You may wonder why this match report is so late, and I could lie to you and say that I spent days on end writing it. However, I kept forgetting to write it, and decided that as it was the last match, I cannot be awarded lemon again. So here it is…

And with that, the 2022-2023 season is over!

It’s safe to say we’ve learned a lot this season, both on and off the pitch. Starting off the season with only eight team members from the 2021-2022 season, this was always going to be a building year, and one where we learned a lot.

Throughout the season, we build on our phase play – moving the ball from the back line to the front line and finding the best option to shoot on goal. We learned how to work together, and to play our best hockey as a unit. We leaned that we can score in the first minute of a match and beat teams at the top of the league. We learned that St Ives think we’re “absolute animals” for playing on when their player was injured. We learned that some pitches give off certain vibes (dead body vibes to be specific). We also learned that we cannot simply watch the ball roll along our defensive baseline and expect it to roll off into safety and not go into the goal.

Off the pitch, we learned that Activia yoghurts are quite good for when it’s a bit windy. We learned the difference between blueberries and grapes. We learned that you can’t be a defender in our team without being in STEM. We (I) learned that you cannot boldly title yourself No Lemon Nic before the season is over, and not expect to get LOM the following weekend. All in all, I think we all came away better players than when we started, and had a lot of laughs along the way.

Our final match was against Nomads, which I can confidently say was the nicest match we’ve played in weeks (this was not hard given the incidents against Newmarket and Bourne Deeping). We started strong and slotted in 3 goals in the opening 15 minutes (Cait from open play, Jess from a short corner, and Juliette from open play). Ball movement all across the pitch was wonderful, with some lovely transfers going from one side of the pitch to the other. (*Brief pause for Tabs to wave at her dad from top D during a short corner*). It wasn’t until the final 10 minutes that we found the back of the net for one last time in the form of a short corner, slotted in by Cait.

Great play across the pitch, with POM votes to Rebecca, Niamh, Jenny and Juliette, but our final POM of the year went to both Cait (Cool, Calm and Collected) and Lily (10/10 debut, never stopped running).

A few LOM votes to Jules (sister stole her bike), Jess (dramatics on the floor) and Jenny (“Heyyyyy Booooooo”) but ultimately, saying that you haven’t had LOM all season before the last match trumps all.

Wonderful season, wonderful group of gals – 10/10, would recommend.