COWHC Ladies 1s vs Wimbledon Dev - 18th Nov 2017

The weather was very uninviting on this cold Saturday afternoon in November but there was a good feeling in the air... and we knew for sure that the luck was in our favour when we arrived at Trinity pitch and the elusive changing rooms were unlocked (for once!).

The opposition looked energetic in the warm up and even though we hadn't switched on fully at the beginning of the first half, we took advantage of the chances that came our way. After a questionable attempt at an aerial from the Wimbledon sweeper, we capitalised on the error (and taught her not to show off!) Hannah was one-on-one with the goalkeeper with only one thing on her mind, and after some helpful screeching of 'SHOOT!' SHOOT!' from the rest of the team, her powerful hit from the top of the D went straight onto the backboard, and we were on the front foot. (1-0 up and apparently after just three minutes, according to some interesting time-keeping from Mr B.) With the momentum behind us, some excellent passing play from the midfield ensued. Another error from the Wimbledon defence led to a great shot from Lizzy and their GK lying on the floor. The ball was then with Rachel and the result seemed inevitable with the open goal in front of her....Unfortunately, her tap in hit the post...Thankfully though, with her finishing expertise already cemented earlier on, Hannah was on hand to get the ball across the line. 2-0.

Wimbledon were still breaking through and keeping us on our toes, Mrs B and the defence worked hard to keep the ball out of our D. However, we wanted more. And after a 'hard tackle' from Alex bringing the Wimbledon team down to 10 women, and a few breaks down the right hand side of the pitch, simple hockey finally paid off - Rachel crossed to Tani, who then finished like a pro.

At half time, we were soaked through and 3-0 up, but we didn't want to get complacent. The second half was much closer, Wimbledon got frustrated but kept attacking. L-Bell was getting superstitious, and unfortunately, as she stepped on the pitch again, the oppo scored on the break. 3-1.

Luckily the team was in no mood for the momentum to be overturned. We struck back hard, and with an excellent run and cross from Rachel, Tani scored another corker - reverse lifting the ball over the keeper. You have to hand it to Wimbledon, they kept playing on and didn't let their head go down but in the end the final score was 4-1. And after checking the league table at the end of the game, our efforts made us top goal scorers in the league!

The result of this match was due to a huge effort from the whole team, with everyone contributing to our success and making POM votes very hard.

Team: Alex, Bryony, Emer, Hannah, Katy, Lena, Lisa, Lizzy, Lydia, Nicky, Rachel, Sharon, Tani

POM votes: Tani = 4, Bryony = 3.5, Mrs B = 6, Lena = 0.5

MOM votes = unanimously Bryony for recklessly leaving her car door open in the middle of Croydon (clearly couldn't wait to gobble down match teas and prosecco at the club house)