After having the slip date off the 2s were well rested and ready for the biggest challenge of the season, a road trip to Spalding. Not only would we have to spend a total of 4 hours stuck in cars together but also play against a so far unbeaten top of the league. We knew we had improved significantly as a team since the last time we met them but would we be able to pull off our best performance? 

Highlights of the drive include pick your favourite pick’n’mix (budding friendships were questioned when chocolate raisins got mentioned) and Katie claiming “I don’t have an accent”!  If you see her, ask her to say shower, film, or mirror and see what you think. 

After finally arriving in Spalding, we had a quick team chat, and then we were off for a warm up with our yellow shirts shining as bright as the sun. Special mention to Bryony who despite moving up North made the trip down for this very important match, and she only had to be bribed with a cake by Niamh to get her there. Sadly this was Bryony’s last match for us, although we could ask how many cakes we need to provide to tempt her to commute regularly. 

 On to the game. We played tremendously well as a team and were definitely taking most of the F’s to heart: Forwards, Fast, Fierce, Focus, and most importantly, fire… I mean FUN! Sadly we did struggle with the First Five part of the F’s but I will just skip that part (the score says enough about that).

Too busy playing hockey and feeling confident that I wouldn’t be doing anything silly that would end in a lemon trophy, I failed to pay attention to the details of the actual game. I do remember our dashing defenders defending, our magnificent midfielders midfielding, and our fantastic forwards forwarding. Charlotte played most of the match with an impressively swollen hand after getting hit early on (hope it’s not broken) and we have come to the conclusion that we may not be as fit as we assumed we were as three subs did not feel like enough. We spent a lot of the second half in their half and were pressing hard but there was a reason this team had only conceded 12 goals so far in the entire season, it was difficult to get shots on goal with such a crowded D. When one opportunity did come along, a beautiful opening all the way into the D, Katie obviously read my mind and thought she would run across this path to block the defenders view of the coming ball. I smacked it with all the power I could master but Katie must have forgotten her role in this play (or our telepathic connection isn’t actually real) and didn’t jump, cue a very bruised foot and the lemon votes for me.

The final moments of the game saw a crowded D and our captain with the ball, pulling it to her strong side (everyone else’s weak side) and reverse lifting it over about three defenders sticks into the corner of the goal. Beautiful! Final whistle and both teams celebrated, us for our fantastic game and improved performance and Spalding due to these points securing their promotion. 

PoM votes went to Jess R for a great first game -welcome to the team-, now limping Katie for magnificent midfielding, and Feline for dashing defending as always, but ultimately went to Dani for that beautiful goal.