We had a long and rainy treck to long Sutton with half of the team driving through a river on route, but we all made it safe and sound. 
Marisa started strong before the game had even begun, having brought her speaker, putting on early 2000s tunes getting all of us hyped and ready to go. 

We came out strong with some lovely passes, quick side steps and solid distribution. But so did long Sutton with their big hits, leaving my foot in far less than perfect shape. 

After a strong attack from long Sutton, but even stronger defence from South, we used the turnover quickly, Tilly pinged the ball short to Freya, a wee one to myself, long to Mo upfront, crossed to Marisa top D, and into the goal. Beautiful teamwork.  1-0 to south.

The second goal came quickly after with a bottom right corner slap from Mo. (Sorry I didn’t see it but I’m sure it was silky!)
2-0 to south. 

A few strong and, luckily for us, unsuccessful counter attacks from Long Sutton and we decided it was our time to go again. Marisa at top D took a reverse shot, deflected in beautifully by Mo. 
3-0 to south and we are flying high. 
But some smooth play from Long Sutton won them a short, where they played a left slip and snuck the goal in. 
3-1 to end the first half 

Captain Ciampi shared her wisdom from the side telling us to back off with our press to counter their hits, and, apart from the press, to keep doing what we were doing. 
 
Second half commenced with some textbook stick to stick passing, rapid runs from Katie and Gemma on the wings, and solid tackles from screens and defence. 

Backing off our press for their sixteens worked a treat (thanks captain), leading to many intercepts and more shots on goal (unfortunately just not in). 

Long Sutton decided to try a new approach,  giving the ball some air time, with unfortunately my arm facing the consequences. 
When their balls did break through, Jess, Annabelle and Tilly seamlessly covered despite pressure from their forwards. 

After some solid tackles from Hannah and Freya in screen, and some silky stick work from Lou we found ourselves with another short. A wee 1-2 at the top and Freya sweeped the ball into the back of the goal. 
4-1 to south. 

Long Sutton had a few more solid attempts, all wonderfully saved by the one and only Sélène. 

We were pressing them hard, passing quickly round their players and up the pitch, having many shots on goal, and finally (with something that could be described as a tennis volley from Marissa), another goal was secured. 
5-1 

The final whistle blew at 5-1, with high morale all round. 
A lovely game to play, with high intensity and solid teamwork throughout, and baked potatoes to refuel. 

PoM votes were spread wide across the team, with Jess taking PoM for her solid play in defence, great distribution and “some good tackles”. 

LoM had a few contenders, but unfortunately for some unplanned voice notes, taking my water onto the pitch with me at the start of the game, and then leaving my stick behind at the end, the LoM lemon was passed to myself.