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5^th Annual Valley Vase - 9^th/10^th May 2009

The Valley Leisure Centre , Belfast, Northern Ireland

 

 

TITAN TEAM

 

    Jae Paxman (C), Dan  Raven AC,  Py Gerbeau, Nik Amin, 

       Kevin Betts,  Miro Pilat,  Nick Avery and  Tom Avery,

 

Tom Copeland (GK)

 

Sharon Hounslow Manager   –  Bob Hounslow  Bench Coach.

 

THE COMPETITION

 

East Coast Blaze (A), Dublin Riot , Northern Cyclones, Chelmsford Stars,

Armagh Stars, Belfast Bruins, East Coast Blaze (B), Kilkenny Chiefs , Bangor Bandits

 

 

With Excitement and Anticipation the Titans team assembled at the Corrs Hotel, courtesy of  Trish,  Corey and members of  The East Coast Blaze hockey club.

 

The Valley Leisure Centre with its impressive facilities was the venue with two playing rinks ready to host the two day competition

 

A 10.20 am  face off saw Titans pitched against  Northern Cyclones, a hard fought game saw Titans get their first win of the day  7 - 2

 

Face off at 12.00  - Hosts East Coast Blaze  pushed Titans hard but a  6 -1  win sealed their fate.

 

Dublin Riot stormed at Titans but they were held at bay and a 9 -2  win secured victory

 

Final game of the day saw Titans take an emphatic 15 – 1  win over Bangor clinching the 1^st place  in Group A and a semi final play off place  for Sunday.

 

Saturday Evening,  all players were invited to the Corrs Hotel for an evening of Music, Drink, Food and merriment .

 

With a Semi Final place – Titans woke re-freshed and relaxed ready to take on their old friends Chelmsford Stars. With Carl Toppin, Lammie, and Dan Glanville ( all playing Titans GBHI) it was an emotional game that both sides wanted to win badly, this friendly competitive hard fought game finished with Titans getting the upper hand with a 7 – 0  win, and booking their place against Bruins in the final.

 

Meanwhile  –  Chelmsford Stars –  went on to  beat  Armagh Stars 6 – 0 to pick up the third place trophy – well done lads!

 

It was  Final time , the gallery was packed with spectators and the Valley Cheerleaders started the proceedings – a great troupe of young ladies in fine dress and silver pom poms – making a very professional start to final.

 

 

Face of at 3.50 , the crowd were cheering , hearts racing, the game started at a frantic pace with Bruins showing their skills with a fast breakout  and solid play, but Titans were too quick and  had them in their own half  where they conceded the first goal,  but not for long as Bruins fought back levelling the score 1-1 ,  with nerves settled Titans got into their rhythm and scored twice more  making it  3-1 at the end of the first period.

 

With another rousing show from the Valley Cheerleaders at half time, everyone was ready for Period 2.

 

Bruins came storming out but were quickly contained and once again  were in their own half under pressure from Titans,  several near misses saw Goal 4 and Bruins head started to drop, Titans matched muscle for muscle extracting another goal, before Bruins launched a final attack, but it was too late with the final score  5 -2.

 

Nick Avery won MVP — Most Valuable Player

 

It was sheer  joy  for PY, Nik and Tom as they had all previously played  and lost against Bruins as members of The Snipers Squad  in previous years.

 

The Titans would like to thank all the other team players, Valley Leisure Centre staff and spectators for making us feel so welcome and all their help with this wonderful weekend. Tournament

 

Our  very special thanks for their generosity and hospitality to:-

 

 

Corey McKay , Patricia McKay, Daniel Macklin, Dave Thompson, Tracey Hughes Lynne McConnell and all the members of the East Coast Blaze.

 

 

 

Sharon , Bob,  Jae,  PY, Nik,  Tom C,  Dan,  Miro , Bettsy,  Nick A and Tom A

Nick with his  MVP Trophy