Tour Blog

Commonwealth Games Delhi - Blog 2

2010-10-02T17:29:00.002+01:00

Day 6
Getting into a routine in the village now of eating, having meetings, training and playing the Wii/Playstation. We playing our second warm up game against New Zealand on Friday, drawing 3-3. We really up our performance during this game with many of the players coping with the heat much better. Among the scorers where Kelburne's very own Gareth Hall and Mark Ralph with a trade mark drag flick, the third coming from Stevie Dick of Reading. Later on that day we had to get dressed up in our kilts and shirts for the flag bearer annoucement. It was annouced that Ross Edgar, who is a cyclist will be our flag bearer. All pictures of this and many others have been put up on the Kelburne Photo Gallery. We are currently all looking forward to the start of the tourament on Tuesday with our match against Pakistan.

Iain & Chris

Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 Blog 1

2010-09-29T16:10:00.003+01:00

Hello from Delhi!
We have arrived and settled in. The village is awesome! Lots of things to do. The only thing that isn't that good is the heat! We played Canada this morning at 9am and we struggled! It was 34DegC but towards the end of the game we started to get used to it and played some decent hockey(we lost 3-0 but that doesn't matter). Hopefully this will continue over the next few days and by the time the tournament starts we will be firing on all cylinders! Below is a picture of one of living rooms in the apartments.

The accomodation isn't as bad as reported and most things are in order. Everyone in the hockey team is pretty happy with it.

The wifi is a bit touch and go in the accomodation so will try and write some more blogs when we can. Speak to you soon.

Chris & Iain

Hällo von Duisburg!

2010-01-21T16:40:00.002Z

Hällo!

We are in Duisburg, Germany for the indoor European Championships.
We arrived yesterday and played Spain in a warm up game and then had training today.
Tomorrow is the start of the tournament when we play Lithuania early afternoon then Germany (current European Champions!) in the evening.
Looking forward to getting started - the tournament seemed a long time coming!
We finished 4th last time around, so we are hoping for the same if not better this year.

Wish us luck!!
Julie (and the Scotland team)

WCQ - Invercargill 09 Entry 4

2009-11-14T08:13:00.002Z

Hello everyone,

Well since the last time we posted a blog we lost to Malaysia 3-2, which was disappointing as we were 3-0 down at half time but managed to get it back to 3-2 but couldn't get that next goal which was annoying! So today's game against Wales was a must win game for ourselves if we wanted to have a chance of getting into the bronze medal match.

We went in at half time 0-0 but should have had one or two goals by this point but didn't turn our possession into chances! The second half started well and by the middle of the half we were two up but we started to get a bit nervous towards the end and conceded a corner. With the score at 2-1 we were looking to hold on and get the points but with 40 seconds to go we conceded a short corner. Luckily for us we managed to keep the ball out of the net and claimed our place in the bronze medal match! Woop woop!

We then went for a recovery session in the pool, which was god fun as we ended up just throwing a ball around and relaxing the the spa bath!

Big game tomorrow as we will be looking to beat China and claim the bronze medal, which would be a great achievement and a great finish to the tournament for this team!

Will hopefully post one more blog but no promises. Hitting Invercargill hard tomorrow night! (If any of the two pubs are open)

Bye

Chris and Ralphy

WCQ - Invercargill 09 Entry 3

2009-11-11T08:33:00.006Z

Hi all,

The last post I did was just after the New Zealand game when we got a bit of a pasting! I am sure by now you will know that we have managed to win our first game of the tournament, beating Austria 3-2! Thanks to goals from Kelburne's Ross, Kenny and Ralphy. It was a tough game with us falling behind twice but we managed to dig in and get the two late goals required. Everyone is in good spirits.

We had a rest day today, which consisted of a short pitch session, then some aqua jogging in the local pool. We all got a shot on the flume afterwards because we were all such good boys!

Big game tomorrow for us, Malaysia. We are looking for a win to help secure our place in the bronze medal match, which is our aim.

