Positive outcome to Girls’ Under 18 Training Camp in Gibraltar
Monarch Airlines flight no. ZB790 left Birmingham at 7.00am and arrived on schedule at Malaga airport at 11.00am. Clearing Customs and the 120 km coach journey to Gibraltar then took a further 3 hours; a rather tired group finally arriving at the hotel at 2.00pm; a number of them having been on the go for 12 hours. After a rest, an early evening fitness session was undertaken on the sandy beach by the hotel before dinner.
The next day (Sunday) the squad had two 2 hour training sessions – morning and afternoon – on the waterbased pitch located somewhat disconcertingly adjacent to the Gibraltar airport runway. Ignoring a 737 landing some 50 meters away whilst concentrating on penalty corner routines took some doing. In their lunch break during the day, the players were able to have a look at the nearby impressive yacht marina and then undertake some exam revision in the evening.
On Monday, the squad had an early morning fitness session and a two hour training session in the afternoon in the hotel fitness suite, individual player interviews and exam revision took up the rest of the day.
Tuesday and Wednesday followed a similar pattern – a morning training session from 10.00am to midday followed by afternoon rest/revision and a match against a local club side in the early evening.
On Tuesday the game was against Gibraltar Hawks. After an initial period of untidy play, Wales settled down to enjoy the majority of the possession. The emphasis in training on early passing, keeping possession and developing patterns of play began to cause problems for the Hawks. Wales managed to maintain their rhythm despite the frequent substitutions to combat the heat and fluid loss. Although enjoying 60-70% of the ball, the final pass and the correct decision in the circle were areas of the game that were preventing Wales from opening up a sizeable lead. Finally, two minutes before half time, Sophie Oliver pounced on a rebound from the keeper to slam the ball home. The second half exhibited a similar pattern with Wales dominating the game but unable to make their superiority count. Five minutes from time, Stef Williams was unchallenged inside the 25 and she stepped inside the circle to release a screamer into the far corner. 2-0 was a comfortable result but the squad knew it ought to have been far more.
Wednesday vs Gibraltar Eagles was also a 2-0 victory with again Wales benefitting from the majority of possession but not able to turn it into goals. Two minutes from half-time Xenna Hughes was at the far post at the end of a right flank attack to slot the ball home to everyone’s relief. Thirteen minutes into the second half, a direct strike by Sophie Clough at a penalty corner put Wales further in control. Sophie Clayton then received a nasty blow on the arm from a stick and had to be taken to hospital for a check to ascertain if it was fractured. Fortunately it turned out to be severe bruising.
The training camp in Gibraltar allowed the squad to put in some quality time under warm and on two days, hot conditions. It gave the management team the opportunity to work on the cooling strategies, logistics and planning that are going to be needed in July in Madrid at the European Championships. The squad were able to experience games where they had the majority of possession – this not often being the case – and so develop different aspects of their match play. It also enabled the coaching staff to discover the features of play that will now need particular emphasis in training.
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