Ladies 1st XI Vs West Bridgford 5

Known-about crisis before the game. No Elizabeth (They shall not pass) Turner!

Who would step-up  and pad-up as Keeper? The trumpet call went out across the nation and Freya (Meteor) Beaumont stepped up. Freya was cheered and thanked by all team players (and team supporters) as she padded up. “Meteor” on the pitch, “Show-Stopper” in goal   as she “stopped the show” of a  strong West Bridgford team overtaking us in the League.

Because of rolling subs, not everyone below was on the pitch at the same time.

Louise (Poacher) Price on the left wing kept our spectators on their toes as the first 5 minutes went past without her scoring an opening goal. As now seems customary with Louise. WB were not paying her much attention, so she took advantage and weaved unexpectedly  into the D for a swift  poaching  strike; 1-0  after 7 minutes!

So WB then double-marked the ever-dangerous Louise;   and so left Becky (Comet) Humphris  unmarked. So 4 minutes later, Becky  took advantage and  slid one in. 2-0 up after 11  minutes and she did it again at 15  to make it 3-0 up.

Undeterred, WB kept up throughout the game, a series of strong breakaway attacks which were skillfully parried by Eleanor (Rock of Gibraltar) Wallace,  Jo (Barrier of the Pyrenees) Shaw and  Steph (the Wall)  Hagerty. As our valiant  keeper was left slightly exposed by a more distant attacking midfield, some WB attackers seemed to squeak through, only  to be met by Freya (the Show-Stopper) Beaumont  in goal. No chance given.

 Still 3-0 up until Ruby (Rocket) Ryan on the right wing sped up.   She was “Hard to catch” unless WB had a motor-bike, which they must have left behind.  At 23 minutes, Ruby rattled the backboard in goal  to make it 4-0 up. And Becky (Comet) Humfris took a penalty stroke just before half-time to make it 5-0 and her hat-trick. 

WB  still looked full of vigour  and threat with their speedy wings in particular. So at half time skipper Eleanor (Rock of Gibraltar) Wallace re-emphasised our need to play wide.   Use our wings more.  Our tactical plan must be to continue to create “possession hockey”. Clickety-click, short, accurate passes, keeping possession.

Our midfield had been outstanding in this in the first half but it had to be the whole team doing it. Caroline (the Incomparable) Brackenbury should help with more positional calling to our forward line and our doughty defenders should not lose touch with our  attacking midfield.

Caroline  was aided and abetted by   Sophie (Swift to Pounce) Atkinson  who was making life a constant headache for her opposite number, and at the same time finding unmarked forwards. Her consistent strength and amazing speed must have rattled our WB  opponents. 

Caroline was  also supported by Rose (the Crafty) Cartwright who, with her very clever reading of the game, kept plotting the shutdown of her opposite number, (with 100% success),  while opening up new opportunities,  and gloom in the WB ranks.

Helped also by Kate (the Tiger) Parker,  who must be a shoo-in for the next Great Britain Olympic sprint relay team.   Marking their very fast left wing, if Kate was caught wrong-footed   by a highly sophisticated   and well-drilled WB  ploy, her sensational speed and skill not only caught up her opponent but tackled back, collected and created new openings.

And all the time Caroline was incomparably collecting and distributing passes to where they could (and did) cause most damage to the WB defence.

So what were our forwards doing?  Using our well drilled and well-rehearsed tactical ploys , learned “again and again” at Thursday training so that it becomes second nature.   In the first half, this was worked excellently.

 In the second half,  it moved into top gear. Evie (Shooting Star) Bates was arrowing through the WB defence and sliding the ball sideways to a waiting unmarked colleague. Gemma (the Jet-Propelled) Robinson was invisibly and unexpectedly (to WB) doing the slicing- same and  kept moving like lightning for diagonal return passes and making more, as she kept up the penetration.

Ruby and Louise had the speed to overtake anyone and cross the ball to  WB’s  D  where Becky (the Comet ) Humpris was lurking like a sentinel at the head of the D,  for any over-casual clearance.

By full-time, Becky had scored 2 more (5 in total), Caroline 1 , Ruby another   1 .  So   9-0   at full-time  as a result of very thoughtful play, and trying to use our drills to best effect .

We kept our place at the top of our League Division table.   Very well done, everyone.  And thank you to our vocal, very much-valued, supporters on the touchline. .  We even had our club chairman Simon Recaldin arrive early for his next match  and join our  vocal supporters…and admire.