Wallingford 0 - 1 MHC Ladies 5s

After the sunshine of last Saturday, the cold and wet came as somewhat of a shock! Wallingford are always a tough opposition and we knew we would have to work hard. They got first pushback, but we worked hard from the off. We had a good attack with a couple of high forwards and saw some great runs from Ruth. When we couldn’t get it up the pitch we were happy to pass back to the back line did a good job of switching it. Great to see!

Wallingford were determined to see their share of action and drove several times into our defensive 23. The back line of big Jess, Hayley and Sophie certainly got a workout, especially with three short corners! But beautifully cleared by the back line and TJ. Once again it was breakaway players and not moving back with as a pack to support our defence that left us and vulnerable.

The practice we did on Thursday on hit outs had a big impact, we were much quicker taking them and defending them. It was from this we had a lovely run up from Catrin then Katie who took a shot on goal in the D and Rippon slapped it home. Great team goal.
Havana too had a good run in the middle and we saw some great 3-D skills her, I think she was going for the chocolate bar challenge!

Half-time saw us huddling together for warmth as the rain and cold got really foul. However spirits were high after a good Team Talk and we went back on the pitch determined.

Within a couple of minutes of the second-half we won a short corner which Annabel stepped up to take. It was great to see her hit in action, just shy of the goal. She had a great second-half driving into the D several times supported by Amelia who once again took on the goalie one-to-one. Another short corner lead to another attempt this time by Jess but cleared by Wallingford. It was great to see us all trying stuff we’ve been practicing at training. Even I showed some 3-D skills and had a crack on goal but Wallingford had tightened up the press and we struggle to find a way in.

Pippa did a great job standing in for little Jess and insuring the defensive line was supported. And the midfield worked hard to keep it out on the wings to our fast runners.

Wallingford pressed us all the way to the end and you could see the rain and cold were taking effect. But we stay focused, communicated and you could feel the team spirit on the pitch. This continued as we went to dry off, warm up and have teas. Everyone was in high spirits with our second win of the season.

Man of the match with a slamdunk this week for big Jess. We all know she has a big hit but this week she added aerials, 3-D skills and sheer determination. Well done Jess.