Women's 1st XI vs Gillingham Anchorians W1

The weather was perfect, and until the early hours of Saturday morning, we were still only a squad of 10, which included Cat & Kryssi stepping up from the 2s. Fortunately, 11 players showed up for the match, and after a brief warm up, the starting whistle blew.

Gillingham were fast out of the blocks, putting pressure on out defensive set-up straight away. ‘Last-minute Lucie’ was firm in the centre of the defence, and worked well, moving the ball wide to Anna and Bella. Our mids definitely had their work cut out today, taking a lot of pressure off the defence. Captain Westby, fuelled by nightshifts, made plenty of progress through the pitch, looping in Marnie, Maddie, Hannah, and Leanne. The Anch’s defensive unit marked well – not letting Cat or Kryssi off with any space. Even with a short, Anch’s held strong and cleared Harriet’s bolt of a shot.

 Despite their best efforts, with some super stops by Emmelia, Ville conceded two goals inside five minutes. A couple of balls did make it into the Anchorian’s D, but we were unable to capitalise.

 Positive words in the half-time talk – yes, we were under pressure, but we knew how to play hockey. Simple passes, and don’t run through them. Advice that we listened to – on occasion.

 The second half started in a similar fashion, but with Anch’s hitting their third soon after the whistle. Ville upped the workrate, and pushed hard, with it almost culminating in a goal after a strong run from Hannah and Leanne, and the shot being cleared by the keeper firmly into Cat’s collarbone. Ville were briefly down to 10 due to “continued obstruction” on Anchs by Leanne, so she got a five-minute rest… Once she was back on, she got stuck in as CM, swapping with Marnie. The play moved back to Ville’s D, and Anchorians won a short after the ball clipped a defensive foot. A slick little routine put the ball past our keeper (and Player of the Match) Emmelia. Ville fought to the final whistle, clocking up a couple of chances in the final few minutes but it wasn’t our day.

 SQUAD:

·        Harriet Westby, Hannah Ballard, Emmelia Bates, Kryssi Cumberbirch, Cat Doherty, Anna Elliott, Lucie Fish, Marnie Hooper, Leanne McKeverne, Maddie Morgan, Bella Sabin-Dawson.