Ladies 1st XI
Matches
Sat 12 Oct 2019  ·  Midland Region Hockey Association Womens League - Division 2
Kettering Hockey Club
Ladies 1st XI
G Jones (60'), S Reynolds (65')
2
2
Cannock Ladies 2s
A nail biting comeback!!

A nail biting comeback!!

Toni Hustwait13 Oct 2019 - 08:27
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Ladies leave it till the last 10 minutes to earn a point.

Watching from the sideline this week and can honestly say my nerves have never been so frayed watching a game!! With the side continuing to have to cope with changes to the team each week, Kettering did start brightly, moving the ball into attack and putting Cannock under pressure. Much the same as previous games both this and last season, it was like there was an invisible shield over the face of the opposition goal! We came closest as Stacy Hall pushed up from defence to support a free hit and continued her run to find herself in front of the goal for her shot to be saved. Cannock were the first to break the deadlock as a penalty corner routine saw a straight strike at Nik Baker in goal who showed incredible flexibility to do the splits and stop the ball with her right foot, but was stuck in this position with the ball under her foot and despite getting her stick behind her too, the Cannock player was quicker than our defence to pounce on the ball and get the first goal of the he game.
A beautiful patter of play should have been rewarded with a goal for the home side as Georgie Jones picked the ball up from the centre, playing the ball swiftly to Laura Beacon whose weaving run beat a number of players to drive in to the circle, a reverse pass to Sophie Reynolds who then played a cross to Liz Metcalfe on the far post, but it was not meant to be and the ball found the outside of the goal instead. The first half finished with Kettering 1-0 down but they frustratingly should have been comfortably in the lead by this point.
Cannock seemed to be full of confidence in the second half with Kettering not quite matching this to start with, and as a result they were soon punished as Cannock scored their second goal. Ellie Mulligan being caught in possession on the left meant the player drove in to the circle, with no one closing her down and slapped the ball from a tight angle past Baker. Being 2-0 down the home side needed to find that inner motivation to keep going as this score line was not reflective of the game itself, and step up they did! Player of the match Emma Storey was absolutely solid in defence, driving the ball forwards and not giving up on winning the ball back. This was the example the team needed and despite all the pressure it seemed that the goal was never going to come, with lots of close calls again. Megan Forader, Harriet Goswell and Reynolds all coming close to getting Kettering on the score sheet, but it was Jones who finally found the back of the net as Forader crossed the ball from the right with a slight lift on the ball, and Jones connecting with it in the air to find the net. The comeback was on, and albeit a bit of a scrappy affair, the second goal and the equaliser soon followed!
Winning a penalty corner with the initial attempt resulting in one of the Cannock players breaking their line early and being sent back to half way, meaning Kettering had an even bigger advantage, and take advantage they did; Reynolds connecting with the initial strike from Beacon to give the home side a deserved point.
Despite the overall performance not being quite as slick as desired, Kettering did show heart and dug deep today to not give up and sometimes these are the harder parts to build in a team. The connectivity will come on the pitch and the slickness in play will soon develop, so this combined with the right attitude and effort will soon be something special to watch.
Next week we take on Towcestor which should prove to be an interesting local derby!

Match details

Match date

Sat 12 Oct 2019

Kickoff

14:30

Meet time

13:30

Competition

Midland Region Hockey Association Womens League - Division 2

League position

8
Kettering Ladies 1s
9
Cannock Ladies 2s
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Sweatshirt Sponsor - Hamiltons Coaches
Junior Academy Sponsor - TGI Hockey