Derby Asterdale Ladies 3rds vs Findern

hockeyhevva Sat Sep 10, 2011 3:15 pm

Right, first match report of the season... Here goes...we won!

I asked my trusty sidekick, Chris, to note down relevant, exciting happenings of the match to refresh my memory and I got 4 bullet points out of him, each with the times of the goals scored..hmmm looks like I'll have to pad it out a bit!

We turned up at St Benedicts for our first match, all be it a friendly, against Findern and we were greeted by our new captain, Rachel.

She was organised! Laminates everywhere and motivational speeches that would put Martin Luther King (the best I could come up with!) to shame.

Claire and Helen strolled up slightly intoxicated from the night before (naturally!) but raring to go for the game ahead.

So, we began, playing Rachel's old school formation, hoping for the best.

Findern came out strong with a couple of fast, good players up front. We started tentatively, which we can only be put down nerves for the first match.

Five minutes into the game, Findern's strong forward line got past a half drunk Claire and a very slow me to score a respectably good goal.

Although they'd scored we kept our heads up and Rachel quickly saw our faults and amended them, moving Sam to right back to help in defence.

We managed to get the ball up the pitch to our forward line, which consisted of fast, skillful Gemma, newbee Jess and Helen, who was literally sweating Jagerbombs.

All three, along with the midfield, pushed hard and had a few chances in the attacking half.

After 17 minutes Rachel Huskisson (apologies if I have spelt your name wrong...there are three of you I need to remember!) got a shot on goal, hitting the bar, to which Gemma did an excellent job and got the rebound into the back of the net! BOOM! 1-1!!!

Findern were not put off and broke through a couple more times. At one point, just before half time Megan was one on one with a Findern player, but calmly and coolly kicked the ball away.

Half Time = 1-1

After another motivational speech from Rachel and some lovely orange segments provided by Findern we were keen to go out strong for the second half.

The forward line went in strong, having several chances on goal, but unfortunately not quite being able to finish it off.

Findern had a couple of runs into attack, but with the help of our midfield, Claire's go go gadget arms and Sam's marking we managed to keep them away.

Twenty minutes in, I was taking a sideline hit and spotted Helen up the pitch and hoping for the best I thought 'I'll tw*t this ball up to her and she can do the rest'..which is exactly what happened! Helen received the ball and took it into the D and scored a beautiful goal. 2-1!

Both sides remained determined but we managed to keep Findern's chances to a minimum.

Next we had a short corner. Rachel H pushed it out perfectly to Helen, Helen hit it and it snuck between the keeper and left post! 3-1!

By the last ten minutes we were the stronger team with greater confidence than the start.

With the final whistle blowing we were all happy, and relieved with the final score.

Everyone played excellently. Helen, Jess and Gemma were a brilliant forward line, working well together. Hopefully Jess enjoyed her first third team game and will come back for more! The three Rachels and Sue were a huge help in supporting both the forward line and defence. Sam and Claire were great at the back, keeping the strong Findern players away from the goal. And Megan in goal made some fantastic saves, remaining cool and calm throughout.

Man of the match went to our new captain Rachel Booth for obvious reasons. She did a brilliant job both as Captain and a midfielder, supporting everybody on the pitch.

Donkey of the day went to Claire and Helen. Helen was tucked up in her pjs at 11.30pm on Friday night, only to be tempted out by Claire, resulting in two rather tipsy ladies on the side today. They still played a brill game though.

Well done to all!

Thank you to Father Neilson for umpiring and Chris, Mother Neilson, Steph and Sam's boyfiend, Jon for supporting.

Bring on the league games!

OVER AND OUT!

RachB Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:36 am

Brilliant match report from Heather!

It was a good game and I think we took Findern a bit by surprise in the way that we resonded to their early goal and domination. We dug deep, played decent hockey despite their 'agricultural' style of play Very Happy

and took control of the game. We definitely could have had another 3 goals with a few decent saves from their keeper and some near misses.

I'd like to reiterate Heather's messages of thanks ; it was great to hear the positive comments from the sidelines and it definitely gave me encouragment as my lungs were bursting and my legs turned to mush. In addition to those mentioned I think I saw Dan sneak in and away before I'd had the chance to thank him for his support too.

Well done girlies - on to the league and Staveley at home on Saturday - it would be great to start the season with 3 points.

Rach xx