COWHC Ladies 1s vs Wimbledon Ladies Dev - 29th Sept 2018

As Clint Eastwood said, ‘I think being able to age gracefully is a very important talent. It is too late for me.’

And so I stepped back on to the pitch after a break of five months. The ball came from the centre, I saw it, I saw the space up the line, I connected the two in my mind in one glorious motion … and then promptly kicked the ball off the sideline. Determined to prove this was an idle moment of inattention and not dementia, I then lined up my first tackle against the youngstrel with long legs who was my opposite number. Missing the ball completely, I took her stick and bundled her out of the way. The whistle screamed, the Mighty COWs winced, the MoM vote was secured and we knew normal service was resumed for the remainder of the season.

So, what happened for the rest of the game? Not sure really; it was a week ago and I am now very old. The sun shone. Rachel reinvented herself as a defender to brilliant effect; no one was hospitalised as a result of this, and she secured the fantastically well deserved Player of the Match award. Santy hip-butted Rachel and an ice-pack was needed. We have learnt how to press (I’m not entirely sure what this means but it is very effective.) We are still not 100% effective at short corners. Hannah has a new stick. Amanda runs very fast. Bryony runs like a gazelle. Lizzy’s disguised shot is brilliant but confuses us just as much as the opposition. Nicky, Tani, Lisa P, Lydia, Lena and Hannah were all clearly very good as they received PoM votes. I’m sure the rest of us were too but perhaps not quite so noticeably.

Oh, hang on, I’ve just remembered something. I SCORED A GOAL. If you would like full details, please ask Chris. He has been forced to relive it numerous times.

Final score was 1-1. Wimbledon sneaked an irritating goal, despite our best efforts.

Thanks to Eliot for umpiring, Tani & Hannah for providing cake and the Ladies 2s for yelling on the sideline.

The team was: Lisa P, LBell, Lena, Santy, Lydia, Rachel, Alex, Nicky, Lizzy, Bryony, Tani, Hannah, Amanda.

PoM votes were 0.5 Hannah, 1 each for Lena and Lydia, 1.5 for Lisa P, 2 for Tani, 3 for Nicky and 5 for Rachel.