Beeston has some of the strongest depth throughout the England, with it being so from top to bottom; or at least first to second choice, reflecting the system of depth of that of a professional football team! In comparison to other teams, they have other goalkeepers to Pinner that can step into the breach if required, which is especially useful for them considering Pinner's international commitments and the four year Olympic cycle and preparations and tournaments. Reading tried this with Nick Brothers and Jamie Legg, but it didn't work (I feel Jamie will make a good national league goalkeeper, especially with his opportunity at Richmond, but doesn't seem to have the innate elite talents to play in the premier league).
Beeston used to have Tom Skinner about (who is now at Bath and doing well there, after Bailey's departure, helping them compete for the top spots) for cover, but again, Beeston weren't getting the three points all the time as Pinner was away at training camps for GB for the Bejing Olmypic build up. It would be like Hugo Lloris or Cassilas essentially leaving on international duty and the team struggling to compete without a world class talent behind (or in front of, depends how you see the goalkeeper on the pitch and leading!) them. But with Beeston as strong as they are right now, I'm not sure it will matter too much who ends up playing in between the posts for them!
In at first choice, we have George Pinner, who is obviously now England's number one and the potential GB starter for the Olympics in Rio. He must have been at Beeston for about eight seasons now, playing with them whilst at university and then staying on to keep his spot, from the age of 18. Almost like a Casillas type then. He was at Ipswich before then (who were a national league side at the time, they have since been demoted back into the regional leagues) and came straight into the squad, taking over from Matt Simkins, a Welsh international at the time, who ended up at HWHC (and was beaten out of incumbent status by Scanlon before his retirement). George had been scouted early on at these times (BBC report), with interest building and performances for the England U21's, and has now finally got his hands on the England shirt after waiting patiently for the opportunity, having been at the Olympic Park as the travelling reserve (not that there was too much travel I think/hope!), just in case Fair went down injured and he was need to fill in for him. A possible reason for why Brothers stepped away from elite level hockey, because of his hard work being ignored in relation to his personal commitments to playing at that level and work/holiday time sacrificed etc.
But for me, there is still room for improvement, or at least, a chance for self reflection on his style. If there is a criticism (and a constructive one), it's his over thinking and hesitation that lets him down from being a new Mason or Vogels or Mowlam. I feel he has been over coached to the point where decisions are not off the cuff but too pre-programmed and thus not going to work in an arena where anything could possibly happen due to the skill level and creativity of players at the upper crust of the international sphere. That and playing too deep and disadvantaging himself, where controlled decisions and aggression would suit him better. Getting more and more international experience, as with the new World Cup set-up and his interest in playing in India's professional HIL season in between December and January as Ashley Jackson is, there is more opportunity to do well for club and country as he gets experience worth its weight in gold under his belt.
With his size he could really dominate the space, like Reuss does for Germany, with a challenging depth, attacking style with diagonal dives out in front and cutting that angle, in order to really take away the visual and literal space for a shooter staring him down. This is something that Ben Cowling, another national league goalkeeper struggles with considerably, opting to stay deep for reaction times but then not exploding out to stop the flick etc. Both he and Pinner could effectively play like Mason and Triggs used to back in the day where they made use of the gigantic profiles to get themselves and their limbs behind any shot. I know that George has the attributes, but it's a case of playing big even though he's big already I guess. Rather than sitting deep as he does, I feel he could step up and push himself to use those fast reactions to react without over analysing, simply through sub-conscious trained eye and reaction, and react to what goes on in front of him, a lot like Cortes does when playing confidently.
Beeston also managed to sign deputy Ashley Watson, who has a lot (well, a significant!) of national league game experience from his time at Doncaster in the North conference. And his ability has showed how much they needed him as they ended up relegated through poor performances without him to steal games for them, last season. He did well against Beeston in a cup game where he kept the score tight about two seasons ago in the semi-finals, and from there impressed enough to manufacture a move to the club down the road. Now he has the chance to play in the premier league division when George is away, a dream for many representative and elite level players here in England.
Actually a year older than Pinner, he likes to stand up and react to shots with active hands (as seen here: link), in spite of his incredibly low hand positioning, which is interesting to see, and in his cameo in the Euro Hockey League qualification tournament looks at ease, which is essential for himself to be confident, and his team to be confident in him for them to play well as a unit. He wears an ice hockey body armour chest set-up with the , in a sort of "half-dutch" set-up to protect the shoulder (in case of the rotator cuff getting hit and causing trouble) and biceps/upper arms in case of missing the ball or when charging down shots, as blogged about previously.
You can see him in action, noting his style of diving and split attempts even with his tall frame, in the following the links below (I couldn't get them to embed for some reason) where he is the goalkeeper wearing all Obo, with the orange/blue inner colour co-ordinated leg guards:
Dan Darby is their third choice and has already been rising up the ranks and has been considered a future star, from the age of 14, which is quite something in itself. Part of England U18s and U16s before that, he was also able to get more experience being around a national league side, before re-signing. At Belper for a season (before last), he , although I'm not sure whether he not or played for them. He has a great opportunity to learn from the goalkeepers above him; training with them and regularly with some of the best shooters in the country which should really help him improve with great speed. It is only matter of time and how much he wants to push himself, as university should offer him the chance to play for a national league side that would definitely be interested in using his services, where can get game time (the only place you get the experience, training just isn't the same!) and learn on the job, having already proven himself. If he can deal with the shot speeds at this age, then he's sure to cope well wherever he goes or whatever opportunity at this level presents him with.
