Maidenhead 6 - 1 Staines

Maidenhead put the first emphatic win of the season under their belt by beating Staines at home, 6-1.

Maidenhead began the game tentatively and allowed Staines to capitalise on a mistake to win a short corner. This was converted and Maidenhead were a goal down in less than two minutes of the start of the game.

This kicked Maidenhead into action and they settled to take control of the match. Some patient passing between the back four Jo Cox, Nic Perkins, Katy White and Bex Miall, meant they were able to create gaps to find the midfielders. This patience paid off as a ball from midfielder Shona Young found Ali Lubbock who then fired the ball into the D for Holly Cram. Cram passed to Alex Teasdale who won a penalty stroke and Cram converted it to equalise.

This spurred Maidenhead on and Staines found themselves struggling to keep pace with the home side. Attacking from the width another ball was played in for Lubbock to deflect goalbound only to have a Staines foot get in the way. Another penalty flick was awarded and again Cram coolly found the net. Eddie Westacott then managed to fire home with a third before the half time break.

The second half started in a similar vein to the first with Maidenhead taking control. It took a while for the fourth goal to arrive and this time it was Emma Evans that scored. A fifth was added with a great pass through from Cram to find the awaiting Westacott who skipped past the keeper to take the lead to 5-1.

Maidenhead then put a superb passing attack together where Staines couldn’t get close to the ball, which ended with a clever baseline pass across goal from Cram for Lubbock to touch past the keeper. This is how the score remained until the final whistle, leaving Maidenhead with a convincing
6-1 win.

Jane Smith, coach at Maidenhead 1s, said: “We played some great hockey today but we still need to work on maintaining dominance for a full 70 minutes. However we did create plenty of chances which is very positive leading into the remaining three matches before the Christmas break.”

Maidenhead sit in sixth position with a game in hand on all of those above and Surbiton 2 sit on top.

MOM: Emma Evans