Surbiton Ladies 5s Vs. COWHC Ladies 1s

The first game of the new season was finally here and the mighty COWs arrived at a very sunny Surbiton ready to take Surrey Div 3 by storm. A great preseason had filled us full of optimism and we were ready to show off our newly perfected Indian dribbling, jab tackles and short corner routines (or should I say routine).

Unfortunately we didn't quite have the full strength squad we would have liked. Key players were missing due to injury and work, and even those who made it onto the pitch were a little worse for wear (learnings for the rest of the season: don't break up a cat fight with your bare hands, or celebrate a birthday on the Friday before a morning game). Nevertheless, refreshed from our pre-match shower, the team took to the field hoping to get something from the game.

The first 10 minutes saw opportunities for each side. Hannah and Rachel both steered chances wide of the right post, and the Surbiton left-mid produced a beautiful reverse stick shot. Luckily for us she hadn't been paying attention during preseason and sent it to the goalkeeper’s strong side. This was the first glimpse of the great skill some of the Surbiton squad had on the ball. We were easily undone by perfectly lifted balls and pirouette-like turns, and it was not long before the inevitable happened and we conceded. A few more followed in quick succession and we entered half time 5-0 down.

Despite a less than ideal first 35 minutes, we came out for the second half with our heads up, confident in the fact that our second half hockey would be stronger than our first. A slight formation change transformed us into a new team. We battled hard, won every 50/50, and showed Surbiton that we are a force to be reckoned with. We moved the ball effortlessly from defence to attack and were rewarded when Hannah calmly slotted the ball past the keeper for our first league goal of the season. Surbiton added two more to their total throughout the half, however we finished the game on a high with a beautiful 3 pass counter attack, clinically finished by Hannah for her second of the game.

Whilst the score line may suggest an almighty thumping, there were plenty of positives to take away from the game. We didn't concede from a short corner, we demonstrated beautiful triangles in midfield, there was some great counter-attacking play, Alex’s sharp elbows continue to get the better of the opposition, and most importantly we scored goals!

PoM votes were 0.5 for Rachel and Dicko, 2.5 for Becky and LBell, and 4 votes each for the never tiring Alex, and goal scoring (yet water-less)Hannah. The newly introduced MoM was won by Rachel.

Squad: Mrs B, Dicko, Lena, Santy, Clare, LBell, Alex, Becky, Lorraine, Andrea, Hannah and Rachel.

A big thank you to AJ for umpiring and Captain Nicky for cheering us on from the sidelines.