But it was not the outcome of the competition that pleased Guernsey women’s coach Daniel Griggs, but the nature of the competition itself as the three-way GPL tournament between two sides made up of the Island’s top senior players and the Guernsey U18s was everything he hoped it would be and more.
‘I was pleased because the conditions were awful but the attitude was amazing and the quality of the hockey, once they had settled down, in the second games especially, was very good,’ Griggs said.
‘A lot of the players do not really know each other that well, other than their club-mates who they play with each week, so the first games were really competitive but it was when playing their second game together that the hockey really matched that level of competitiveness.
‘There was a lot of hustle and bustle in the first games, but it was once they had played 40 minutes together that they really started playing as teams, then the standard was amazing and the players loved it.
‘It was competitive to the bitter end.’
The three games were played back-to-back over 25-minute halves and Team Lisia, wearing red shirts, came out on top by winning both their matches.
The other senior side, Sarnian Sticks, took second place by virtue of overcoming the U18s, who played under the Goal Diggers moniker, in the final fixture of the round-robin.
Griggs was quick to praise his Guernsey captain Lucy Waldrom for being a driving force behind the GPL tournament concept that would get Island squad members and fringe players taking on a different challenge ahead of a couple of big representative games coming up in March when they have EH Tier Two Plate and Inter-Insular outings on successive weekends.
‘Initially Lucy along with some other established players were not very enthusiastic about two teams and the U18s as the third team. Their view was having three teams with the U18s mixed in with each was the way to go,’ said Griggs, who is also in charge of the juniors.
‘But I was stubborn about the fact that the U18s had never actually played together as a squad. In the league matches, each time four or five of the team are playing for the opposition against the U18s because the clubs have priority, so for the three years I have been coaching them it has been quite frustrating because you train together during the week then have some of those players playing against you at the weekend.
‘So I persuaded them and it worked. The U18s were beaten in their games, but with my coaching hat on they played better hockey but just could not put the ball in the back of the net.’
Griggs was speaking as he put the finishing touches to the squad he wants to take into those two matches in March and he revealed that a couple of players have forced their way into his thinking off the back of what they have done in the last three weeks or so, culminating in their performances in the GPL.
He added that the squad will look somewhat different to that which faced Horsham in the Tier Two Trophy in November when the visitors won 5-0 at Footes Lane and showed Guernsey a level to which they can aspire.
Griggs believes the work the long squad have done since that match and the make-up of the team going forward, with several youngsters set to step up, has them moving in the right direction.
‘To put it into perspective, I wish we were playing Horsham again. I think it would now be a one-goal game and not a five-goal game. We have totally changed the personnel now and I am confident there would be a different outcome.
‘I am super excited that we have a team that has an identity.
‘Back in September it was about getting to know the girls, doing lots of drills and skills. From Christmas onwards it has been about getting the best ones and start playing as a team.’
