Ashford travelled to Wycombe on Saturday with a stronger, but still not full strength, squad. Coach HELEN THORNALLEY stepped forward to play her first game of the season to help strengthen the defence, whilst former Ashford starlet LAURA SAMOUEL was playing for her first 1st XI game since returning to the club at the start of the season. Ashford started steadily and were unfortunate that an early break from the home team resulted in them going ahead with a well struck goal after four minutes of play, only for Wycombe to then score another scorcher of a goal after six minutes to take a somewhat unwarranted 2-0 lead. The Red & Blacks stuck to their task manfully though and got back into the game and were performing well when a freak accident to one of the umpires halted play for almost twenty minutes. Unfortunately the umpire accidentally tripped over an Ashford player whilst the ball was out of play, and whilst falling the umpire put her arm out to cushion her fall. In doing so she managed to break her arm and after initially trying to carry on, she had to stop and received lengthy treatment. Meanwhile, both teams had to consult the League rules and then try and find/contact an appropriate standard and registered umpire. Fortunately one was found and the game could continue.
After the restart, the Red & Blacks played extremely well and mounted numerous attacks on the Wycombe goal. Good team work and hockey resulted in them gaining several short corners and although youngsters OLIVIA YOUNG and LAURA SAMOUEL, in particular were combining well, Ashford were unable to convert any chances into goals and the score remained at 2-0 to Wycombe until half time.
In the second half Ashford again started strongly and were playing a lot better than in recent games, and were more than a match for the home team. However, all their efforts were thwarted after twenty minutes of the second half when Wycombe scored their third goal and then another two, five and ten minutes later, to make the score 5-0 to the home team. The Red & Blacks hung in though and goalkeeper LEANNE SERGEANT made a fine high diving save to her right to deny Wycombe a sixth goal in the final minutes of the game. LEANNE and left side midfielder STACEY KENWARD were the joint Ashford players of the match, but the whole squad played well and the score line was not really a true reflection of the game. Next Saturday, Ashford face fellow strugglers Henley at Short Lane at 12noon and are hopeful of having an almost complete squad to choose from and continue to play at the standard achieved against Wycombe.
Team:
L Sergeant (GK), E Hynes, S Kendall, D Brough, H Thornalley, H Hull, N Daly, S Kenward, C Brant, T Holland, J Smith (Captain), O Young, L Samouel.