The pro Ev tournament isn't going too well for myself as I haven't managed to register a win in about 10 games but I am always optimistic and know that if I put the hours in like the rest of the losers in this team, then I might win at some point!

Will try and write the blog on our next rest day and hopefully by that time we will have secured our place in the bronze medal match. Catch ya later!

Chris

WCQ - Invercargill 09 - Entry 2

2009-11-08T06:45:00.004Z

Good evening all,

Well we have now played the first two games of the tournament. The first game was against China and I am sure you will know by now we lost 2-1 but we played really well and deserved at least a draw out of the game, if not a win. The difference between them and us was that they took there chances and we missed far too many really good chances but we were all pretty pleased with the performance.

Although the weather here is very cold and extremely windy alot of the boys are getting burnt. Even Mr perma-tan Willie Marshall has managed to burn his face as can be seen in this picture.

We have also been doing alot of cooking for each other and last night myself and Kenny had a fajita night for Ross and Wei (former Kelburne indoor player of the year). It was a roaring success. Lets just hope when we go round to their crib we get the same standard of food!

Our game today was against New Zealand and we got an absolute hiding! It finished 8-0. We weren't really anywhere near at the standard we needed to be to get anything out of this and they punished us with some good team goals. The team are pretty disappointed as 8-0 is a hammering!

We have a rest day tomorrow, so hopefully we will be able to do something other than hockey!

I will get back to you over the next few days if anything interesting happens. Bye!

Chris and Ralphy

WCQ - Invercargill 09 - Entry 1

2009-11-05T04:51:00.006Z

Hello all!

We have arrived and been in sunny Invercargill for a few days now. The journey was very very very long! We all new it would take just under two days but it felt like much longer. In total we had five flights and one night in Dubai. The night in Dubai wasn't as glamorous as it sounds. We arrived there at after midnight, then had a flight the next morning at 9 am so no time for a bit of sight seeing. We left on Saturday and arrived here on Monday.

We are staying in a pretty nice motel. Every two people have a small house to themselves with kitchen and hot tub (it's really a spa bubble bath thingy).

Invercargill is like a place that has stayed the same since the 1950's. Lots of small shops, with not very many pubs or clubs, which I am sure is a good thing for some of our team!

The pitch is a two minute walk away, so no probs getting to training or matches. Just played New Zealand today and lost 2-0. Wasn't too bad as it was just really to get used to the pitch and get some of the jet lag out the legs. One more day then we play our first game on Saturday against the Chinese. We are all looking forward to it and the squad is in good spirits.

We have all been playing a bit of a Pro Ev tournament on the PS2's and Xbox's and also some cricket in the car park. So it's all good!

Hopefully write the next blog after our first game and let you know how we get on. Hopefully do the club proud!

Chris, Iain and baldy Ralphy

The Final result from Melbourne

2009-10-12T04:08:00.001+01:00

Hello Hockey Players (and others)

I know I said I'd finished, but I thought you'd like to know that the team we drew with (and lost on rule 29b, subsection 3) - Queensland - won the final 2-0. I think that means we were the second best team in the tournament, doesn't it?

bye

Alan Bryce

Semi-Final against Queensland Friday 9th

2009-10-10T07:10:00.002+01:00

Game 8 and looking forward to a tough assignment against the top team
of the Carnival, Queensland. I'm playing full back or sweeper,
depending on whether you speak Aussie or not.

We haven't lost any of the last five games and we're moderately
confident. Both sides had chances in each half and both sides could
feel that they should have scored.

The game became a story of superb, 'robust' defending and fleeting
opportunities in front of goal. At this point, it should be pointed
that the rules of the tournament meant that Queensland only needed a
draw to progress to the Final. Guess what?

The final result of 0-0 showed that our game had improved greatly
since the first match.

And that's it - tournament over and much to be proud of. A final
'by-the-way' - the colours of our team, Western Australia Country, are
black and gold (handy,eh?) and avid Clydesdale member, Alan Auld, has
had to wear the kit every day!!

We're back in Scotland by the 20th. Over and out.

