Sunday the 22^nd saw the Hellingly HoundDogs travel to Maidstone as they took on teams from East Kent Mavericks and the host, Kent Phoenix.

The team played the first game against Kent Phoenix in a new format to the team, as they

played 7 a side football for the first time. There was also a new pitch design for the team, as they played on a pitch less designed to look like Flag Football and more like the traditional game with the whole pitch marked in yards. The Phoenix proved too strong for the HoundDogs as they ran out 24-0 winners. Both Riley Davis and Charlie Boorer managed to make some yards for the Offence. There were also a couple of good plays on the defence from Joules Parsons and Stan Wilson as they looked to control a rampant Phoenix team.

Game two saw a more traditional 5v5 game against East Kent Mavericks. The young HoundDogs team struggled to swap between the two formats of the sport, as a very well drilled Mavericks team ran away with the game. The HoundDogs suffered as they tried to chase the game with deeper throws, which resulted in the Mavs running up a score. The HoundDogs did, however, get themselves on the scoreboard with Riley Davis connecting with a throw from Jacob Boorer from 2 yards out. The result would have been worse if it hadn’t been for a fantastic tackle from Ned Foster, who stopped a rampaging Mavs player just 3 yards short of the endzone.

The third game saw a return to 7 on 7 against the Phoenix. This time the

scores were slightly closer and the game more open. The HoundDogs managed to get their offence going with some good strong running from Roman Cameron-Dick and the Wide Receiver pairing of Charlie Boorer and Riley Davis. The O-line of Euan Hammond, Danny Townsend and Alex Edwards gave the QB Jacob Boorer more time to get set, which resulted in more yards made. Harrison Kane and Alex Mckay also started to come more into the game with some tackles aided by Clayton Jarvis on the line.

Coach Alastair Cameron-Dick added “After what has only been a handful of previous games the players stepped up and played with confidence and ability suggesting much greater experience. Again they faced opposing teams with far greater roster numbers and often greater size and met them toe to toe making every game competitive. This is a feat in itself. A number of players were seeing their first action and stepped up admirably, those returning with previous experience had clearly built on their last performance. Danny again showed why he was chosen as captain, acting as leader and morale booster all day. Ned continued to play much bigger than his stature. Charlie played especially well on O and stepped up for the D when their numbers dwindled. Stan built on his first outing, where he got an interception, and showed some of the better tackling of the day. We played as a team and showed great respect all day. We had some shining moments but highlighted many more weakness which we will focus on in the coming training sessions. I think I can speak for Coach Luke too when I say I walked away from today’s tournament very proud to say ‘I coach those boys!”

The EuroShowers Man of the Match goes to:

Defense MVP – Stan Wilson, a much improved performance of tackling fundamentals.

Offence MVP – Charlie Boorer, continued to run some fantastic routes against players older than himself, made several good catches and jumped in on D.

Overall MVP – Danny Townsend, again, leading from the front in ability and attuide.

The HoundDogs are back in action on Sunday the 27^th of May as they host a tournament at Horsebridge Recreational ground.