LANGLEY PARK School’s 1XI hockey team beat off rivals Kent College to secure the Kent Cup for the Bromley based comprehensive side. The eagerly awaited fixture took place after a convincing nine nil victory over Simon Langton of Canterbury in the Semi's with Kent College, 'KC', beating Sutton Valence 3-0 in the other semi.
The game began with Langley providing much of the early pressure however they were fully aware of the threat KC could cause on the break. Most of the chances in the first half fell Langley's way providing some impressive and crucial stops from England under 16 keeper Diccon Stubbings. The deadlock was finally broken midway through the first half when newly transferred turned Langley boy Michael Lawrence finished a fine attacking move slotting the ball past the onrushing keeper.
Langley went into the break one up and were encouraged by head coach Sam Naismith to 'keep their heads'. Langley continued to attack in the second half creating more openings to further their lead with KC producing very little upfront. The main aim of the half was to wear the opponents down and to gain more short corners, a target that was met by the players and mid-way through the second half Langley had got their second.
The corner that initially was blocked by the KC defence but after pressure from the forwards and a shot rebounding back off the post the ball fell to Matt Granell who lifted it passed the helpless keeper into the roof of the net. Langley managed to contain their composure for the remainder of the game however seemed poised for a nail biting last few minutes after it looked as if Kent College had pulled one back when a driven ball was deflected in. After strong appeals of a 'foot', from Langley players most noticeable enraged captain William Bishop throwing his stick to the ground. Umpire Mr Hardy paused the game briefly to converge with his partnering umpire and after a short in depth discussion the goal was ruled out much to the despair of Kent College, brandishing Hardy a cheat. Five minutes later the full time whistle sounded to the delight of the Langley Boys and the small army of supporting parents.
The victory rounded off a successful day for Langley with the 1XI completing a hat trick of victories with both the under 14's and 16's winning. Thoughts now turn to the South-East finals this Sunday where Langley go on to represent Kent competing against other schools in hope of reaching the nationals were the top schools in the country compete to be the best in England.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Such A Chambles
Just a quick line over the controversy surrounding Dwain Chambers as has been bugging me most of the week!
So he won the British trials and was rightly picked to represent Great Britain, so why o why is he suffering. Yes he is different from the other athletes but the difference between him and the rest is not that he is a cheat but he is a cheat which has owned up.
He has done wrong and he knows that but if the rules were put in correctly at the start by the head of UKathletics and the IOC to ban FOR LIFE athletes who have taken or take drugs then the issue like many others over the years would not have been a problem.
To blame the selection of Chambers forced through the underperformance of other athletes such as Craig Pickering is not only unfair but cowardly offering the selectors an easy way out of the situation. So Pickering bottled it, good, if Pickering can't deal with the pressure of the British trials then how is he going to ever cope in the Indoor World Championships let alone The Olympics.
And this whole malarkey about not paying for his flights, accommodation or training is ridiculous if he is going to compete for Great Britain then surely we should give him equal if not better facilities than the rest as he seems the only one who will avoid the trap that is British mentality, so he said 'no British athlete can win a gold without drugs' - good point!
I also find the comment made by Kelly Holmes blasting Chambers a 'cheat' very intriguing and somewhat ironic. So there she was at the age of 34 winning not only one gold medal but two in the 800m and 1500m both extremely tough endurance races. This all came after she had suffered a number of leg injuries while training in 2003 leading up to Athens and was diagnosed by a doctor with clinical depression going on to take herbal anti-depressants is that all the doctor prescribe her though!
So he won the British trials and was rightly picked to represent Great Britain, so why o why is he suffering. Yes he is different from the other athletes but the difference between him and the rest is not that he is a cheat but he is a cheat which has owned up.
He has done wrong and he knows that but if the rules were put in correctly at the start by the head of UKathletics and the IOC to ban FOR LIFE athletes who have taken or take drugs then the issue like many others over the years would not have been a problem.
To blame the selection of Chambers forced through the underperformance of other athletes such as Craig Pickering is not only unfair but cowardly offering the selectors an easy way out of the situation. So Pickering bottled it, good, if Pickering can't deal with the pressure of the British trials then how is he going to ever cope in the Indoor World Championships let alone The Olympics.
And this whole malarkey about not paying for his flights, accommodation or training is ridiculous if he is going to compete for Great Britain then surely we should give him equal if not better facilities than the rest as he seems the only one who will avoid the trap that is British mentality, so he said 'no British athlete can win a gold without drugs' - good point!
I also find the comment made by Kelly Holmes blasting Chambers a 'cheat' very intriguing and somewhat ironic. So there she was at the age of 34 winning not only one gold medal but two in the 800m and 1500m both extremely tough endurance races. This all came after she had suffered a number of leg injuries while training in 2003 leading up to Athens and was diagnosed by a doctor with clinical depression going on to take herbal anti-depressants is that all the doctor prescribe her though!
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