Manx Hockey Blog 5: Steve Cottier’s routines exposed
Steve Cottier's secret tactics board
Pasty and Thad reveal a blog exclusive, while also listing five fun facts about Tony Mansell
WE had always assumed that Steve Cottier’s short corner routines were the result of instantaneous thought and momentary reactions – an exquisite combination of directional changes, passing players, ducking and diving (Not diving, definitely not diving – Ed) which had appeared under a light bulb in Steve’s mind as the ball was pushed out to him.
However, last week, in the name of investigative journalism, Pasty and Thad broke into Cottier Heights and discovered that these attacking routines are in fact meticulously planned.
While we fear that exposing the attached photograph might give Ollie Steriopulos a unique insight as he prepares to defend against Steve Cottier this forthcoming weekend, we can now exclusively reveal Steve’s short corner routine planning in the photo up there in the corner. If you look closely enough, you can see little green marks where Steve has the option to fall over his own stick...
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LAZY LIKE SATURDAY MORNING
One of the greatest pleasures of heading to the north of the island is the opportunity to catch up with northern stalwart Rob McKenzie, always on the sidelines, or on the pitch with a whistle, a warm greeting and a smile. Unless, that is, you happened to have an 11am fixture last week.
Last Saturday, Rob woke up, and followed his normal Saturday morning routine. At 11.30, after breakfast and his weekly rigorous Bollywood dance practice, Rob chose to look at his computer and check what delights lay ahead during the afternoon. This was approximately 25 minutes too late for fixture which Rob was down for umpiring.
Fortunately, everybody in Ramsey officially lives at the Grammar School and therefore everybody’s hero, James ‘Topman’ Aitcheson lived up to his name, came out to save the day and umpired last Saturday’s critical match between Ramsey Rookies and Castletown Cosney.
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GUESS WHO?
Which player brought more protection to indoor hockey on Monday than the entire Vikings’ backline defending short corners with their own personal collection of novelty balloons?
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FIVE FUN FACTS ABOUT TONY MANSELL
We’re all used to seeing him, out there for Harlequins on a Saturday, achieving such feats as putting four goals past Pasty last week, but how much do we actually know about Tony Mansell? Here’s five things you we’re sure you don’t know about Tony Mansell:
1, Tony is officially the second fastest Mansell ever to live on the Isle of Man, having won the annual Chichester Penny Farthing Race for three consecutive years from 1992.
2, Of all the people who have played for Harlequins through the years, Tony Mansell has been one of them.
3, Tony’s hair is actually made out of small strands of silver.
4, Tony was awarded these small strands of silver by the Alpo-Po Tribe of the Lower Nile, who adopted him as a spiritual leader in the late 1970s and worship him on a daily basis.
5, Tony notes his finest achievement as being the discovery that a peanut is neither a pea, nor a nut.
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BRATT ATTACK
Tony Mansell’s four goals in a game at the weekend signalled the first hat-trick he’s ever scored for Harlequins since his previous game.
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PREDICTIONS
It was an absolutely tremendous performance from Martin ‘Giggsy’ Moore last week. There’s a sentence they said would never be uttered, but it signifies the first marker down for the predictions this year. Giggsy set the league alight with a glittering 13 points from the 14 games played, including no less that two correct scorelines, scraping in a nose ahead of Pasty who finished with 12 points and a good few lengths ahead of Thad who had to make do with nine.
This week, we have our Countdown wannabe, Phil ‘The Thrill’ Riley who’s earned the right to do the predictions from correctly guessing the anagrams in last week’s blog (albeit with an extra H in John, but let’s not split airs, and we can’t have you predicting every week John). We’ll see whether we jumble his scores up depending on how well he does.
Doog kluc Hilp.
Have a good ’un!
Pasty and Thad
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THE THRILL’S PREDICTIONS
Prem
Castletown Celts 2 v 6 Bacchas A
Ramsey A 2 v 2 Bacchas B
Valkyrs A 9 v 0 Valkyrs B
Vikings A 7 v 2 Vikings B
Div One
Castletown Cammags 3 v 1 Harlequins A
Bacchas Colts 3 v 3 Bacchas C
Saracens Sabres 6 v 1 Vikings C
Valkyrs C 5 v 2 Castletown Cushag Colts
Div Two
Castletown Cosney 4 v 2 Vikings D
Harlequins B 2 v 6 Ramsey Rookies
Saracens Sharks 2 v 5 Castletown Southerners
Valkyrs D 3 v 1 Bacchas D
U16s
Castletown U16 3 v 2 Valkyrs U16
Ramsey Rascals 8 v 0 Harlequins U16
Ramsey Rogues 1 v 4 Bacchas U16
PASTY’S PREDICTIONS
Prem
Castletown Celts 2 v 8 Bacchas A
Ramsey A 3 v 3 Bacchas B
Valkyrs A 5 v 0 Valkyrs B
Vikings A 7 v 1 Vikings B
Div One
Castletown Cammags 2 v 3 Harlequins A
Bacchas Colts 4 v 2 Bacchas C
Saracens Sabres 4 v 1 Vikings C
Valkyrs C 5 v 0 Castletown Cushag Colts
Div Two
Castletown Cosney 4 v 3 Vikings D
Harlequins B 2 v 3 Ramsey Rookies
Saracens Sharks 2 v 5 Castletown Southerners
Valkyrs D 3 v 3 Bacchas D
U16s
Castletown U16 3 v 2 Valkyrs U16
Ramsey Rascals 2 v 0 Harlequins U16
Ramsey Rogues 1 v 3 Bacchas U16
THAD’S PREDICTIONS
Prem
Castletown Celts 0 v 6 Bacchas A
Ramsey A 3 v 2 Bacchas B
Valkyrs A 6 v 1 Valkyrs B
Vikings A 5 v 2 Vikings B
Div One
Castletown Cammags 4 v 1 Harlequins A
Bacchas Colts 2 v 3 Bacchas C
Saracens Sabres 4 v 0 Vikings C
Valkyrs C 4 v 1 Castletown Cushag Colts
Div Two
Castletown Cosney 3 v 0 Vikings D
Harlequins B 3 v 6 Ramsey Rookies
Saracens Sharks 0 v 5 Castletown Southerners
Valkyrs D 2 v 2 Bacchas D
U16s
Castletown U16 3 v 1 Valkyrs U16
Ramsey Rascals 3 v 0 Harlequins U16
Ramsey Rogues 4 v 5 Bacchas U16
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Weather for Isle of Man
Monday 27 May 2013
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