Topsy turvy game at Saint Hill

East Grinstead managed to topple Canterbury again, this time in their home fixture, although it wasn't the free running 9-1 game they managed last time. Whilst Canterbury were first to tally, they seemed to break down defensively, consistently scoring and then failing to hold the lead. This kind of struggle between pushing up and defending seemed to be their downfall and the team structuring and unit play that helped them achieve their success last season seems to be causing problems this one. If they could keep their lead, from having been now able to catch a game in person, they would be well on their well to clicking as a team and running away with it. And if so would be higher up the table than they are, currently doing themselves a disservice with their play.

Having struggled last season and early on this season for a little while in the 2s, Diccon Stubbings was back in goal for the Kent side. I was expecting Kindler to be playing (and tbh was hoping he would be so I could get a look-in in person), so I assume the coaching staff are looking to shake things up at the back to try and see what they can do to improve performances and get better results. Stubbings seemed able to make a few spectacular saves, but then struggled with shots near him or at times when he would have been better to step off his line and close down the attacker. Tactical decisions, important at this level, like changing the corner defence, with someone needed on the right person, with him unable to extend to reach out to that exposure with the low drag flick that beat him twice, could have helped things as well.

In spite of his stance for short corners, which seems to have been changed again ever so slightly, rather just having his hands limp at his sides lackadaisically, he wasn't able to reach the low, excellently placed drag flicks from East Grinstead's attacking section. Game psychology could be another area for question, as he seemed to get caught up in the tidal wave of goals allowed that can easily put off a goalkeeper from performing at their best, which ironically their team needs of them. He was unfortunate to have faced a spot flick very early on which he could do little to stop, but at times his use of the rhp and choice of rhp perhaps, intending to use its blocking surface to its maximum, was an obvious weakness, as he was beaten past his outstretched hand.

Stubbings' PC stance.

Potton didn't have much to do, but made a double save that almost became a three save sequence at a corner, as the ball bounced up and over, managing to get across to get something on it, to no avail unfortunately. But that battling instinct is something not always seen in his play, which is a good sign for desire and will to go the distance. He was also well beaten by a well placed flick into the top right corner exactly, showing a vulnerability with height/positioning awareness, and continuing the argument about attacking depth at corners according to reaction time and reaching the ball from a close angle, as demonstrated in this save at 5:30, link: Jenniskens save

It wasn't really the best game goalie wise to see for analysis/interest, although the score line would have made it entertaining for the home fans. East Grinstead continue to show that given their strengths as a high scoring team, goalkeeper isn't going to be a massive issue, a lot like Brazil really, until it gets to the clash of the titans in the league/Euro Hockey League etc. Whilst Canterbury prove they need to be able to hold a lead, instead of constantly shooting themselves in the foot by breaking down negatively.

Cowling backstopping Havant

Havant have the most goalkeepers registered in any national league squad for this season upcoming, along with East Grinstead, at the maximum of four. But they arguably have the most depth in the league, although Beeston are in for a good shout as they have enough depth to help them through George Pinner's international training schedule and involvement. Caelen Dillon joins from Winchester, with experience at junior international level, whilst Ben Cowling, Canterbury's first choice for the latter end of last season, with his own junior experience at U21's a while ago, joins via change of work and life circumstances (or however you phrase it!).

Personally from what I have seen, Cowling is not up to scratch, like some of the goalkeepers in the national league, which can be argued with quantified results, analysis and stats. Cowling's main facet is his unbreakable confidence, which all (something you can learn from the career of Ray Clemence, who would dust himself down and get back at it, every game, as they say). Havant looked like they were going to be back in the Premier league by this season, and were doing really well, with great consistency, but then started to falter, losing their confidence in an unexpected loss away to Guildford.

Yes, Cowling has experience, and some natural talent is there, but just because a goalkeeper plays behind a strong team it doesn't make him a good goalkeeper. When judging it should be on current standard of play, it shouldn't be "oh, so and so plays for Man Utd ergo he must be awesome". Cesar at QPR played outstandingly at QPR last season because he had a porous defence in front of him, not the other way round!! I know it sounds harsh, but if we want hockey to be of the same standard as the "professionals", then we have to be critical and push for more analysis and better able athletes in goal, rather than putting whoever wants to go in goal there.