EHL Barca Day 1 - Thur 8th Oct

2009-10-09T11:16:00.003+01:00

Was an early start for the Kelburne boys with a 5.15am meet at the airport. Almost got off to a bad start with H Coles queueing to check into the wrong flight! As usual we had to keep him right.

Two flights and a few games of card later (John C found Scabby Queen a challenge, not as bad as Gordo thou) we arrived in Barca. Sunny 24'C great weather for a few games of hockey!

After a bit lunch and a lie down we took our first trip the Polo Club for training. As expected the facilities where pretty good. Having to walk past the polo pitch, two hockey pitchs and 20 tennis courts to get to where we were training. A bit different from a Thursday night at Bella...

We finished the night with dinner, where Nelly, Iain H and Johnny went for the lobster, which definitly wasn't lobster.

Game 7 v Victoria City

2009-10-08T02:14:00.002+01:00

Hi again

The final pool match. The game before us went to plan with New South
Wales winning easily, so that was one part of the jigsaw in place. The
game after ours would be the best team (Queensland) against our main
rivals for 4th spot ACT (Australia Capital Territory).

I played left half (the Aussie version of wing back) for most of the
match, with occasional spells at sweeper. It was quite a disjointed
game, probably because it meant so much.

We scored a field goal after some neat interpassing - not something
we've been famed for. Then as we have done in three previous games, we
stuck on this 1-0 scoreline until halftime. We then avoided our
customary slump after the break in the best possible way. We scored 2
(two) more goals, one short corner and one field. Ken Walter, our
pseudo Scot who invited me over, scored two of the goals - "at last"
as he said.

Result -3-0 and just what we needed. The game after us also went our
way with Queensland winning easily in the end.

So unbelievably we are in 'The Finals' as the Aussies have called the
final two matches. The first is on Friday at 1000 hours.

By the way, it's the first time West Australia Country have achieved
4th place in more than 10 years and I think we're the only WAC age
group to do it, so we'll have lots of support!

Who knows what will happen next? After all, it's Cup games from now on.

Alan Bryce

Game 6 v South Australia

2009-10-06T02:45:00.002+01:00

Hi again

Both teams were competing for a final top-four spot. Basically, to be
sure of this, we had to win, while a draw would be pretty useless.
And I thought I was pretty tired.

I played sweeper, an innovation for Western Australia Country. We
dominated the game and were slaughtering them (1-0) with one minute to
go, when they were awarded a freak penalty flick. And of course they
scored!

To be honest, our inability to score goals, despite many chances from
open play (32) and penalty corners (7), was our downfall (well OK a
draw).

We still have a chance to qualify on Wednesday, but it depends on the
other teams' results.

The man of the match award went to - ME! There's no I in team but
there's a me. Of course these Aussies were just being nice but it
gives you an idea of how well the Scots have been integrated into the
squad.

Sent from my iPod
Alan

Match 5 against ACT (Sydney and the rest)

2009-10-06T02:40:00.002+01:00

G'day mates

Played against ACT who are third in the tournament so far. We were
much more 'together' as a team. I played left half again (3rd time in
a row) and was on for the full 70 minutes.

We had many chances, only one of which was converted. Would we regret
this later on in the two-o'clock heat? Players were tiring and their
keeper made two wonder saves to keep them in it. Our keeper then stood
on the ball during an organised clearing-up of their rare forays into
the D. In the confusion, the ball ended up in the net.

Result 1-1 which is better for them than us. We now play the two
weakest teams while the top ones play each other. We're still in with
a chance of reaching the semis!

Did you know? When New South Wales held their start of season
over-60s tournament, 80 (yes, EIGHTY) teams took part. That's more
Teams than the Scottish Vets have Members.

Alan

Game 6 v South Australia

2009-10-05T14:06:00.000+01:00

Hi again

Both teams were competing for a final top-four spot. Basically, to be
sure of this, we had to win, while a draw would be pretty useless.
And I thought I was pretty tired.

