LATEST MATCH REPORT: LADIES 1A XI
24/02/07
Wanderers move 9 points clear of the relegation zone after a well deserved win. In the famous words of Jo: “we are awesome”.
WHERE: Battersea Park Astro (the hockey pitch not the piddly little football astro - it is a very easy mistake to make)
WHEN: Sat 24th Feb, 11am (dependent on whether you get to the correct pitch on time)
WHO: The 1as vs. Woking 2s
HOW: Read on- it makes a beautiful/ if slightly hazy read....
The opposition turned up already looking slightly dejected in their spangly purple kit- obviously they had been warned by Surbiton of our sporting prowess and they were feeling the panic set in...
We decided the best way to scare them off was to play a bit of smack your partner on the head/ back/ thighs, to warm up... if they weren't intimidated beforehand, Anya smacking her own captain on the back would definitely have made them re think any bad tackles... Tactically we had it in the bag....Wanderers were revved up and ready to go ...Jelly babies and Jaffa cakes had been consumed- we were ready to kick some hockey ass.
In the age old Wanderers 1as tradition it took us the first fifteen minutes to really get in to the swing of things...but once we had got there things really were swinging.... with some beautiful clearances from the defence, Wanderers managed to work the ball up the pitch a number of times, with some spectacular passes from all... The hard working WJ was the lynchpin of the mid field/top diamond racing back and forwards on everything, whilst Jo and Ali did what I can only describe as a LOT of running ....
We dominated the majority of the first half seeming unbeatable at all times; many shots were narrowly saved, with some crackers by Anya on the shorts... It seemed that the luck was shining on Woking’s side as their keeper and defence managed to keep a lot of our efforts out of their goal... All the action culminated in the captain stepping up to take a penalty following an outrageous scoop of the ball off the line (with her hand) by a Woking defender. Captain Rachel stepped up to the P spot to right the wrongs but watched in vain as it flew past the far post. It would have been a great flick! Must remember to get it on target… But this just made us more determined to win...! Half time involved some further tac tics from Ojy and Rach and then off we went again....
Second half saw a completely different 1as from the outset... some, almost poetic, passing up the wing saw WJ cross the ball in from the right and Jo ‘deservedly arrogant’ Bryant send the ball hurtling into the goal... I have to say the sound of the ball hitting the backboard is magical.
The rest of the match consisted of some narrow misses and some great play from various members of the team- notably both Steph and Liz had stormers and held together the defence at all times (no offence to the rest of the defence- you were all magnificent).... Ball retention was the key and we managed to pull it off like pros... Man of the match went to WJ who had another brilliant match... The 1as are a force to be reckoned with in this second half of the season...
I could not end it here so I thought I would leave you with a quote from one of the defeated opposition (fact)...”The fact that there is so much skill and passion in the way that they play is pretty overwhelming, but when you then consider how beautiful they are it is like playing against a team that dreams are made of- I didn't care about losing I was just honoured to play on the same pitch as them”.
Anonymous - Woking 2s
FINAL SCORE: Wanderers 1As 1 Woking 2s 0 (Scorer:Bryant, 37th min)
DOD/MATCH REPORT AUTHOR: WENDY BROWN
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