He showed promise to start the season, but then things have seemed to go a little awry. And without that confidence level his game will probably fall to pieces, so he needs to reset and refind his game before the team implode in front of him. A lot like Gomes, sports psychology is incredibly important for goalkeepers; without it athletes struggle, the game is always 90% mental and 10% talent as they say. But it is not just that. I have seen him get beaten by simple shots, such as when making the choice to log against drag flicks, when playing for Canterbury, which are unjustifiable at the elite level, showing poor decision making, and will go punished if this type of thing continues. If he were to attack the ball more rather than be so passive with his size, he would also see different results.

Working with a goalkeeper coach, as they have at Havant, which is quite a rarity in English hockey to be honest, regularly should help him ground his technique for the game. This with working on the fundamentals that are the basis for any elite goalkeeper. But whilst he started strong, things have started to hit a bumpy road.

Here you can see Cowling's newly changed hand positioning

 at short corners as he leads his defence on this PC.

The goalkeepers around the club also demonstrate different approaches in technique and kit, which is better for the game. Although, if the team are used to playing with a certain style of goalkeeper and need perhaps to change it up, they need a reserve goalkeeper that can play in this way too. For instance a like for like match; take Freidel playing differently to Lloris for Tottenham and the results, for an analogy! Matt Weeks featured when Isaacs went down injured last season and Aaron Hoare has featured in the indoor seasons with Isaacs (now at Bromley) not making an appearance, although it would have been interesting to see him have adapted his sweeper keeper to indoor with a radical style, if improving on that of Andrew Charter's throwback development in recent years.

Other than that, Caelen has got all the skills to be an elite starter down the line, and the make-up of a long term champion, if he sticks with it and works hard to get there. With goalkeepers difficult to scout because they mature later, if he sticks to finetuning the technique he has so far, he should definitely be in contention for senior international selection. In my opinion he could have a similar "career" (for some reason ) path like Jimi Lewis, like when he himself was at Havant. He's grounded and shows maturity and the desire to improve, which reflects in his play. He took over as first chance for England U18's over the summer by battling for the shirt at the recent Junior tournament in Spain. He is confident with his feet on short corners, a facet of the contemporary game which allows better rebound control and reactive saves, and shows a strong, grounded base of technique, plus the confidence and game psychology to go with it. And these are sure signs of true potential.

Kindler back in form

So it only took a weekend, but Kindler is back playing at his optimum. Having seen nine go past him last weekend against East Grinstead, any goalkeeper's nightmare, whether or not it was the defence's fault (i.e. it's more annoying if there's nothing you can do about it if the defence were making things difficult by not giving a clear channel for expected shot etc.), it's good to seem him bring that psychological edge to play better and provide his team a win as competition hots up and every game begins to matter, pulling them out of the relegation zone with the three points. Hopefully this will see him continue apace as he and Canterbury look to have a strong season and achieve what they managed the season gone!

Canterbury starting to wobble?

With Canterbury doing a lot worse than they have been so far so so in the new season, Kindler might be in a spot of goalie hell (in terms of those nightmare goals that won't get of your head), if things don't improve over the course of the next few weeks. Unfortunately it's part and parcel of representative hockey at this level, and without having seen the game in person, I can't really discuss the technical analysis of where things caused goals to be conceded. But the goals against doesn't look great from any angle right now sadly.

East Grinstead play a very hit and run, always attacking style of hockey where they will always over run teams that cannot keep the pace defensively or held their shape in a disciplined fashion as they lose focus or self confidence and belief in tying things up again. When faced with this kind of threat, a time needs to either look to slow down the pace of the game, or go on the counter attack. If a team holds the shape properly, then it can be counteracted, just look what Wigan did against a now free flowing Tottenham last season, Everton also. If these can of defensive breakdowns are becoming more regular within a game, then the goalkeeper needs to adapt as a sweeper to come out and challenge more to help out in these situations, in order to eliminate goal scoring chances rather than letting themselves be faced with such precise shots. Just look at what Lloris is able to do right now in terms of shutting down attacks, against Cardiff especially. Sorry about the future reference, but it's a useful analogy!

