Ladies 1st XI Vs North Notts 2

Captain Eleanor (Rock of Gibraltar) Wallace welcomed team members  Freya (Meteor) Beaumont, (Jet-Propelled Gemma Robinson, Tigress Sophie (Swift to Pounce) Atkinson, Fiona (Greyhound) Sweetman, the Incomparable Caroline Brackenbury, (Bounding Leopardess) Sophie Runciman, (Rocket) Ruby Ryan, Jo (Foxy) Foxall, (Lightning) Liv Biddulph, Evie (Shooting Star) Bates, (Stellar) Claire Stuttard, (Unseen Raider) Rachael Grupping, and (Barrier of the Pyrenees) Jo Shaw 

plus welcoming the enthusiastic, noisy, happy members of the various supporters’ clubs of All-Stars Sensations,  Freya Beaumont, Ruby Ryan, Sophie Atkinson and Evie Bates

In the absence of Elizabeth Turner, Freya Beaumont stepped up to don the keeper’s pads and used her Meteor acceleration in control of her own D

In front of shivering Freya, were Captain Eleanor (Rock of Gibraltar) and Tigress Sophie (always Swift to Pounce) Atkinson. Totally justify their nicknames.   

Our relentlessly positive, attractive and attacking hockey shown, fitted our philosophy and our DNA. We wanted to show our competitive edge. Rock Eleanor demanded that we “shimmer and dazzle”. And we did just that. We even “glittered” in the slippery conditions, meaning that our planned success was subject to serious weather fluctuations.

Tigress Sophie A, in defence, arch-Trouble-maker for North Notts, was swift to pounce on any loose passes, creating many new opportunities, and Rock Eleanor was coolly soaking up the pressure.

Turning to midfield, we responded brightly under incomparable Caroline Brackenbury’s guidance, but failed for some time in the first half to turn our dominance into goals. Constantly pressing to win the ball, trying to pin North Notts back into their own 25, but our opponents showed great signs of trying to wrest back the momentum created by our midfield. This momentum was subject now to repeated counter-attacks by a well organised, vigorous North Notts .

With our Incomparable Caroline on the pitch, we noted that if opponents try to rush her, she puts her team-mates into space and if opponents give her time, she creates breaks for fun. She was flanked by Sophie Runciman with her Bounding Attacking runs, Fiona Sweetman as a Greyhound mid-fielder, Steph (the Wall) Hagerty lithely maintaining serious pressure on North Notts every time she was near the ball;

Up front we had (Foxy) Foxall buzzing round their defence again and again like a highly irritating wasp; (Lightning) Liv Biddulph, showing her usual acute sharpness in front of goal; (Shooting Star) Evie Bates leaving the opposition almost standing in amazed bewilderment at her perceptive positional play, demonstrating her flawless skills on the ball; (Rocket) Ruby Ryan gliding at speed past her markers, driving for goal, Rachael Grupping shimmering like an Unseen Raider behind their defenders; (Stellar) Claire Stuttard and twinkle-toed Lucy (Strike Force) Lloyd weaving neatly in and out of their defence.

But North Notts’ well-organised defence proved nearly impregnable. But our constant pressure deserved more success than 0-0.

Tigress Sophie A started a cunning multi-phase attack, up to (Jet Propelled) Gemma Robinson, a skilful side-slip to incomparable Caroline Brackenbury, and a through pass up to (Stellar) Claire Stuttard. Claire sizzled through, beat her defender and drew Jo’s marking defender. She made a whizzing side-slip to newly unmarked Jo (Foxy) Foxall who positively glittered. Spectators gasped to view.

The ball left Foxy’s stick with the high speed of a stone from a very powerful catapult. Spectators heard the ball smack accurately into the North Notts’ backboard. 1-0 up but it was still far too tight a margin for comfort.

In the second half, North Notts had their heads held high as they launched attack after attack. Not only seeking to equalise but to gain a second goal for victory over us. Even the nerves of our noisy supporters became a bit frayed, to reduce us to near silence and very white knuckles.

Stout defending by (Meteor) Freya in goal and by (Rock) Eleanor and (Tigress) Sophie A kept up our spectators’ optimism. This was particularly when (Tigress) Sophie A used her “Beam me up, Scotty” routine from StarTrek to be back in defence and simultaneously up feeding our forwards.

The attached photo 1 shows Sophie A taking on and shutting down several opponent forwards at the same time. She simply pinched the ball off an opponent’s stick before slipping a cunning pass up to the ever-present Jo Shaw

Our defenders showed the near impregnability of a weatherproof fence. And when Jo Shaw was injured in the ankle and carried off, our tension could only increase. After a while, Jo’s natural optimism and steely determination pushed her back quickly onto the pitch where she continued to play an admirably vital role

Very shortly before the final whistle, the North Notts pressure was rewarded with a lucky for them deflection into our goal to equalise 1-1. Then a frenetic final few minutes which could have had either side make a game-changing score, but it ended 1-1 which (only from an independent point of view) might have been a fair result. But each side regretted no victory and all look forward to the return fixture

Thanks  to Neil Batty and Ken Shapand for their umpiring