An epic weekend for the Ladies of Southgate Hockey Club with all four teams that played gaining impressive victories and 12 points!!
Match of the week was a thrilling Ladies 2 win against a strong Henley side. The game began with a blow as Henley scored a short corner within the first 5 minutes. What followed was one of the most passionate and hard-working performances many of the supporters had ever witnessed. Spurred on by cheers (and mulled wine) from the balcony, the team fought back to maintain nearly all the possession in the first half. With solid leads from CM Lucy Thayer and beautiful passing round the back the team looked by far the better squad, but we’re not able to put the ball in the net. This all changed ten minutes into the second half. With a stunning bit of skill from Maddy Davies, Mia found herself in the D with the ball on her open stick. With the whole balcony screaming her on she scored an absolutely exceptional goal into the bottom left corner. But that wasn’t enough for Mia. With 15 mins to go she found herself in front of goal again and this time, on her reverse, smashed the ball through the keeper to take us 2-1 up. It was the composure and maturity demonstrated by the L2s now that really warrants recognition. Holding onto a 2-1 lead in those tense moments is something that much more experienced teams struggle with but out juniors and seniors alike showed what they’re made of and held on till the final whistle. An absolutely exceptional performance and MOM to goal scorer Mia.
The ladies 3s go into the festive break on a high. With the three wise men watching, the ladies were keen to give a good performance full of more fizz than in the post match prosecco. There was certainly fire from the start with more chances on goal than the number of disciples. In the first half with the ball expertly worked up the pitch from the defence and mids, a cracker of a goal came from Caitlin, followed soon after by one from Gaby G, putting us 2-0 ahead. In the second half, despite many close chances, the score remained unchanged. Everyone worked well for each other with great linking play meaning man of the match votes were spread throughout the team, but by far the brightest shining star was Charlotte Kelly for her tenacity and great work on and off the ball.
Hard fought game from the 4s, expertly coached by Jake and supported by parents and grandparents, this weekend away v Chiswick 3s. We found it tough breaking down a solid defence and getting past a skilful keeper but were rewarded with a short corner goal deflected in by Alice Ward early in the 1st half. That was to be the only score bagging us a our 5th straight win on the trot with Julie Rodriguez once again Woman of the Week.
The Ladies 5s also managed to see off NPL 1-0 and are now up to 6th in their division.