To be honest, our inability to score goals, despite many chances from
open play (32) and penalty corners (7), was our downfall (well OK a
draw).

We still have a chance to qualify on Wednesday, but it depends on the
other teams' results.

Sent from my iPod
Alan

Game 4 against Western Australia Metro

2009-10-03T08:07:00.000+01:00

Hi again

Our match started at 1830 hours on Friday 2nd October. This was a very
intense local derby match, much like Kelburne/Western.

The debrief was taken up with detailed info about the opposition and
very little about us. I played the whole match and we won 2-1. Their
attack was very skilled, very mobile and constantly interchanging.

There was avery refreshing edge to the game and, as their captain and
coach said at the after-match presentation, we stuck to our tasks and
played as a team - and that if we'd played like that in our other
games, we would have nothing to worry about.

As it is, the order of teams is in the melting pot. Onwards and
upwards!

Alan

Catching up in Australia

2009-10-01T06:02:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone

Problems with WiFi and Blackberry. Now standing in Federation Square
in Melbourne in a wireless zone.

Tuesday. Game v Queensland who are seeded 2nd best of the eight
States. After 25 minutes, we are winning 2-1 with two Scots scoring
our goals. Halfway through the second half the team hits a poor patch
of concentration and we lose 3 goals in quick succession. This
coincided with some interesting subs and ended up with a 5-2 defeat.

Disappointing but nevertheless an improvement in the team-play of this
'cobbled together' side. Tomorrow Thursday 1st October we play the 3rd
rated side, Victoria. Can we win a game in this Carnival of Sport?

Thursday. The answer to the above question is 'no' but at least we
have fought out a draw - 1-1. Onwards and upwards I hope!

Alan B

Meet and Greet my new team

2009-09-27T01:08:00.001+01:00

Gday Kelburne

Today (Sunday 27th) is the first training session with my new team, Western Australia Country (WAC). Trying to find strengths and weaknesses in the team - and taking some time to practice defending and attacking corners.

The top States are reputedly New South Wales and Victoria; WAC is supposedly in the bottom four (of eight States). Weather is windy and cool (8-13 degrees today), so it's actually warmer in Paisley! My new uniform (kit) has also been handed over - not a fashion triumph, I'm afraid.

Our first match is tomorrow morning. More later.

Alan Bryce

Heading for the Oz State Champs

2009-09-22T13:11:00.003+01:00

We are setting off for Melbourne and making the most of our free upgrade to Business Class. Good start, eh? At the last World Cup in Hong Kong (see previous blogs on Kelburne site) I was invited to play for Western Country State in the annual State Championships; at over 60 of course. These Champs are huge for Aussies and very competitive. It's all a bit nerveracking with the added challenge of new systems of play making the nagging of the 2 Stevies seem like childsplay. The Tournament starts on Monday 28th.

Strewth!

Alan B

Azerbaijan 3-1 Scotland

2009-08-31T12:03:00.002+01:00

Bad news.

Scotland failed to secure their A division spot for 2011.

A very disappointing end to the tournament. The whole squad have trained very hard over a long period to get to this tournament and to come away with nothing is not only disappointing, but very hard to believe.

As a squad we'd like to thank the support of parents, friends and family not only during the tournament, but the long build up too. It is much appreciated.

Until the next time...

Russia 1-1 Scotland

2009-08-28T21:10:00.002+01:00

In the first of their relegation pool games against Russia, Scotland started again brightly and opened the scoring in the first 10 minutes from a short corner. Beautifully finished by captain Linda Clement.

Scotland remained in control of the game for the rest of the half but yet again failed to convert their chances from both short corners and open play.

Into the second half Scotland continued to pressurise the Russian side and won more short corners, but still failed to convert. Russia eventually broke down the pitch to win a short corner from which they scored the equaliser.

As the game went on Scotland pressed the Russian defence creating more chances and winning yet more short corners - some of which went flying past the post.

With 5 minutes left on the clock Cat Forrest received a yellow card for a dubious tackle as the Russians advanced down the pitch.