In these kinds of games, the goalkeeper is essentially holding back the tide. This is the kind of game that the goalkeeper has to forget about losing and focus on reducing the deficit. I.e. making sure the game doesn't get out of hand. Just look at how well Guzan played for Villa, enough to get called into the USA squad as a result. And if the team don't put it behind them quickly and recently mentally and just focus on the game in hand, things honestly don't look good. This is the same team that pretty much just missed out . Where others have reinforced , Canterbury perhaps have not got that option. But their strength is that they play as a team rather than a band of mercenaries or individuals (read Man City of last season!) and should stick to their strengths to get back points in a league that is now stronger than it was last season. They need to get back that strong start if they want to sort things out.

I'd back Kindler to sort things out and reright the ship given his internal balance (sports psych wise) and the maturity that he can bring to his game. It's what Stubbings struggled with so greatly, who has gone off the . As soon as a goalie has a confidence collapse in the span of the game, the more they feel useful or too overly self critical, the more these beliefs play out as they lose the grip on their confidence and thus playing abilities within the game and it just becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. There is also a huge amount of psychology relating to sport and this is a case in point of where it affects anyone's performance. Hopefully Canterbury will refind that spark and self belief, as I'm sure they can (no such thing as can't, no point dwelling on negativity, it's just deconstructive not good for anyone!), otherwise they're going to need , before the management, coach and team lose confidence in whoever it is between the pipes. Goalkeeping is about confidence: the confidence to get to free balls under pressure or fear of injury, the confidence to play well in tough games or against the league leaders and so on. But if a team wants to do well, they need to trust that their goalkeeper has their back. If they don't, the team mojo goes adrift.

Ironically Cowling whose main elite skill is his mental strength has left for work reasons, playing at Havant where he is instigating a turnaround, so he's not there to be put in to stop the rot for now. So Kindler and Canterbury really need to just refocus and act as if nothing has happened. Refind that confidence and get on with the task at hand, without fearing relegation, otherwise they're going to struggle, and the club might end up being a goalie graveyard like Surbiton was before Kettle came in and shored things up at the back.

Kindler: Canterbury's go to goalie

With the signing of Antoni Kindler, Canterbury have shored up their goalkeeping department after the struggles and confusions of last season after they had gotten off to such a strong and dominant start. Amy Tran played for Canterbury women's in her playing career days, and Tom Sheridan was at Surbiton, but this is the latest of any North American field (to them!) hockey goalies playing in the British Isles (on the continent; mistaking Canadians for Americans is a little dicey culturally being so different as any nation - and person - differs, just like Aussies and Zealanders!). Ben Cowling has gone in the opposite direction (figuratively at least, although he's ended up down by the south coast rather than the eastern counties!) after the work/hockey/life decision to go down to Portsmouth and Havant, and Stubbings has been dropped from the starting spot for now as he rebuilds his confidence, game and hopefully form, with the implosion he faced post-January.

Simon Triggs is still around if they ever need a fill in for injury, and offers a very experienced and quality veteran presence and a mentoring role for both of the first and second choice options; Kindler still being young as a goalie. This itself is incredibly advantageous for himself, his nation and whoever he plays for! Seeing as he can only get better and better, according to how much he wants to be the best around. I'm not sure how long he will be in England, given the rules on overseas players. And the experience will be incredibly useful for him in spite of this, as this will be the highest level of club competition he has played him and will a good chance and place for him to learn as he goes and adjust to the level and speed of play.

With Canada not having qualified for the World Cup, Canterbury will have the luxury of having his services all season, as he will not be called up for this commitment and can therefore be available to commit all his time, energy and effort all season, with no commitment clashes. Kindler is therefore the "go to guy" for the Kent side, entrusting them to push for a strong finish after the wobble that happened last season. If they start strong and have Kindler to keep up the strong pace, then this is a distinct possibility and with his desire to prove himself and that fight and energy, I'm sure he can do so. He was very unfortunate to have lost out to Argentina at the final outing, for the London Olympics, otherwise Canada would have booked their place in the competition.

Kindler has that extra push to compete game in game out, and does so with panache, having fought to prise the number one shirt off Dave Carter early on as a young goalie at 21 (link), and could be Canada's starter for quite some time, which is incredibly important and essential for them to push for that Olympic placing in years to come. Without Kindler they just won't be able to do so. Not that he should be compared in   a scenario of "the next Simon Mason" given that each goalkeeper is unique and therefore is not a carbon copy of someone who played before them (just like people; we're all different, have different approaches/qualities/styles/ways of doing things... sidetracking fail!). And with that friendly competition (a picture paints a thousand words, just check this out, very emotive! link), and a first/second choice goalie relationship is better without petty animosity and friendly rivalry, there is that desire to compete with each other to push yourself and therefore club/country, whereas the negativity present.