You can see him play via the following link, in all Obo (and yellow jersey!):
For this season and predictions, I can see George having another strong season, but what like to see him get more clean sheets rather than be let down by those single concessions as happened last season! I think Beeston could win the league back to back, but they will have competition from a resurgent Reading who have made key signings, including the addition of star striker and England international Dan Shingles, as well as others. It would be good to see him push himself to go back to the Euro Hockey League competition and try and surpass the standard he has set himself with previous performances, stepping up to the challenge of going for those medal places. His style works really well in the indoor format and should really be put to good use (I'm sure he can get Beeston atop the Super Sixes as well), although whether England will push to use him in the indoor international scene where he would unfortunately remains to be scene (with indoor hockey being less of a focus for us in that regard, although Germany, Holland and Australia find it useful for their player's development for good reason).
Beeston used to have Tom Skinner about (who is now at Bath and doing well there, after Bailey's departure, helping them compete for the top spots) for cover, but again, Beeston weren't getting the three points all the time as Pinner was away at training camps for GB for the Bejing Olmypic build up. It would be like Hugo Lloris or Cassilas essentially leaving on international duty and the team struggling to compete without a world class talent behind (or in front of, depends how you see the goalkeeper on the pitch and leading!) them. But with Beeston as strong as they are right now, I'm not sure it will matter too much who ends up playing in between the posts for them!
In at first choice, we have George Pinner, who is obviously now England's number one and the potential GB starter for the Olympics in Rio. He must have been at Beeston for about eight seasons now, playing with them whilst at university and then staying on to keep his spot, from the age of 18. Almost like a Casillas type then. He was at Ipswich before then (who were a national league side at the time, they have since been demoted back into the regional leagues) and came straight into the squad, taking over from Matt Simkins, a Welsh international at the time, who ended up at HWHC (and was beaten out of incumbent status by Scanlon before his retirement). George had been scouted early on at these times (BBC report), with interest building and performances for the England U21's, and has now finally got his hands on the England shirt after waiting patiently for the opportunity, having been at the Olympic Park as the travelling reserve (not that there was too much travel I think/hope!), just in case Fair went down injured and he was need to fill in for him. A possible reason for why Brothers stepped away from elite level hockey, because of his hard work being ignored in relation to his personal commitments to playing at that level and work/holiday time sacrificed etc.
But for me, there is still room for improvement, or at least, a chance for self reflection on his style. If there is a criticism (and a constructive one), it's his over thinking and hesitation that lets him down from being a new Mason or Vogels or Mowlam. I feel he has been over coached to the point where decisions are not off the cuff but too pre-programmed and thus not going to work in an arena where anything could possibly happen due to the skill level and creativity of players at the upper crust of the international sphere. That and playing too deep and disadvantaging himself, where controlled decisions and aggression would suit him better. Getting more and more international experience, as with the new World Cup set-up and his interest in playing in India's professional HIL season in between December and January as Ashley Jackson is, there is more opportunity to do well for club and country as he gets experience worth its weight in gold under his belt.
With his size he could really dominate the space, like Reuss does for Germany, with a challenging depth, attacking style with diagonal dives out in front and cutting that angle, in order to really take away the visual and literal space for a shooter staring him down. This is something that Ben Cowling, another national league goalkeeper struggles with considerably, opting to stay deep for reaction times but then not exploding out to stop the flick etc. Both he and Pinner could effectively play like Mason and Triggs used to back in the day where they made use of the gigantic profiles to get themselves and their limbs behind any shot. I know that George has the attributes, but it's a case of playing big even though he's big already I guess. Rather than sitting deep as he does, I feel he could step up and push himself to use those fast reactions to react without over analysing, simply through sub-conscious trained eye and reaction, and react to what goes on in front of him, a lot like Cortes does when playing confidently.
Beeston also managed to sign deputy Ashley Watson, who has a lot (well, a significant!) of national league game experience from his time at Doncaster in the North conference. And his ability has showed how much they needed him as they ended up relegated through poor performances without him to steal games for them, last season. He did well against Beeston in a cup game where he kept the score tight about two seasons ago in the semi-finals, and from there impressed enough to manufacture a move to the club down the road. Now he has the chance to play in the premier league division when George is away, a dream for many representative and elite level players here in England.
Actually a year older than Pinner, he likes to stand up and react to shots with active hands (as seen here: link), in spite of his incredibly low hand positioning, which is interesting to see, and in his cameo in the Euro Hockey League qualification tournament looks at ease, which is essential for himself to be confident, and his team to be confident in him for them to play well as a unit. He wears an ice hockey body armour chest set-up with the , in a sort of "half-dutch" set-up to protect the shoulder (in case of the rotator cuff getting hit and causing trouble) and biceps/upper arms in case of missing the ball or when charging down shots, as blogged about previously.
You can see him in action, noting his style of diving and split attempts even with his tall frame, in the following the links below (I couldn't get them to embed for some reason) where he is the goalkeeper wearing all Obo, with the orange/blue inner colour co-ordinated leg guards:
Dan Darby is their third choice and has already been rising up the ranks and has been considered a future star, from the age of 14, which is quite something in itself. Part of England U18s and U16s before that, he was also able to get more experience being around a national league side, before re-signing. At Belper for a season (before last), he , although I'm not sure whether he not or played for them. He has a great opportunity to learn from the goalkeepers above him; training with them and regularly with some of the best shooters in the country which should really help him improve with great speed. It is only matter of time and how much he wants to push himself, as university should offer him the chance to play for a national league side that would definitely be interested in using his services, where can get game time (the only place you get the experience, training just isn't the same!) and learn on the job, having already proven himself. If he can deal with the shot speeds at this age, then he's sure to cope well wherever he goes or whatever opportunity at this level presents him with.
You can see him play via the following link, in all Obo (and yellow jersey!):
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