Last season was the season dreams are made of for the Ladies 3s; with 18 wins out of 18 league games; 139 goals scored and just 5 against (in case any of you needed reminding). Stepping up a division off the back of our promotion means we are likely to fair slightly differently this season… Jan had found us a stiffer opposition than any we played last season to help ramp us up into this transition.

The team that stepped out on Saturday held two regular members of last year's squad, two infrequent members, three borrowed players from the team above who couldn't make their own pushback time, three players who played L4s last season, and a welcome influx of four fresh-faced players! Last but by no means least the heroine of the hour, Polly, who gamely stepped up to keep for us having never donned the pads before, after a late night injury post-training rendered our regular keeper out of action.

Due to a minor pre-match detour up to Burnham Market and back, the new formation and subbing strategy was WhatsApped over while the captain was delayed by farm traffic on the A10. Not the ideal start!

But we did, nonetheless, begin it in a somewhat disorganized fashion… Less than two minutes after the starting whistle, Janette succumbed to a pre-game injury completely disabling her once more. On Louisa comes, to stay for the rest of the game alongside the rest of the back line of Ani (S), Nichola and myself. That's surely got to be some kind of record for shortest time on the pitch?! It definitely proved to be a worthy Lemon award winner!

Stortford were first to score, not long into the first half, after creating an overload that left their captain/striker free as a bird, unmarked 2m from Polly on the flick spot. However heads did not go down and, as we started to settle and learn the names of those around us, some nice hockey started to come through. Emily was successfully harassing their defenders with her persistent presence. Great distribution, especially from new recruit Hannah, started to reach the attacking D. Eventually Annie (Q) received the ball outside the attacking twenty-three to run it in, for a one-on-one with the keeper, which unfortunately did not go to plan. However amid the following scuffle between the closing ranks of both teams, the ball pinged back and forth, tantalisingly close to the goal line, with Irina getting the critical stick on it to flick it in. Beautiful it was not… but a goal is a goal and no one from South was complaining! The half time whistle went shortly after this. One-one: a respectable start.

Sugar rush sated, and a welcome breather for the back four later, we resumed. Stortford suddenly seemed to notice the difference the youthful additions to our squad made, the entire South team coming back out with intensified speed and generally upping the pace of the game, the likes of Tabitha and Jasmine really holding their own to enable this to happen. Lots of nice little triangles of passing hockey resulting in South winning several more attacking short corners. Probably should have practiced a couple of those in the warm up…(as none came to fruition)?

However there was a growing sense of momentum. Yet another sequence of nice passing in midfield through the likes of Grace and Emma-Rose led to a shot put across the keeper from the outer edge of the D, weaving it's way through many defenders' sticks for Zara to beautifully flick in from a reverse deflection on the left post, having run in at just the right moment. Getting egged on by these successes we started to creep up the pitch, possibly also suffering from lack of subbing in the defense, leaving us unable to get back and out numbered once again at the back. Stortford managed another goal very similar to their first, one-on-one with the keeper from less than 2m away, a situation our defense should have never left the keeper in!

Tide turning, the pressure ominously switched ends… In one such desperate bid to prevent another break away goal, Laurie touched but didn't stop a ball reaching their right wing, which left both players frantically chasing down the ball as it raced towards the base line. Both players attempting to reach out at maximum extension at full speed and just touch it to alter it's trajectory in their own direction, resulted in the two coming together, Laurie crashing down shoulder first tumbling across the astro. This incident was suitably dramatic to be the only form of opposition to Janette in the Lemon-worthy nominations. Fortunately all astro burns avoided the face area pre-holiday!

Luckily everyone continued to dig deep and hold off the Stortford offence until the final whistle, with a brilliant aerial swat down save by Polly in the dying minutes keeping it even-stevens, as well as further securing her MoM title. A 2-2 draw seemed a just result for a match that seemed largely very even, against a friendly opposition.

Overall a very new (at least to each other) team, found their feet and started to gel well. Set pieces needed work, unsurprisingly at the start of the season, but lots of positives to take away to our next game against Bury 4s, a future league opponent in Div. 4 once the friendlies are concluded. I think everyone came off the pitch having given it everything and thoroughly enjoyed the run around. NOTE: Attending all Jon's pre-season fitness sessions definitely helped with an unscheduled seventy minutes of hockey in the first game of the season, but I still would not recommend the entire first game!