Ladies 4's vs Wallingford

The Deflection, the Opportunist and the Spanker ….. that, and an awesome display of teamwork is how Maids 4s secured a fantastic 3.1 win over the Wallies (Wallingford) at Altwood on Saturday.

Despite the opposition scoring within the first 2 minutes of the game, when Maids were well and truly still at home (and still in bed - a part of the game best forgotten) - the transformation from ‘what are we here for’ to ‘Blimey, lets win this’ was incredible. Great defending, creative and one touch passing in the midfield, combined with some fantastic up front running saw Captain Ruth pick up a deflection to get one past the keeper. With momentum running high, and teamwork soaring, Holly was ready to pounce on a poorly executed pass from the opposition’s back. Stealing the ball and face to face with the GK, Holly stayed calm, then skillfully slotted the ball beyond the reach of the keeper for a 2.1 lead.

The second half saw more great teamwork, creative passing and intercepting, with the majority of play in the opposition’s half, giving Maids’ defensive line-up with very little to do ( and getting a bit chilly). Several short corners were awarded to the home team, but despite some great moves and hard shots on goal, the conversions just didn’t happen today. The third goal came from an inspired piece of play from centre forward Alice, who spanked the ball hard with her new stick to find the corner of the backboards – we all hope Alice’s dad caught that one on camera (or they’ll be big trouble later).

Forgetting the most dreadful start, the team actually woke up, played some fabulous hockey and ran their socks off to deliver a game everyone should be proud of – Every member of the team today put in a top performance and could have been MOM. But in the end, the team vote went to Holly for her outstanding game and her wonderful opportunistic steal and resultant goal. And, thanks as always to Coach Bex for bearing with us on Thursdays and steering us in the right direction.

So, providing the team actually wakes up ‘before’ the start of their match going forward, it’s game on for next week’s clash against Slough (Weather permitting).