First and foremost a huge thank-you to the supporting parents and relatives who came along to the first round of the Chiltern Div 2 competition. MK U10’s achieved a cracking set of results and played some splendid hockey, a just reward for the mighty U10's who played their hearts out at Rickmansworth this Sunday morning. Whilst others were still tucked up in bed this enthusiastic crew were playing against some quality opponents; Amersham and Chalfont (A&C), Rickmansworth (Ricky) and Gerrards Cross (GX).

The number of children wanting to play competitive hockey this year will enable us to enter another team of U10’s into the League which is a great step forward for this important ‘grass roots’ age-group. The league itself has created enough demand to host a further Division and so I will be in touch with further details on the hosting location for the next round on the 15th November and will be looking for a parental volunteer to act as match-day manager for this group. This will mean the creation of an A and a B team and the allocation will be done based on the children’s performance in the training sessions and previous experience. A date for the diaries, the next round is on the 15th November with Milton Keynes hosting the Div 2 league.

Amersham & Chalfont 1 – Milton Keynes 1

The first game against A&C saw a huge amount of pressure applied to the opponents defence and short corner after short corner being awarded. Jess, Izzy, Doug and Amelie kept pounding away at the A&C goal but couldn't quite find enough of a gap to fire the ball home. MK didn't manage to convert that pressure and a good tackle just outside of the opponents D led to a great breakaway opportunity for A&C which was duly converted. A&C were back in it and the confidence boost showed as the team turned up the pressure on MK winning a penalty for a foot on the line which had stopped a certain goal. Charlie stepped up to defend the shoot-out and deflected a wicked shot wide.

The second half saw a more balanced share of pressure for both sides and MK had to be on their game to prevent A&C from further extending their lead - excellent defensive work from Grace, Charlotte, Nathan and Anna prevented any further increase. Great attacking work from Jess with some silky skills saw the ball pop up with Izzy and Amelie in the D and between them they converted the opportunity for an MK goal with Amelie finishing it off.

The game finished 1 - 1 which on balance was a fair result and some good lessons being learnt about positional play and ball movement to create easier scoring chances.

Rickmansworth 1 – Milton Keynes 1

Rickmansworth were up next and an organised side with two very competent players were to prove a stiff test for MK. The first half had some great opportunities for both sides and the game was free flowing end to end stuff. MK demonstrated good tactical awareness with Holly particularly doing some great work down the left to draw out the oppo, roll out and start the transfer across the back (something for us to work on perfecting in training!). A good breakaway gave the Ricky forward a chance in the MK D and to his credit the 7 yo finished in style to put Ricky 1 up.

In the second MK exerted more pressure and held onto more of the game using their passing options far more often. This improvement demonstrates the importance of competition based game play for the children's progression and MK were rewarded with a great shooting opportunity. This opportunity fell to Jess who sent it flying goal bound and snuck it in just inside the post - a spectacular effort that was just reward for the effort, skill and determination of the MK team.

1 - 1 represented another good result for MK. Special mention for Izzy who volunteered to play for the GX side that was struggling for numbers (although she was not aware of that at the time of volunteering!).

Gerrards Cross 0 – Milton Keynes 2

The final game was relatively one sided despite the best efforts of Karisma, Chloey, Charlie and Izzy who volunteered to bolster the GX team. Karisma in particular demonstrated her rapid improvement this season with some great tackling and, most importantly, thoughtful distribution which aided the GX cause considerably. Amelie continued in her quest to demonstrate to Dad exactly how you do score by slotting another two deftly away (Great work Ams!). The moment of the game was undoubtedly the Nathan substitution; in his burning desire to get stuck in he made it all the way to right back before returning to retrieve his hockey stick from the side-line!

Goal Scorers: Amelie 3, Jess 1

Player of the Day: Amelie

Team Members: Izzy, Grace, Charlotte, Jess, Douglas, Chloe, Anna, Charlie, Nathan, Amelie, Karisma & Holly