Saturday match report

In the not-so-frosty-for-once embrace of a Saturday morning, the L3s took once again to the hockey field (read: Stir), ready to face the formidable Pelicans. Despite the eventual 6-1 scoreline, the true victory lay in the fact that we emerged with most of our teeth and limbs intact.

Rumours circulated that a Christmas miracle had occurred when we woke up on match day with a full squad of 14 players, bolstered by the valiant efforts of the 4s who stepped up and played like absolute beasts. With a quick pre-game Stir (hastag pls sponsor us) we fuelled up on energy - but not too much, lest we revisit it on the pitch - and engaged in some delightfully weird conversations about even weirder dreams. Let's just say, the less detail shared, the better. I’ll just leave you with a PSA: patisserie in Newcastle is shockingly expensive.

A fab warm up led by Jess and Emily was followed by a cute stretching session where we learned a plethora of mostly useless information about each other. But hey, it's the thought that counts. With our bellies full and our spirits high, we got down to business on the hockey pitch.

The first half was a tough old bird, although the Pelicans failed to do their classic scoring within the first five minutes – it was at least six before they scored. However, our short, sharp passing was a sight to behold, holding off their relentless attacks with aplomb. We employed constant man-marking on their elusive number 91, but her wizard skills and rugby tackle-esque manoeuvres couldn't be completely shut down. Credit where credit is due, the Pelicans pulled off a sick overhead goal that even a prem gremlin would be proud of.

But fear not, for the second half brought a surge of tenacious play from Cambridge South. Our efforts were rewarded with a jubilant goal from Mo in a moment of sheer brilliance. Breaking away from the flapping Pelicans, she executed a quick one-two pass with Steph that lured the goalie away for just a split second so that Mo could pop the ball in from the P spot—a goal so beautiful it deserved a standing ovation, which you bet it got. In fact our celebrations were so contagious that the usually dead silent pelicans even managed a squawk when they next scored.

As the game wore on, we managed to get under the Pelicans' skin, drawing out a few choice words from some red-faced opponents. Despite the final score, we came away feeling like winners. Player of the match was jointly awarded to Steph for her awesome runs into the D, Mo for her joy-erupting goal, and Grace for her bone-crunching tackles that left even the toughest Pelicans in tears. I got my first ever lemon for oversharing - thank you for reading my last ever message on this group chat. Keep those sticks swinging and those dreams weird!