S Berks 1-2 Yateley

Buoyed by 3 points from last weekend, Yateley Ladies 1s travelled to South Berks 2s for their next league fixture. Kate and Ellen joined the 1s from the 2s squad, showing the depth in the ladies section currently and they fitted in seamlessly.

From the outset, the ladies played some outstanding hockey. The ball was played confidently around the back and some beautiful passages of play emerged. South Berks didn’t really know how to handle the relentless Yateley attack and it wasn’t long before several corners were won. However, the South Berks defence, and especially a very strong GK, prevented any goals coming.

As the first half headed towards its conclusion, another corner was won and Becks leapt in to push the ball over the line and in doing so took a stick to the head. A goal was awarded but play was stopped for some time in order to stick Becks’s head back together and for blood to be washed off the pitch. Unfortunately, that was the end of the game for Becks.

As the YHC ladies settled in for the last couple of minutes of the half, a dubious tackle from South Berks saw them pinch the ball on the half way line and run into the D to put the ball into the goal and saw the first half end 1-1.

South Berks came out very strong in the second half and the YHC team really had to dig deep to regain composure. Once they had settled, YHC began to build more and more attacks and won several corners in quick succession but were just not able to convert them.

As the game entered the final 10 minutes, another Yateley corner was won and the ladies knew that the existing corner routines were just not going to result in another goal. With cool, calm heads, a variation on an existing routine was agreed (nothing like some flexibility under pressure!) at the top of the D. The ball was slipped to Ruth who managed to flick the ball high to give YHC the much deserved winner.

This was a really strong ladies’ performance that really could and should have ended with a more convincing score-line! The ladies now sit 2nd in the table on goal difference from the top spot.

MOM Ruth