Maidenhead Ladies 1s battle hard

Maidenhead battled hard against what was always going to be one of the toughest games in the South Premier league, against Surbiton 2s but lost 3-0.

Surbiton 2s were a very strong, drilled team owing to the fact that their first eleven has won the Investec National Premiership title for the last three seasons in a row and contains several members of the GB’s gold medal winning hockey squad.

The game started at a high pace with the ball being played from one end to the other for the first fifteen minutes as the teams settled into it. Then Surbiton began to take the upper hand as they played the ball down the wings and into the circle. The defence kept their cool and Lucy Rowe and Jo Cox put in some timely tackles to stifle the attack.

Up the other end Alex Teasdale, Eddie Westacott, Ali Lubbock and Jane Smith all threatened the goal but failed to find the net. Surbiton’s defence held strong and Maidenhead hardly got a clean shot away.

Then with about ten minutes until half time, Surbiton scrambled a goal over the line to take the lead.

As the second half progressed Surbiton found the net fairly early in the second half and then the game started to open up for both teams.

Maidenhead’s midfield worked tirelessly throughout and in particular man of the match Emma Evans, who constantly worked to support both defence and help create opportunities for the attack.

It just wasn’t to be Maidenhead’s day though as with ten minutes left a third goal went in for the home side.

Coach Jane Smith said: “Our intensity and composure have been improving in every game we play, and this was certainly the case in a very high paced game against the league’s top team.  I was pleased with how we competed and unfortunately the scoreline doesn’t reflect the effort we put in.
There is still a lot to improve on especially in our attacking play but I am confident this will come in the next few games and our hard work will be rewarded.”

MOM: Emma Evans