Christmas Friendly 17/12/11

Ho-ho-ho. Definitely not the weather to enjoy an end of term match or two! Many thanks to the teams from Hellesdon and Taverham who braved the elements and the HPR parents who came along for support, the sloe gin helped to keep the hypothermia away.


As the pitch we have had marked out is the smallest dimensions, we decided to play on the larger pitch and asked the teams if they wanted play seven-a-side. We were first up against a Taverham that we found out was a mix from their A and B teams. The big pitch made difference from the start and the Taverham side passed well and soon had a goal. There were tears throughout mainly from getting a ball smacked into cold legs, but the players soldiered on through both halves stopping any further goals but unable to equalise. So a 1 - 0 loss.


The players did their best to keep warm while the other two teams played and HPR were finally up against Hellesdon. The team came alive during this game and by half time HPR had kept any Hellesdon attempts out. In the second half an excellent bit of play saw HPR pop one in to wil 1 - 0. The team really worked well and by the end had got to grips with the increased amount of space on a bigger pitch which force them to make longer passes.


Player of the match was Luke by unanimous decision for some excellent footwork out on the left and some selfless passing. The Taverham manager did ask afterwards if number 24 was for sale!

Intent on getting some action shots, by the time the matches started my fingers were fairly numb so the there's just a few pre-match shots.

The next training will be on Friday 6 January with the first league match of the year on Saturday 7 January at home at St. Thomas More.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all from James. Tom and Michael and we'll see you all soon.

Lakeford Match Report 3/12/11

Another sunny morning but the temperature's dropping. This fixture was an oddity in the calendar as there were to be four teams attending, but only one match each. Our league match was against Lakeford, a club with a long history and adult, as well as youth teams. We had agreed that we would play one, possibly two friendlies with the other teams.

HPR players listening (eventually) to team orders

Lakeford game (final score HPR won 4 - 0)

For the Lakeford game we decided to go straight in with an attacking line up that had soon produced a two goal lead from Aidan and Archie R. Archie G covered the midfield admirably with some strong defence as usual from Frankie and Evie holding the Lakeford strikers at bay. Ted produced a spectacular save tipping the ball over the bar to end the firat half 2 - 0 up.

The team changed for the second half with Luke and Ted uo front and Aidan taking over in goal. Felix and Max kept the ball away from the Heigham Park goal area and the goalie started to look a bit cold due to lack of activity. Sol is proving an efficient midfielder with a quick turn of pace and use of both feet. Aidan almost scored from a drop kick which sailed all the way up the pitch only to be fumbled by the Lakeford goalie and tapped in by Luke. Ted added another with a quick strike from his left foot - quick thinking! Final score 4 - 0 to Heigham Park Rangers.

Norwich United game (final score 1 - 1 draw)

The team were relishing a friendly against Norwich Utd. as they had caught us napping in our first meeting and we had come a cropper as the team were used to playing an attacking game and not used to winning. This time we were ready for them and by half time, with the solid Evie/Sol defence plus Max in midfield combination, the score was 0 - 0.

In the second half Norwich Utd were soon able to pop one in, although Ted nearly equalised from an Archie R free kick. The team stuck to their positions well and blocked the big Norwich Utd. strikers coming forward . Lots of good passing play saw a cross from Archie R slipped home by Aidan past the keeper. Final score 1 - 1, a good result considering these are one of the stronger teams in the league.

Taverham game (final score Taverham won 2 - 1)

We decided to play a third game with Taverham who we beat a couple of weeks ago. The players were obviously tired by now, not that they would admit to it. The game was scrappy affair with lots of physical contact resulting in an early penalty and bloody nose for Ted. The Taverham goalie dived that right way and pushed it round the post. Taverham had a coupke of very close chances and soon had one in the net. Archie R soon equalised from an lovely through pass from Aidan. The second half became a bit of a battlefield with more tears and foot to the head for Sol. Taverham slipped one past the Heigham defence right at the end to win 2 - 1.

With hindsight, two games would have been enough.

Player of the match was Sol for midfield pace and tenacious defensive play.

There's plans for a couple of friendlies on Saturday 17 December as the next league match isn't until 7 January.