So yet again Scotland are playing for survival, this time in the A division elite of Europe. A win against Azerbaijan on Saturday will secure Scotland's place in 2 years time.

Watch this space....!

Germany 4-0 Scotland

2009-08-25T20:43:00.002+01:00

Scotland put in their best perfomance so far against the current European Champions this afternoon. We started the game well, but unfortunately succumbed to the German pressure early on and conceded a short corner which they executed well to go 1-0 ahead. It was still 1-0 at half time which we were pretty happy with.

We again started the second half well with energy, but again the German pressure brought about another short corner which drag flick specialist, and captain, Fanny Rinne slotted in the bottom corner.

Scotland had their share of pressure in the second half and failed to convert their only short corner of the match.

As time went on the Germans kept pressing and eventually scored another 2 in the last 10 minutes.

A good performance by Scotland against a very well organised German side who are ranked 3 in the world.

Scotland now go into the relegation pool along with Ireland from the same group and Russia and Azerbaijan from the other group. We now play Russia on Thursday - a game we are confident of getting a result from.

Ireland 0-0 Scotland

2009-08-23T16:27:00.003+01:00

Scotland started the game brilliantly- a much improved start from the day before against Spain winning a short corner within the first 5 minutes. Unable to convert.

Throughout the first half Scotland dominated and won several short corners but were unable to convert each time.

In the second half we again started well, but didn't manage to create as many chances as in the first half. It was a frustrating display as we were unable to capitalise on any pressure.

A game which perhaps should've been won in the first half.

The other game in our group ended Germany 2-1 Spain.

We now play Germany on Tuesday 1530 hours - Eurosport 2 at 1430 hours (GMT)

JB

Spain 3-1 Scotland

2009-08-22T14:05:00.003+01:00

Spain 3-1 Scotland (Holly Cram)

Scotland were down 2-0 at half time after a shakey start to the EuroHockey Nations in Amsterdam. Nerves were evident as Scotland struggled to string passes together. The 2nd half was a much improved performance with a goal in the first few minutes of the half. Unfortunately we were unable to capitalise on the pressure we created and Spain then scored another goal from a short corner.

We are very disappointed to lose our opening game, but we're focusing on our next game against Ireland (Sunday 0930 hrs) which is now even more important - a must win!!

The other game in our group ended Germany 7-0 Ireland.

JB

EuroHockey Nations, Amsterdam 2009

2009-08-21T14:25:00.004+01:00

Goede Dag Iedereen!

We have arrived in Amsterdam for the EuroHockey Nations 2009.

Laura, Emily and myself arrived on Tuesday with half of the squad and the rest arrived Wednesday. We have had a couple of training sessions and a game last night in Den Haag against a club side (KZ which Cat Forrest played for last season).

We can't wait to get started now - first game tomorrow (Saturday) against the Spanish at 0930 hours. Ouch!

I've heard a rumour we might be on Eurosport 2, but not too sure...

Will be back with our score tomorrow avo.

JB

2009-03-13T16:09:00.004Z

My coach Bart wanted the team back training as a team on the 20th January and the only people not to be in holland this early after Christmas were 2 of my Australian teammates who are Kiel Brown and Grant Schubert who at this point are both involved in games against Holland and Belgium in Australia. So as i was over so early in january i thought it would be fun to play some indoor for them and see how it compared to the competition in Scotland. Indoor over here is very much one v one freestyle in attack thus making the defenders having to be very good and hard to beat.

Before Christmas Bart had spoken to us as a team and told us that we would be going to Rome for a week before the 2nd half of the season. At first it was meant to be Santiago in Chile and the club would be paying for us!!! Although at this team we only had 2 points in the league so the committee told us no. They said if we wanted to go anywhere then because if the credit crisis we would have to fund it ourselves. So we ended up in Rome. As players we had to pay 400 euros per person to cover the costs. To cover these costs after we came home we ran coaching clinics and had an auction in the club which we managed to raise 8500 euros.

