I do not seem to have a great record playing in Kings Lynn, last time I was there with the 4s we got into a semi-heated discussion with the oppo at teas which ended in them asking us to leave. You would have thought that I would learn to keep my mouth shut… Although, I will put it down to the fact that Josh (husband) got LOM last week for being gobby and getting a card so I thought I would make him feel better and do it too!

We were forewarned that rain and road works may delay our journey, therefore told to make sure to leave in plenty of time. Our meet time seemed to be getting earlier and earlier.. our car (me, Anna and Mollie) arrived in Kings Lynn 1.5 hrs before pushback so we decided to have a short trip to costa, which Mollie regretted fairly quickly when realising how far the toilets were from the pitch.

The game started in the grey and drizzle, which soon led to a downpour, but we were feeling confident. Within the first few mins we nearly got a goal, alas it did not go in, but feeling determined Jess went back 1 on 1 with the keeper. Unfortunately, this ended up with a collision, Jess on the ground and feeling rather sore. We fought back with lots of great stick to stick balls and excellent distribution round the back between Anna, Anne-Marie and Emily M. Soon there was another wipe out from the keeper, this time Cait was down, you could hear Anna from the back shouting “A SECOND TIME??”.

By this point Jess had (understandably) lost her cool a little and got a telling off by the umpire. This was a theme throughout the match for a lot of our team, tbh we were lucky to not leave with any cards! It was then my time to lose my cool.. with one player I had a little angry back and forth “chat” which had left me feeling a bit grumpy (after the match she came and apologised which was very much appreciated!), so then when I got shoved around (hard!) by another player a naughty name slipped out of my mouth (B****) – very bad of me. However, my mood was quickly lifted when she responded “I know you are but what am I”, I love the throwback to primary school. Jess somehow got told off by the umpire for this (in my place) *shrug*, fine by me!

We had a couple of shorts in the first half, me injecting to Jess who first took a straight strike and then the second time did a set zigzag routine with Rebecca. The half time whistle blew and it was still 0-0.

The second half we came back knowing we had to be a bit calmer, we couldn’t risk any cards. Our middle were very solid holding the space, with the inners doing great balls to our speedy forwards. Izzy and Emily M made some great runs up the wings, Rebecca was fab at disrupting their play. We had a few shots on goal, but their goalie was excellent making some great saves.

After doing lots of baseline work in a training a couple of weeks ago, I was determined to use this in the match. About ten minutes before the end, I was doing a baseline run, was in the D and got a short (can’t remember if they stick tackled or knocked it out). Cait injected to Rhi, who slipped it right post and Mollie tapped it in. BEAUTIFUL! 1-0 up!

Pelicans had a few shorts, but nothing came of it. At some point, Mollie and a player were having a little moment and I heard the umpire shout “there is only one important person on the pitch and that’s the one with the whistle” (?).

The final whistle blew and there were cheers all round from South. A rather frustrating game, but a win and that’s all that mattered. Zoe only got one touch on the ball, but she said she had a great time watching us!

We had PLENTY of lemon worthy moments, however, my potty mouth was the winner. Examples not mentioned include:
•    Juliette. 1. The party girl, got home at 5 am this morn so arrived with only three hours sleep. 2. Arrived 30 mins early to meet time. 3. Forgot her Astros at training. 4. “Forgot spare shoes, nice sliders” (who knows???)
•    Izzy played the second half without her gumshield. After the game, her and Rhi did a sweep of the pitch to find it. Turns out it was in her sock… Her Dad also kept quiet until the votes were in, that she took two left shoes to training (one hers and one her dads!).