W 2-1 

Report by Jo Price

Another hot sultry morning with everyone relieved that we were having a 10.00 am PB.  

 We were beginning to wonder if we had bitten off more than we could chew with the number of games organised , as by Thursday  we did not have a full team let alone any subs but a rallying call from Kim BL on the spond and a number of our keen young players offered to play for us before crossing pitches for the rescheduled SL game.

Our opponents started the brighter but once we were into our stride there were some lovely passages of play from both teams.  We were a mid/defender heavy side  and with a strong MH defence goals were going to be hard to come by  but determined play from all three lines led to the first goal for the home side scored by Megan who put in a ball from the pads of the GK at a short corner.

Shortly afterwards we lost Annette Woodrow when a ball flew up hitting her in the mouth, MH were now on the charge  and Southgate conceded two back to back short corners , the second one  reaping reward w hen Gate were unable to clear and the post players stepping from their line opened a space for the opposition to slot home.

With the game evenly poised at 1–1 we took to the field for the second half knowing that our subs were imminently about to depart for  the other game there was much discussion as to who was on or off and where they were playing and Capt Ellie HC was heard to say ‘ let’s go on the pitch and we can see if there are any gaps’. 

We also were now playing with only one ‘natural  ‘ forward Happily for us – warrior that she is – Annette W had returned  to the fray and set about bolstering our attack. We continued driving forward for a second goal and  unlucky with several opportunities were eventually rewarded when a cross from the left was met by Annette on the right and roofed into the top of the net for a goal any team would have applauded! 

As our subs disappeared it seemed that our opponents multiplied – but maybe that was a mirage in the midday sun. 

MH were now pressing hard and with our defence now comprising a combined age of 305 yrs we were beginning to

feel the heat in more ways than one. 

Happily for us MH could not seem to find their shooting boots and with our Flutes sharp shooter Caroline Hunt skying a cracking shot and other attempts going wide of the post we were able to see out the game for a hard fought win . 

It was an excellent all round performance from all concerned  and we get to do it all again on Saturday in the re match.