Well that is the second day of the tour complete!  It started off with a thunderstorm at 0600 and continued to rain for pretty much the rest of the day!  We had a break in the rain for an hour at 1000 and then it stopped fully at about 1830! 

Breakfast in the hotel was good and some people (no names mentioned Arty) decided to try a plate of everything that was on offer! 

At 1000 we started a training session in the pool which was a good work out but fun at the same time.  We then had a couple of hours to go to the supermarket, get post cards and generally get our lives sorted before the transport picked us up at 1530 for our first match of the tour.

We arrived at the court and as it had been raining all day found it to be quite waterlogged and extremely slippery.  We had to be very careful when running and decided to take it easy as the matches were only friendlies.  We didnt want any injuries before the big tournament! 

The Eagles were our 1st team opposition and we didnt really know anything about them.  When they arrived it was a bit of a shock as they were all so young.  They were actually still at school and their teacher was one of the umpires!   They looked so cute that there were a couple of aaahs as they walked into the training area.  

 The first quarter was a settling in period allowing us to get used to the humidity, heat and slippery surface!  It ended with a 13-1 score to the RN A Team.  The second quarter didnt improve for the Eagles as they found themselves losing 27-1; they scored no goals and started to look a bit down.  However, with a few team changes they came back with renewed energy and drive to get 3 goals in the third quarter leaving the score 34-4 going into the fourth.  The A Team really gelled in the final quarter scoring 20 goals and only alowing the Eagles 1 to end with a final match score of 54-5.  It was a good game and allowed the Navy A Team the opportunity to come together as a team and find thier form for the tournament ahead.  It also gave Arty the opportunity to see them work and highlight any areas of potential weakness and exploitation by the stronger teams in the tournament.

The B Team played an older and more experienced team called Shamrock.  They were more athletic and much more controlled throughout the game and put the B Team through their paces.  Having never payed as a team together before, the B Team found it hard to gel under the pressure and weaknesses were exploited by the opposition.  The pressure on the shooters was high and even though the balls were going into our shooting circle the shots were not going in.  With the pressure mounting and the goal defecit constantly increasing the B Team found it more and more difficult to find any form.  The first 3 quarters were 3-12, 8-29 and 11-38.  The final quarter was hard with morale low, a huge goal deficit and humidity was clearly affecting the B Team.  The final match score was 14-43.

We were very deflated on the transport back; despite a win for the A Team we all felt the defeat of the B and as a squad all felt a little disappointed.  We decided to go out for something to eat and a couple of drinks to boost morale and after a stunning performance by Sam on the karaoke we all felt much better - good effort Sam we didnt know you could sing so well!!!!

Tonights matches were friendlies and a chance to get to know eachother as a team.  It wasnt the best conditions and the humidity was a shock - we obviously need to increase our water intake throughout the day!!  We are going to do some training tomorrow to iron out the creases and work on our weaknesses.  We are playing the same teams but the A Team are playing Shamrock and the B Team are playing Eagles.  We know we can play well and we are going to go on court tomorrow to win both games.

Wish us luck!!