There have been some highs and lows for the Ladies 1s in the first half of this season.
Losing 2 of our longstanding defenders to motherhood we knew would shake the team a little, but the acquisition of 3 talented players in Toni Hustwait, Sophie Reynolds and Charlie Fowle meant the squad strength didn't suffer. These ladies have fitted into the side very well and strengthened our atracking abilities.
We had great success in our friendlies at the start of the season, but the league matches seemed tougher as this early success was not mirrored in the first league games. We did try a more attacking formation, but with our defence being new to each other, and Liz Randle getting an injury, we were not as strong as we had been in previous seasons. So reverting back to our 4-4-2 formation seemed to settle the team.
A highlight of the first half was beating Belper at home 6-0. We hadn't had a league score line like this in quite some time. A low point was our narrow loss to North Staffs. The team played so well, and had more possession, but Staffs were lucky to sneak the win. The team were gutted.
We started the Christmas break with secret santa, where there were some hilariously offensive presents aswell as some lovely ones. Just shows there is a great atmosphere in the team on and off the pitch which is making playing hockey very enjoyable.
The second half of the season seems bright. Our 2 new mums will be coming back into the squad, and the team have been performing better and better and we hope this continues.