Maidenhead U16 A v Slough U16A

Maidenhead’s girls simply blew away the opposition in a six-goal blitz to remain unbeaten in all our England Hockey group games.
In high winds and a mini hail-storm the girls ran out convincing and yet comfortable winners with a performance which guaranteed qualification to the EH Finals at the end of the season.
But what we didn’t know at the final whistle, was that our rivals Reading had suffered a shock 4-2 defeat at Wycombe, which meant we had not only qualified but had actually won our group.
It’s a second table-topping group success for the A-team – following on from our four straight wins in the Home Counties League – and means we have been unbeaten all season in 10 group games.
That’s a fantastic record for the girls and they should be proud of their success! Even with Tori and Holly away on Berks County duty, the team was far too strong for a hard-working, young, Slough side.
We got off to a flier and were two goals to the good within five minutes. First Emily was given too much room in the D from a long corner to make it 1-0 and then Frankie finished from close range after Tilly had rounded their ‘keeper.
Maisie also scored twice from central midfield in the opening half. The first was a long range shot while the second was forced home, close by the left-hand post, after neat inter-play with Frankie.
In truth, we should have had more. We created chances galore and won lots of penalty corners but could not finish. Tilly had shots just wide, Maddy fired off several scorching efforts and Maisie had more attempts.
The trouble was Slough’s excellent keeper Savarna who regularly charged out to either smother, block, kick-clear or simply save our shots. And, when she was beaten, there was often a defender on the line to flick the ball clear.
In the second half we had the strong wind behind us – although there was no protection when the hail came – and we launched more attacks and tried to bypass their goalie.
This resulted in goalmouth scrambles with Frankie, Tilly and Maisie all being denied when it looked harder to miss. Finally, Frankie got her second with a tap-in after Maisie’s shot rebounded back off the post with the keeper – for once – stranded.
Our sixth goal came from Caroline who reacted quickly to a rebound off the keeper’s pads to slot home. By now the game was petering out but we kept our concentration and domination in midfield and defence to such an extent that Alexis, in goal, never touched the ball all day.
In a game dominated by the forwards, Amelia and Thea deserve a mention for how well they performed their defensive midfield duties. Similarly, Hattie- who played the first half despite feeling poorly - and Anna – who was whacked on the head with a hockey ball at school just over a week ago – demonstrated the girls great team spirit.
So the A-team have an EH Finals Day to look forward to – probably in April. Watch out in Pitchero for more details when they are announced.
In the meantime, the spotlight falls back on the Dev Squad – fresh from their well-deserved win last week. They have away games on the next two Sunday afternoons at West Herts (March 17) and Slough (March 24). Let’s keep the winning run going!