Today was the L2s v L3s derby. It is always tough playing other club teams and the L3s have been showing strong form in recent weeks, giving City a good run for their money last week. We all arrived in good time to find the Mens 2s/3s derby somewhat delayed, but we enjoyed watching their game before heading to the changing rooms to select our men's away kit shirts. Slightly damp, XXL shirts. It's great being the away team…

The pre-game talk was strong and we decided to play the game in honour of our super coach, Paul, hence our pre-game chant…'For Paul'.

The game started well, with the L2s settling in and taking control with a few early opportunities in the D. However, when these didn't quite make their target and were swept away by the L3s' defence, the team became a little flustered and scrappy. Luckily, Rebecca (in her first touch of the game) stayed calm and, following a nice pass from Sarah, popped our first goal in with a cheeky reverse stick push. The L3s retaliated, making some good attempts to counter these attacks and our defence had to stay sharp throughout the game.

Somewhere during the first half, Izzy made a startling break into the D and could only be stopped by a naughty bit of defending which sent her into a roly poly across the pitch… Cue a penalty flick. Sadly this went a little wide of the goal but added to the drama of the game!

The second goal was a group effort, with Jenny passing to Rebecca and then to Eimear, who took a shot and then tapped it in on the rebound. Half time gave us a chance to take a pause, ingest some sugar and to re-group with some wise words from Paul.

We went back out with a plan: to use the wings more, to throw in some switches and to mix up our short corners. We upped the tempo, and by moving it across the pitch Dani was able to pull one back from the edge of the D, to enable Izzy to inject the ball to Hannah who reverse-pushed the ball into the back of the net from a great angle, taking us three-nil up.

The L3s continued to work hard to break down our play but we countered, hard winning a sequence of shorts, which were well executed but couldn't quite find their mark.

Our final goal came from a bit of a scrap in the D, with plenty of people getting their sticks involved and Eimear making the final connection before it slipped past the goalie.

We were nearly home and dry when the L3s made a dramatic break, Emily slipping past our steely defence and making a beeline for Louise's goal. Luckily she was 'escorted' away from the danger zone by our defenders. However, Bhav didn't like the look of how this was done, so a return flick was given to the L3s. In tense times, this was replayed but Louise made two perfect saves and the game ended four-nil.

Thanks to the L3s for a competitive game and for putting up a good fight!

Lauren was player of the match for her speed and agility, keeping a number of breaks at bay.

Lemon was me (Dani KS) for a poor clothing choice.