Football:
Havant & Waterlooville FC
The Hawks continue to struggle in the Vanarama National League South. As I write they are in the relegation places. They have a number of quality players but so far this season Manager Lee Bradbury has been unable to find the right formula in the league. Hawks have though been performing well in the Hampshire Senior Cup and the FA Trophy.
Languishing at the bottom with just three winsis out of character. The Hawks have been shipping goals. Already they have conceded more goals in the league than in the whole of last season. (See reporter Simon Payne’s fuller analysis of Hawk’s season to date in this edition of Postcode). Manager Lee Bradbury will need all his experience in the weeks ahead to tighten-up Hawks leaky defences. National League survival depends on it.
Pompey
The goals have at last started to go in for Pompey. Still looking strong and purposeful and with the goals now going in, they are still a value bet for promotion. Perhaps as Division 2 Champions. For the fans there is much to look forward to at Fratton Park in the new-year. Following their 1-0 win over Accrington Stanley in round 2, Pompey go to Championship side Ipswich in round 3. Fixtures will be played between 8 and 11 January. Pompey last played Ipswich in the FA Cup in 2008 and went on to win the Cup at Wembley!
Havant Rugby Club
Havant RC’s campaign in London 1 South Division so far has not lived up to expectations. The team’s home form saw them win four of the six games played at Hooks Lane up to 5 December. On the road however, they had failed to win a single game. With an away trip to arch rivals Gosport & Fareham RC facing them on 12 December, Havant’s head coach Will Knight, said after his sides home win over local rivals Tottonians on 5 December, that the victory had come at just the right time to boost the teams confidence ahead of the difficult trip to Gosport. Any game against the old foe is likely to have an extra edge, but this time it meant a lot to both teams with each toiling in the bottom half of the league.
Tennis
Within days of leading Great Britain’s long awaited victory in Belgium to win the Davis Cup for the first time in 79 years, world number two Andy Murray could not contain his frustration with the Lawn Tennis Association, the body responsible for tennis in Great Britain. Speaking about the LTA’s lack of action and support to help young British talent Murray said “It is concerning not to have any juniors (good enough to play) in the grand slams. That is something we were always good atâ€
The LTA is wealthy. The Association’s income between 2010 and 2014 was in excess of £335m. Much of it coming from the All England club’s annual surpluses from the Wimbledon Championships that the club pays over to the LTA.
In this troubled state, British tennis is unlikely to prosper any time soon. The hapless LTA seems bereft of any understanding or idea of what it takes or how long it needs to produce talented men and women players capable of competing for Great Britain at Grand Slams and for men in the World Group of the Davis Cup. A clear science exists to explain the pathway to the development of talented in young people in sports. The mystery therefore is why the LTA apparently is completely unaware of its existence and that of the scientists working within the field?