After Rome we had a few weeks for fine tuning before the season starts with us playing Amsterdam at home live on tv followed by a mid week game against Rotterdam at home which was re arranged due to bad weather in december. So there was still work to be done!!! Especially as Kiel brown had picked up an injury in Australia and would not be coming over until after easter and due to the credit crunch the club had said that we could not afford Grant Schubert so some people in the club got together and were able to make the deal happen and he came over 2 days before the 1st game which we lost 4-3 to Amsterdam. We played very well and felt hard done by to loose in the last 20 seconds of the game!!! Now for Rotterdam which we were able to record our first victory in the league this season with a 4-3 win!!! This meant that we were now joint bottom with Pinoke and we had a tough game against Kampong which we aimed to win on sunday. We started this game well and went 2 nil up before half time only to sit back in the 2nd half and let them back into the game and finish with the game tied at 2 each which now moved us off the bottom as Pinoke lost!!!

We play Pinoke next friday night in a re arranged game which is a huge game that we must win!!! Before that we must travel to Tilburg on sunday and try and get some point from a team who are hard to beat and have a very good forwards.

I will keep you up to date with how thing unfold!!!

Ralphy

P.S. Good luck to all the teams in the league and cup competitions!!!! Come on the 'burne'

Last match against the famous Dutch

2008-09-20T12:49:00.006+01:00

This has been the first day where the weather seems to be more friendly. Clear skies and much less pollution - so the sun is now fairly fierce. Our game at 1630 hours began in 34 degree heat but a breeze and the sun going behind the skyscrapers helped us to feel less depleted. The squad played a much more cohesive game and eventually broke through in the 25th minute with a field goal. That was followed later by another well worked field goal which rocked the Dutch.

In the second half, the Holland team began to lose discipline and heart and, taking advantage of this, our right "wing back" ran the length of the field beating 5 Dutch players on the way to a wonder goal struck high into the roof of the net.

End of game - winning 3-0. End of a 'financial markets' tournament (full of ups and downs) and a 5th place in the world behind Australia, England, Germany and China. Not bad for a bunch of old crocks. A special mention for our supporters and particularly to Gerry Toner (and John Smith) who had a very demanding schedule of umpiring, particularly because some teams (England) didn't bring their own.

There is a vague rumour that the next World Championships in 2 years time might be held in Edinburgh. Not much interest in that, I think! How about South America or Australia?

See you all back in sunny Paisley.

Alan Bryce

Matches against Japan and Italy

2008-09-19T11:05:00.004+01:00

Brief report this time - match against Japan, highlight winning 4-1, lowlight Doug Carens carried off unconscious (he's OK and recovering); match against Italy, highlight winning 3-2, lowlight torrential thunderstorm which flooded the pitch to 25 cm. We only had 12 hours between the matches, so we're really pleased to have got through them unscathed.

Next the Tournament Dinner followed by the final match against Netherlands to decide 5th place.

Onwards and upwards!

Third match v South Africa

2008-09-16T14:16:00.002+01:00

Nothing is easy with Scottish Hockey. Short story - eight of the 15 players have been struck down with various "rummy tummy" troubles, less than 24 hours before this match. Nobody admits that this is due to dehydration - old dogs and new tricks?

Miraculously, all 15 trap up for the game, but in varying states of disarray.

The people taking pictures would see a Scottish World Cup team warmed up and ready for the fray - in many cases, just a veneer. The first move of the game involved the centre-half, who was unable to bend to take the ball which results in a goal against in the first minute. The Centre Half left the pitch and the next 69 minutes became a see-saw match with the greater skills on the South African side set against the better attitude and team spirit of the Scots.

We deservedly scored a field goal after relentless pressure just before half time. With various players beginning to wilt badly in the overpowering heat and humidity (heard that before?), changes were improvised and eventually led to a disallowed goal in the last minute - granted by one umpire but not granted by the important one.

Much better performance, but our thinking and skills need to move up a notch or two for the remaining three matches. We play Japan, Italy and the Netherlands in various crossovers. We carry the point from the South Africa match forward to these games.

