Let’s admit it! A tough start to the season against possibly the strongest opposition to be found outside the Premier League. In the first two matches of the season our Ladies 1st Team would probably have accepted 1-0 losses. However hockey matches are long affairs requiring resources of fitness and concentration that we are still trying to build. So in spite of being only 1-0 down at half time the Ladies 1st Team struggled in the 2nd half and went down 7-0 to Sevenoaks away on Saturday. Harsh refereeing decisions didn’t help but the team is ready to pick itself up for a big home game against Bedford this Saturday.

The ladies 2s had a disappointing and undeserved loss to Sonning at the weekend. After a bit of a scrappy first half (not helped by a substandard pitch surface), we were down 1-0  and we found ourselves in the same position as the week before.
Knowing that we deserved to win we came out and had a great second half, unfortunately Sonning scored a cracking straight strike from a short corner and we were down 2-0. A pass across the D from Maz Goriup to Emma Cox who smashed it in the goal took us to 2-1 and we spent the last 5 minutes of the game fighting to equalise with a MoM performance from Steph Taylor. Sadly we didn’t quite make it but on to Oxford Hawkes at home next week!

The Ladies 3s went up against Eastcote, away, this week in our second match of the season. We unfortunately came away with a 4-0 loss, conceding 3 of the 4 goals in the first half. We really stepped up our game in the second half as we worked harder together, along with very minimal legs on the bench, to have a really great second half showing continued improvement as our pretty much brand new squad starts to gel both on and off the pitch. A fantastic MoM performance from our new Vice Captain Jenny Hammond as she worked incredibly hard in defence to keep us stable throughout the game! We continue to build week on week and look forward to improving our match day results as the weeks progress.

4s enjoyed a convincing 4-0 away win over Staines 3s thanks to some beautiful passing hockey. Gill Broderick scored a brace, and there was one a piece for Laura Dawson and Skye MacLeod. Woman of the Week was central midfielder Olivia Jeeves.

Ladies 6 Report;

When a captain puts out her team for the first time, she needs to familiarise herself with everyone’s positions and learn names. On top of this, I was a player short and no subs!
Feeling rather nervous, especially after seeing their sub line up, we were ready to push back.
Most of the girls by this time had their taped numbers tangled in their hair, but this did not fraise us.
Our mid field ‘Emily L’, Helena and ‘Emily A’, were exceptional, spreading and passing the ball far and wide, enabling our left and right wingers Sharon and Clem, to charge towards the goal.
The team worked tiresomely and grew much more confidence with the guidance and experience of our 5’s captain Pauline, (who kindly came down to our aid this week to be the 10th man) was like a true Trojan, keeping the game strong and the ball moving towards their goal. It was not long before our attackers ran in the D and after a few scrappy hits, Sharon put the ball in the back of the net. It wasn’t long before we were on the attack again and Sharon netting our second goal.
Our defence was on fire, Stella (who’s performance earned her Man-of-the -match) and Eva
Were both, running back tirelessly up and down the pitch ensuring the oppo were stopped, but also creating some fantastic runs upfield.
But in the middle of the second half, Stevenage’s maturer players managed to outwit our youngsters and score one back.
It’s very rare for a team to gel and play with such maturity on the first game, leaving me and our GK Helen, plenty of time to catch up on our summer break and few tactical points we needed to brush up on.
With a performance like that and with only 10 men, this team is not to be messed with, and look forward to the season ahead.
Thank you also, to all the parents who voiced their support on the side line and helped with moving the goals.