The Heads of the Valleys Hotshots Skater Hockey Teams were in action for the first games of the new season at the Rhondda Fawr leisure Centre on 11the November 2001.

HOV Hotshots Under 14’s 2

Caerphilly 1

This was a fast paced match between 2 very similar teams’ and would have been a good advert for the game except for an incident in the final 2 minutes of the match resulting in 4 red cards!

The first period saw end-to-end hockey, with both the Caerphilly net minder and the Hotshots Owen Price called into action. Peter Rodgers in the Hotshots defence had his work cut out as wave after wave of Caerphilly attacks were thwarted, with Rachel Grovell and Stewart Rickwood bolstering the back line.

Alex and Daniel Symonds helped to keep the Caerphilly outfit in a safer midfield area as the game progressed, with Captain Thomas Heard orchestrating the The Blaenau Gwent attack.

Berwyn Roderick and Sarah Rogers caused the Caerphilly defence to back track on more than one occasion, and this paid off as the Hotshots struck the only goal of the 1^st half through Joseph Heard.

The 2^nd period started with Liz Baker replacing Price in goal, and unfortunately an early attack from the Caerphilly side resulted in the equalising goal.

End to end hockey ensued, and again the goalkeepers had their work cut out, with the breakthrough falling to Alex Trotman as he was able to shake off his marker to flip the ball into the net.

The fight that followed in the dieing minutes of the game marred a good victory for the Hotshots, with Joseph and Thomas Heard receiving red cards, and therefore missing the 2^nd match of the day for this team against Risca.

HOV Hotshots Under 14’s 3

Risca Romans 16

As expected The Romans used the fact that the Hotshots had lost 2 key players to the full, and ran riot against the weakened Blaenau Gwent side.

The first Hotshot goal came when the Risca outfit were already 8-0 to the good, and it came from the under 12 partnership of Sarah Rodgers and Alex Trotman, as Trotman set up Rodgers with a great pass from the corner.

The Romans hit back with 2 more goals, before Trotman had a break away which left him 1 on 1 with the opposition keeper, which resulted in a goal.

The 2^nd period saw the Hotshots pull another goal back, this time through Berwyn Roderick, but this was all the Romans needed, and they literally ran the Hotshots ragged for the remainder of the game.

HOV Hotshots Under 18’s 3

Pontypool 3

This was a fast, furious and very physical game that saw the Hotshots net minder, Jason O’Neill, called into action time and time again.

The first and only goal of the 1^st half came after Captain Phil Rodgers had made all the running, before laying the ball off for Gareth Emms to score.

The second half saw Emms net a 2^nd, but the Pontypool side were able to score to make it 2-1.

Owain Jones, Michael Haile, Nick Rogers and Jason Rickwood all came close, but it was left to Emms to extend the Hotshots lead with a great hat trick strike.

Chris Prosser had a good game at the back, with David Griffiths using his defensive skills to the full.

Unfortunately, the Pontypool side were able to get back into the game, and at 3-2, James Trotman brought down one of their attackers when he was through on goal. This resulted in Trotman getting a 2 minute penalty and a penalty shot being awarded against the Valleys outfit.

O’Neill saved the shot, but with 46 seconds left on the clock, Pontypool hit the equaliser.

HOV Hotshots Under 18’s 5

Voodoo Hawks 5

Leanne Emms stepped into the goal tending duties vacated by Jason O’Neill and had a lot more work to do than had been anticipated at the start of the game.

David Griffiths got the Hotshots off to a great strt when he netted following a Nick Rogers pass, but the Voodoo outfit, from Cardiff were soon able to pull back an equaliser.

The Hotshots retook the lead at the end of the 1^st period after Jason Rickwood set up Michael Haile.

The start of the 2^nd half, David Griffiths struck his second goal and the Valleys sides third, and this was followed up by Rogers further extending the lead with a fine individual effort.

Rogers put the Hotshots 5-2 in front when he netted following Rickwoods efforts, but at this point, and with only a few minutes remaining, the Hawks got themselves right back into the game with 3 goals in quick succession to give the under 18’s their 2^nd draw of the day.