The Free Day tomorrow should help to repair the damage before Thursday.

Alan Bryce

Second Match against local Champions

2008-09-15T03:24:00.002+01:00

Sometimes you're happier than others to make your report. Sometimes you'd rather "forget" to do it. This is one of those.

Our game against Hong Kong, the local favourites, started well with Scotland in control of the defence and midfield, but passing moves were breaking down due in part to the lack of control, in part to the weather conditions and in part to lack of communication (a core problem). Hong Kong's first short corner resulted in a goal of simplicity and directness. Down one again. How did we react? We went up the field and scored a field goal.

From then on the heat (35 degrees), humidity (75%), and pollution (135 where 100 means children should stay indoors) provided good excuses for our performance. In truth we were dominant but unskilled in making the breakthrough in their 22. In the end they had 3 more short corners and three more goals. Results 4-1 down.

Not exactly depressing but a slap in the face for those of us who wanted to be in the top four. Now fifth is the best we can hope for. Hasta luego or whatever that is in Chinese.

Alan Bryce

Match against World Champions, Germany

2008-09-14T03:22:00.005+01:00

At last, a chance to see if we can improve upon our last European non-performances. The Germans are first to the bench, first to warm up and organised to a T. We started slowly, perhaps due to the heat (33 degrees) and humidity (80 percent). They then scored from a short corner in 5 minutes and the die seemed to be set.

However, Scotland began to play top-class hockey (at last?) and scored a field goal and then a beautifully worked short corner (well, I would say that, wouldn't I?). So, yes, we are 2-1 up against the world champions at half-time.

They are complaining amongst themselves, getting green cards from the umpires and everything is looking rosy. With 12 minutes to go, they then score two quick, short-corners and go 3-2 in front, but still not able to settle. We are playing solid team hockey. One of our players is then yellow-carded for some pretty insignificant 'hand in back' play by a mid-fielder. According to the large crowd, nothing compared to the block-busting central defence earlier on, that saw a German midfielder taken off to be resuscitated.

Being world champions, the Germans then exploited the spaces and weaknesses and scored twice before the end. Final result - 5-2 to the Germans, but Scottish heads held high. Hurray!

To sum up, an exhilirating experience which the huge crowd thoroughly enjoyed; it made the training and preparation really worthwhile - and all thanks to the 5th XI of course.

Next game against Hong Kong who beat the South Africans 4-2 yesterday.

Alan Bryce

Vets World Cup - Hong Kong 2008

2008-09-11T09:34:00.001+01:00

Day One
As Robin Williams said in Good Morning Vietnam, "It's hot, damn hot!" It's also 80% humidity which makes you embarrassingly moist all the time.Arrived at midnight to a spectacular show of lights and cityscape - just the normal Hong Kong and Kowloon. We have had a training session for two hours today which was a bit different from Bella on a Saturday afternoon - which I am missing by the way!I hope to keep you up-to-date with our results, no matter how bad they are, over the next ten days. Our first game is against the 2006 World Champions, the Germans - who have been here for a week already at a training camp. We had heard that the English are doing altitude training but then discovered that they were on the 52nd floor in their hotel.The Sports Complex, which includes a racecourse, rubgy pitches, football pitches, hockey pitches, etc, is called Happy Valley - a good name for a place for the over 60s and over 65s, don't you think?Some of our squad have still to arrive - our first game isn't until Saturday. They'll find it hard to acclimatise in a day, but here's hoping. Speak to you soon.Alan Bryce

Last day

2008-03-24T16:13:00.004Z

Well its the last post of this weird trip! It doesn't seem like a hockey trip as the last time we played was days ago!!!

This morning we did a hard fitness session, led by Derek. The only people who didn't have to do it was me and Ralphy who had a couple of wee niggles. The rest of the boys were delighted we weren't doing it and they were.

We then headed off to the hockey to watch the final day of action. First on the pitch was Egara and the french team. We wanted a heavy French loss and thats what we got. 4-0 Egara! We have been told that this has guaranteed us two places in next years EHL by 0.125 of a point over the French. Nice!

