort gave the Canford ‘keeper little trouble.

Just when it looked like Charterhouse might get to half time just one goal down, the opposition scored from a short corner two minutes before the break and doubled their lead. Ian Hamilton, the Charterhouse coach, exhorted greater efforts from his men and they came out after half time in determined mood. They came close to scoring, too, earning three short corners but were unable to convert any of them. Canford, on the other hand, had a whole variety of possibilities and the second half became little more than a chance for the visitors to go through the full range of their routines.

It says much for Doble’s goalkeeping that all the goals scored in the second half came from short corners, for Canford certainly created enough chances in open play to have scored more.

In the end, Charterhouse had been taught a lesson by a team which was not only a very efficient unit but which also displayed the vital ability to keep the ball and to pass it on with pace, while harrying like terriers when they lost possession. They are likely to go a long way in this year’s competition.