Never let it be said that the Ladies side of the club doesn’t have bottle. With two visitors to A&E on Saturday the Ladies still managed 2 out of 3 wins. With no 1st or 2nd team matches the spotlight was thrown on the 3rds who have had a great start to their season.
The ladies 3s played a dramatic game against a physical Staines squad. After less than a minute had passed, the captain Ros took one for the team by putting her face in the way of the oppositions stick, and was off for the remainder of the game. Staines capitalised on the resulting lull in energy and concentration, scoring an early goal. With the score still at 1-0 at half time, a rousing team talk from Sam meant that they were ready to show Staines some better hockey. With some fab runs from super fast Chloe, and the whole team showing a far better intensity and decision making, cob managed to push one into the back of the net after the keeper failed to clear it away from goal. A few more agonising close misses ensued, including a short corner that connected with the post, but in the last five minutes Mandy clinched the win by slipping it past the keeper. With some hairy closing minutes when they failed to keep possession, the whistle went at 2-1. Lots to learn from today, but the team will be going into a big game next week against top of the table on a positive. The tenacity and composure in the face of a physical and aggressive opposition is to be commended. Man of the match votes again were spread throughout the team, but Victoria came out victorious for the great saves she made during her debut in goal.
The Ladies 4s came second on Saturday but there is still hope that they can start to build in coming weeks.
The 5th team is now up to 8th in Division 2 after beating top of the table Ashford. A fantastic result. Man of The Match Pippa also took one for the team and a visit to A & E for stitches , this time from a ball rather than the stick and not before scoring 3 goals!! Annette also scored, as well as driving Pippa to hospital. For the last 15 minutes Southgate were down to 9 1/2 players (the half being an injured Beth) but managed to keep an attacking Ashford side out to record a famous 4-2 win.