The L6 embarked on the whole 1 ½ hour drive to Long Sutton this Saturday. For some of us, our intentions of arriving in plenty of time for a good warm-up were hindered as we navigated many farm vehicles and a crash en-route.  Chris oversaw a quick, punchy warm-up.

We were in a good headspace for push-back but a defence-heavy squad necessitated a few playing out of position.  This, along with subbing rotations left people confused about their position and we lost our structure slightly. Long Sutton had a lucky break-away and they managed to put one past Lou in goal.  This was a shame.

As a team, we have a bad habit of letting a sloppy goal in early on in games, immediately putting us on the back foot.  We were disappointed to find ourselves in this position again.

We re-grouped at half-time. Chris pointed out that we were winning the ball off our opponents relatively easily but only to lose it again not that long after. Our aim for the second have was to look before passing in order to find the end of the stick of our own teammates. Our flanker, Sarah, was in a lot of space on the right, we just needed to implement the passing around the back we were doing so well at training on Thursday!

We started the second half determined not to let this one slip away. Early on, we built up some pressure. Nicky slipped me the ball and I put it in the goal. Only to get tangled up with the goalie in the process and fall over, then getting a bit stuck and giggling, before eventually getting up. For this I won LOM by quite a margin.

Our spirits lifted and so did the intensity. Lauren and May usually play in defense but for this match made a debut in the midfield line-up. And it looks like they are there to stay. May didn’t stop running the whole game and Lauren demonstrated some serious intent and great play. Georgia held the centre midfield, made it hard for players to get past and was always an option to pass back to. Particularly hard for a younger player who ended up on the floor clutching her wrist. This carry on lead to Georgia’s feature in the POM & LOM tally. Fortunately the player was ok and returned to the action after a rest. We won a short corner and Nicky struck her killer hit but this time it was blocked.

We spent the whole of the second half in their half of the pitch. At one point Rosie was driving it down the center and Pedzi was in a lovely high position in the D resulting in very threatening play. Our goalie, Lou, didn’t touch the ball once which allows the defence to speak for itself I think. Ruth, as right back, was really getting stuck in with some serious attacking-style defence gaining us some nice ground.

Despite the mounting pressure the ensued we didn’t manage to get another one against the backboard. Nevertheless, we left with our heads held high, proud of on the intensity and the more cohesive play of the second half. Improvement since the start of the season was evident along with the familiarity of playing with each other we have built up.

Having our coach Chris on the sideline was a huge asset. He instilled confidence in us and encouraged us to play to the level of hockey he knew we were capable of. Other shoutouts go to Lou for playing in goal and, Rosie, an L5’s player for playing for us.  Although if we ever do return to Long Sutton we might be bringing a five meter measuring stick.

The teams eyes are fixed on next Saturday’s fixture against Wisbech which is our final game before Christmas.