Match reports - April 5, 2008

Ladies XI 1-1 Guildford 2nd XI
The season finished with one of our best performances of the campaign against a … er … surprisingly strong Guildford side who had they been able to play like this every week, or even field the same XI, would have romped the division. That they finished below us was possibly more to do with the fact their 1st XI were not in action. Anyhow, with two wins since October, Guildford dominated the first 25 minutes, almost laying siege as we rarely managed to break out of our half, although some outstanding defence limited them to few shots, and they failed to capitalise on numerous short-corner chances. We actually finished the half the stronger, twice going close. The second half was more even, although Guildford always looked more likely to score, and when they finally scrambled home a short corner midway through the half and then created several more chances, the writing seemed to be on the wall. But, to our immense credit, we dug deep, weathered more attacks, and started to push for the equaliser. The last five minutes were nothing of not entertaining. Guildford claimed a penalty flick when a surging run at goal was ended by a typically forceful Ros tackle, neither umpire ruling it unfair to the almost tearful protests of the forward, and a minute later Vikki Mottram hit the post. Eighty seconds from time a break down the right, a cross and an ecstatic Jackie Joyce swept home the equaliser to our undisguised delight. Guildford’s day ended in embarrassment when their coach, who displayed boorishness as well as ignorance and tactical naivety, decided to lambaste our umpire for the incident near the end, ignoring the fact that neither official had seen an offence. Three of his squad shook hands with the official while a number of them, egged on by the boor, loudly made clear their feelings. Class.

A superb end to the season with one of our most spirited displays, and a reflection on just what a united and excellent bunch of ladies we have in the club.

Vets XI 0-2 Tring
The Vets ended the season in defeat but it was one of the most entertaining games of a long campaign. Tring brought a much stronger side than we had seen previously, including our old friend Matt Leedham, returning to hockey after an 11-year break, but we played some superb hockey in the first half but went into the break one down. We failed to hit the target often enough and our short-corner routine never really functioned. As we pressed for the equaliser, Tring started to threaten more but our defence held firm until ten minutes from time when they scored a second from a breakaway. Five minutes later Dodie Khurshid found himself in utterly unfamiliar territory – in the D lining up for a shot – when he was fouled. The resulting flick from Andy Eve was in the realms of the worst ever but by then the game was up.