Brombecks Ladies 2 vs. Folkstone Optimists - Match Report

Despite petrol-gate the Mighty 2s surprisingly arrived in good time for their first South East Div 1 league match. Some of us even arrived before Emma G, which is possibly unheard of and further more we were taken aback by Ready’s arrival seen as she had no petrol – maybe she opted for arrival by private jet!

It seemed we had a little longer than anticipated for our warm up and some of the team was suitably knackered by the time push back came around. Coach Friz gave us a motivational team talk and as a result we started the game strongly. We had a lot of pressure early on, spending much of the first 10 minutes in Folkstone’s half, and being awarded a couple of penalty corners. Coach Juan will be astounded to hear we actually played some 3-touch hockey. A goal was looking promising but it was not to be and we were caught on the counter attack by Folkstone and unfortunately went 1-0 down. Heads dipped a little and the game became more open, however, we soon picked ourselves up and continued to dig deep. In particular runs up front by the forward line were difficult for Folkstone to pick with Millie, Ruby, Natty, Burrsy and Nina all pushing hard for the elusive goal before half time. However, we headed in to half time 1-0 down and somewhat frustrated.

Another solid team talk from Coach Friz and we headed back out knowing we were still in the game but that we had to keep battling hard. Starting the second half well we soon equalized with a fantastic straight strike by Rids, although I have to say the stick stopping deserves an assist!!!! At 1-1 we were 100% in the game and for much of the time looked like the better side. Juan will be even more shocked to hear the passing got even better and we created plenty of opportunities. We still appeared to be struggling with counter attacks and Folkstone almost took the lead but were instead awarded a penalty flick. Naturally we knew we were in safe hands with Ali in goal and she pulled off an outstanding save to keep the score line 1-1. It wasn’t much longer before another counter attack led to Folkstone scoring against the run of play. Shortly afterwards some excellent defensive work saw Liz Hawkins lose half her knee as she courageous dived to save a goal off the line and we continued to push to equalize the game. Sadly, Folkstone demonstrated some good hockey and managed to take their lead to 3-1. With the team a little dejected Natty stepped forward to lift spirits and get us back to our fighting ways. Having been awarded another penalty corner with 5 minutes to go Rids stepped up again to smash another goal home. Back to 3-2 down with not much time left on the clock we really believed we could get the draw. The team pushed hard and we were extremely unlucky to not equalize the game to gain our first point of the season and to perhaps be awarded the result our performance deserved.

A disappointing result against what is likely to be one of the stronger sides in the league. Onwards and upwards for next week with some really positive performances by all members of the team to take into training and beyond. More importantly a very happy 18th birthday to Ruby!

Player of the Match: Ali (superb)

DoD: Ready – no petrol