Next up we watch Reading loose to Rotterdam, which was satisfying. When we got back to the hotel everyone was pretty burnt. So at least we can say we have been on holiday.

Well thats pretty much me finished. The blogs is over. Hope you have enjoyed it and I will see you in the back bar for a few beers.

See you later

Nelly

Day 4

2008-03-23T21:50:00.004Z

Well it's fair to say there were a few casualties this morning! There was an after party at some club in Barca arranged, so a few of the boys decided to attend to show face for the club. I think they had a good time as they didn't arrive back till about 9am!!!

This afternoon we decided to head into the city centre to do a bit of shopping and sight seeing. Not everyone made it to this(which was to be expected) but those who went had a good time.

Some did some shopping in the harbor then went to a pub to watch the English premiership games. A few others decided to hike up a mountain to try and find the Olympic village! We thought it would only take about 10 mins but 1 hour later we found it! It was worth the walk. We got good views of the city and got to look around some of the sports venues.

After this it was off to the Camp Nuo to watch Barcelona play some rubbish team. It's fair to say the stadium is Awesome! Barca won the game 4-1 and didn't really break sweat. It was a good game to watch.

People are feeling pretty nervous tonight. There is a rumor on the grape vine that we are going to have to do a hard running session tomorrow. I can't wait!

Going to bed now feeling pretty tired after a long day. Last blog tomorrow, then its back home to sunny Scotland!!!

Bye, bye

Nelly

Day 3

2008-03-22T18:52:00.004Z

This seems like one of the weirdest hockey trips I have been on, we arrive play our game the next day, loose, then have nothing to do for another 4 days!

We just found out today nobody wants to give us a friendly match tomorrow, so we will have to do a bit of fitness training instead or a game of 5's football, which I think would be a better idea!

A few of the boys were feeling a bit fragile this morning after spending a little too much time in a local bar last night but by this afternoon everyone was feeling better!

We decided we would go and watch the hockey today. The first full game we saw was the Egara bloomendaal game, which had a packed crowed in the stadium. Some guy called ChickenDance scored two for Egara for them to sneak it 3-2. We also stayed to watch the Reading Cannock game which Reading won but it was very very boring and cold!

Also Matt's bag has turned up so he no longer has his stinking travel gear on!

Just about to head out dinner. I will let you know if we get up to anything interesting tomorrow.

Nelly

Day 2

2008-03-21T19:10:00.004Z

Well no doubt you will have heard the result. It was the usual as far as our team are concerned with european games, close but no cigar! To be fair we were 3 down with 10 mins to go, so to take it to extra time was a good effort.

The boys are gutted but we are not planning just to go out every night. We still have a league and cup to win because we want to play in this next year, and get further!

We will be training and doing a bit of sight seeing. Hopefully we did the club proud! Speak to you all tomorrow. (Also my tv doesn't work and I can't watch dvd's! GUTTED!)

Nelly

Day 1

2008-03-21T12:11:00.004Z

Finally the blog begins! There has been a few technical issues. The main problem being the internet wasn't working!!! Don't worry we have managed to figure it out.

The trip started ok with flights being on time and everyone remembering there passports! But on arriving in Barca Matt's bag was missing! He should be getting it back soon but who knows what will happen. He is definatley getting the best use out of his travel clothes.

On Thursday night we trained at Terrassa's ground. It was really just to stretch our legs and perfect our corners routines (we will see if that works today!)

Just sitting around before lunch and then game preperation after that. The boys are looking for a good result as we know we will get a re-match against Loughbourgh if we win.

See you tomorrow

Nelly

First Post

2008-03-21T11:37:00.003Z

Welcome to the new Kelburne blog where we hope you will be able to keep up-to-date with some of the exploits of our players as they play all over the country and the world.

As a taster for the Men's 1st XI's game(s) this weekend at Club Egara, here is some footage from their last round of Euro League games: