Southgate’s U16 Midfield Engine Eventually Overpowers Tenacious St Albans

Southgate U16A Girls 4–2 St Albans

Southgate’s Midfield Engine Eventually Overpowers Tenacious St Albans

Sunday, November 2, 2025 – Oaklands College, St Albans

Match Report by Simon Holmes

Southgate’s U16A girls gave their supporters an emotional ride on the way to securing their second consecutive victory in the England Hockey U16 Girls Tier 1 Supra League Zone G, running out 4–2 winners against a resolute St Albans. The result keeps them joint top with Hertford, both on six points, and sets up a crucial meeting with Reading next Sunday with everything still to play for in the hunt for a top two spot from a group of five teams.

Southgate set up robustly for the starting pushback, their confidence underpinned by considerable strength in depth and the strategic genius of their mercurial coach Harry Haynes, who had devised at least six or seven wily short corner routines. The supremely efficient oversight of team manager Georgie ensured everything ran smoothly off the pitch as well as on it. St Albans, meanwhile, had done their homework on the likely structure and quality of the Southgate team, deploying their stronger players at the base of their spine rather than the front, hoping to blunt the inevitable ‘Red and Black’ onslaught to come.

A strong St Albans start removed any hints of complacency from the minds of Southgate supporters, as an early St Albans’ short corner goal caught Southgate by surprise, leaving us1–0 down after the first quarter. While it was not an ideal start, it did serve to focus the minds of the players and undoubtedly made them more receptive to Harry’s wise words at the break.

Southgate’s response was built on strong defensive foundations. The defence of Martha L, Lucy, Abby and Annabelle H (aka Goo) provided a deeply rooted foundation to the team structure, repeatedly executing cool, calm and collected switching of play from side to side. This enabled Sophie and Bella to make penetrating forays up the left and right flanks, with Sophie and Bella both carrying and passing the ball with characteristic composure to create opportunities for our midfield and forwards.

Our central defenders outthought the St Albans high press with powerful aerials, ensuring that time whiled away in training on the more showy flair skills favoured by the youth of today was not entirely an idle distraction. At least six or seven of these aerials were deftly received by our powerful midfield engine of Annabelle K, Lucienne, Genevieve and Ava, who dominated the game with a combination of individual ball skill and tactical vision. A steady stream of Southgate short corners was already well under way, one of which led to an equaliser after a strong hit from Annabelle K ended up in the St Albans goal, possibly via a deflection from the well-positioned stick of Lucienne M along the way (precise details of which are already submerged in the murky mists of time). 1–1 at half-time, with strong Southgate momentum.

Southgate minds were determinedly focused on the quest for the lead as the game resumed for the third quarter. Our midfield ensured a relentless onslaught of ball to our predatory forward line of Martha H, Jasmyn, Sofia, Isla and Nora, creating an almost uncountable number of forays into the St Albans’ D. (To be honest, coach Harry did actually count the number of D forays in the game, and it added up to 21. To measure is to manage, or so they say…)

It will not have been lost on any of the Southgate contingent under the age of 18 that 6 + 7 = 13, and, by pure coincidence, further arithmetic mastery from Harry ‘How Many?’ Haynes identified that 13 Southgate short corners punctuated the match. Luckily, we had many short corner tricks up our sleeves, including a throwback to an old 3–4–3 formation from U14 days that was tried for one of them. Finally, Goo diligently mopped up after one such short corner, her final pass shot delivered at a perfectly regal pace, slipping neatly past six or seven defenders and the St Albans goalkeeper to put Southgate 2–1 ahead with the final quarter to go. Our positive momentum continued.

As the fourth quarter commenced, some of the Southgate supporters had identified a clear pattern of one goal per quarter, so were hoping for a 3–1 win (whilst also bracing themselves for a possible 2–2 draw and the nerve-wracking prospect of shuffles). We found comfort in the ever-reliable performance of goalkeeper Imogen. Whilst she was relatively untroubled by St Albans attacks for much of the game, she remained supremely vigilant, and when called into action she nonchalantly made six or seven crucial saves with ease. Our prayers were answered as Martha H deftly added a third goal, again from a short corner, giving us the much-desired two goal cushion that we thought would allow us to watch the remainder of the game out in our more typical state of serene calm. However, this was not to be, as Martha’s post-goal scoring exuberance apparently led her to be awarded a green card for reasons unclear to many, while St Albans pulled themselves back into contention with a late goal, taking the game to 3–2. These worrying developments did absolutely nothing to relieve the nerves of the Southgate supporters, who were already suffering the consequences of caffeine withdrawal due to the inexplicable closure of the Oaklands College café. Thankfully, as the game drew to a close, Annabelle K perfectly dissected the St Albans midfield to find Ava in space, who then herself made an equally elegant pass to allow Genevieve to dance through several of the opposition to beat the keeper in a one-on-one and take the game to the safety of a 4–2 scoreline.

Well done to all of the Southgate players, coaching and management staff, and also to the St Albans team who fought tirelessly and doggedly to the end, ensuring no one invested in the game could relax for a moment. Thank you also to the Southgate travelling supporters who endured the coffee desert of Oaklands College, ensuring the players arrived in good spirits and at least six to seven minutes early.

We look forward to welcoming Reading for a crucial match at home this Sunday at 10:45am.At least we know coffee will be available to calm the spectators’ nerves.

Up The Gate!