And this is not seen in the English system always, so Kindler can bring that with him across the seas, versus not having anyone to push you to do well and the pointless incumbent status i.e. proven self so current performances don't mater (as no competition and not everyone is so ambitious/self critical for improvement purposes and has that desire to be the best ever). But then again if Canterbury's management manage their goalies like pro football teams, so if he does falter, will be dropped in order to motivate his play, so there is that added motivation, not just from himself to prove his quality given the chance to play at this level.

He has all the attributes though to really compete and not just do well, but to really shine, at this level. He has good reflexes and reaction times, makes use of a good stance to move out from rather than limit himself and prohibit movements, is althetic and acrobatic, explosive and agile with his movements; quick to the first save and then up again and quickly across for the rebound save. As well as being happy to challenge and step out and attack, combined with the intelligent reading of the play and controlled redirects for ensuring no immediate second chance scoring opportunities. All of these important qualities are demonstrated in the clip below, where he shows all the signs of an eventual world class talent, which all young goalies (oldies too even!) should learn from.

This clip, from a training session with his national team mates also shows his elite level of athleticism, able to get across swiftly with precision to shots wide of him, combining hand-eye co-ordination with quickly executed agile athleticism, diving out wide to turn away shots with rhp and glove at lower body height, for example.

Equipment wise, he's a TK foam man and prefers the teeny ice hockey elbows (bordering on the junior size), being Canadian and from the land of ice hockey, I'm sure they're more easy to get hold of! But in all serious, this style of elbow pad is an insightful choice. With the , it protects the bone (which is incredibly fragile and will be disastrous for playing career injury wise, given its motion and ball joint versus an arm break) and also helps prevent turf burns and the skin shedding when sliding out across the playing surface on a slide tackle/block or dive. He only wears the one on the right arm and leaves the left free for more movement for glove saves across the body, like Pontifex and Stubbings even.

I'm not sure how things will pan out for Stubbings. Perhaps he'll be playing 2's for the season and hoping to reconstruct his mental strengths and game and start over next season. Many feel Stubbings "dropped the ball", to use the football analogy, which implies the literal and clangers caused, after he went from hero to zero in a sadly short space of time. Conceding six goals in a game is not what a coach expects when he puts a goalie's name on the team sheet and January onwards saw things go awry and haphazard after such a strong start by the newly promoted team. Cowling was brought in, and restored order for a little bit (with a clean sheet against EG most notably), although in the games that mattered for the Euro Hockey League qualifications, he struggled with the basics and arguably let his team down after all that effort to get into the  for the first time in the existence of the EHL tournament.

As you can see here in the game against Reading in which Stubbings featured, the talent and ability is there, with some unbelievable saves, especially against Rich Mantell, but things just weren't to be, as the overweighing burdens of responsibility for the young goalie became a self fulfilling prophecy:

Triggs the wily veteran is still there in case things go bad this season, not that I expect them to. And he provides a  useful option and serves an interesting role as third choice. Normally the third choice in any sport; football or hockey, is the upcoming youngster that will switch places with second choice within a season or two if they word hard and impress enough, and then on to starter. But here, he is seeing out the last days of his playing career, like a Brad Freidel scenario (although I'm sure he could play as well as Brad, if called upon to!). And brings with him a depth of experience and understanding of the specialist position of goalkeeper. He can offer the right goalie mentor relationship and advice, with his understanding, to help the transition of the next generation for Canterbury, whether for Antoni in the short term, or for Diccon as the projected expected long term future beween the posts.

For the upcoming season I think Canterbury and Kindler are a match made in heaven. Personally I think Kindler is the dogs balls (or a slightly less balshy phrase!); he's got all the raw talent that can be refined and utilised and put to good use at this level. I can see him pulling off what David Kettle managed with Surbiton last season and if they click, Canterbury should do much better than ever before in recent seasons, with a good combination and continuation across the whole season, carried through rather than just a strong start and wobbly finish. I'd love to see Kindler do so, and honestly think it can be done. It will be a good chance to see a talent like this in person, and hopefully I'll be able to get to a game to do so, to scout his performance and get some footage of his game play and style.