Ashford (Middlesex) Hockey Club

The high-flying 4’s got through a nervous first twenty minutes to win this game comfortably and cement their lofty 2nd position.

Playing against pointless Wallingford, on paper this looked an easy 3 points, however the home team sneakily switched the game to astro and this appeared to flummox the Red-and-Blacks early doors. Wallingford passed the ball better and dominated midfield and certainly looked more likely to score, however, fortunately for us and less so for themselves, they had little or no cutting edge and failed to turn their neat play and possession into one decent chance.

While we got ourselves in order, the back four defended stoutly - the only way they can defend with Big Amit, Bubbles and Podge at the back. Adrian Hewes is the Old Father Time of the side - nicknamed Bubbles when he was young due to a dodgy hairstyle and now because he is bubble-shaped. Dropped and in tears during the week, this game was a triumph for the barrel-chested dynamo.

Midway through the half, we got a shortie and a big stroke of luck…Amit unleashed a venomous shot that hit the poor sod on the line’s knee and their umpire gave a flick! Gordon Smith did the old trademark pelvic twist (patent pending) - 1-0 and we settled down. Then a flowing move enabled Chris Davies to net his first in 6 games right on the stroke of half-time.

Second half we played very well - by this time we had grabbed midfield and were cutting huge swathes through the Wallingford team. The 3rd goal was neat and effective… Amit lined up a free hit to do his trademark Big Whack (patent pending) and then slipped it to Ell who had time to sit down, have a cup of tea, read the paper, pick his spot (not nice in public) and then smashed it home for his 5th of the season and bragging rights as current top goalscorer.

One of the most pleasing things about our season is the sharing round of goals - 7 players have got at least 3 goals. The last 2 goals were down to our resident Crazy Gang member, James ‘Wild Man’ Maitland, who has really benefited from a recent anger management course. Having got the hang of this goal-scoring lark with no.4, he picked the ball up outside the 25, wriggled past his marker, dribbled past 2 players before lamping it in from the top of the D… a great goal and worth the wait!!!…

We are now 4 points behind the leaders and have a 3 point gap between ourselves and the rest of the chasing pack of marauding hordes of MBBO Division 4.

For their last South League game before Christmas, Ashford had to make the lengthy journey to Newbury without player coach BOB THORNALLEY. This coupled with a slow start and a superbly controlled high, reverse flick shot that opened the scoring for the home team after only three minutes of play, rocked Ashford badly. They had hardly penetrated the visitors half before a second skill full flick goal was added by Newbury four minutes later from a short corner. The two goal deficit wasn’t the only problem the Red & Blacks faced as from the start of the game, they playing towards the low lying sun, which made it very difficult for them to distinguish between their own and Newbury & Thatcham’s playing kit, despite Ashford having changed to their alternate black strip. Therefore shortly after the second goal, Ashford had to don some training bibs and play in the unfamiliar colour of orange. As Ashford tried to find some rhythm, a couple of very fine saves by young keeper LEANNE SERGEANT, encouraged the team and prompted some solid play by fellow defenders including youngster LOUISE DOUGLAS and stalwarts CLAIR BRANT and JACKIE PARSONS. Despite the slight improvement, Ashford’s passing and marking was still poor and after twenty two minutes of play the home team added another goal from close range to make the score three to the home team at half time.

Ashford came out for the second half determined to do better. Some good midfield play by SUNNAY POTTAY and several skilful and determined runs by KATIE GREEN helped them penetrate the home teams defence on several occasions. However, despite the overall team improvement, the Red & Blacks were not able to create many clear cut goal scoring chances and the home side continued to mount the occasional dangerous attack. Further acrobatic saves by LEANNE SERGEANT and more determined play by LOUISE DOUGLAS, along with a nifty goal line clearance by CLAIR BRANT managed to keep the score at 3-0 until midway through the second half. After twenty minutes of play though, a flowing move by the home team saw them catch many of the Ashford defenders up field, and they added a neat fourth goal. This was followed swiftly by a fifth from a short corner to make the score 5-0 and put the game well beyond Ashford’s grasp. Ashford battled on and JACKIE PARSONS made several ventures up the pitch to help the midfield and forwards in their attempts to notch at least one goal. Their efforts were thwarted though and the home team added a sixth goal shortly before the end of the game to inflict a heavy defeat on a battle weary Ashford. The game was a disappointing one for Ashford, who had been playing a lot better in recent weeks. The Red & Blacks do not return to League action until 20th January, but they have a couple of friendly games over the Christmas break, which coach HELEN THORNALLEY will be using to try and regain the recent improved form and team work.

Team:
L Sergeant (GK), D Brough, L Douglas, K Greene, S Kenward, J Parsons (Captain), C Brant, T Holland, J Smith, S Pottay, E Ashford–Hodges, O Young.

It’s cold, wet and everyone is completely drenched. Oh and the ladies 3s still had to play against Southgate. We had 12 players which was a relief. The first half was interesting; Gill Waite had some lovely hits, Nadine and Alex had great positioning. Ashford had a few lovely breaks but unfortunately no goals. We did however get an attacking short corner. It was a close miss from Gill Waite with Gill Clegg injecting the ball. Southgate managed to score although the defence were man-marking the best they could. Southgate had numerous short corners but the defence defended wonderfully to get the ball out. Nearly none of Southgate’s goals came from short corners. Midfield had some good positioning with some nice breaks. However, Southgate midfield managed to get a lot of tackles and we didn’t always get it up to the forwards. But when we did everyone legged it up and we had some crosses which didn’t manage to develop into a goal.

The second half everyone was optimistic. We could surely get a goal? Everyone was much more spaced out and we had many more breaks than the first half. Kim positioned herself brilliantly and we had some good runs up the pitch. Gill C played continuously well. Gill C and Kim worked hard to get the ball up the pitch. We had just had a break. It was looking good. Gill C was on the ball and Kim on the left. There was only one Southgate defender. Then the whistle went. It’s a shame because it looked like a very promising. Overall a good effort from everyone!

Man of the Match:
Karen Fowler

Team:
Sam Grant, Karen Fowler, Gill Waite, Alex Saunders, Nadine Howarth, Lianne Patterson, Ashley Brewster, Eline Sibia, Liv Sutton, Sue Westlake, Gill Clegg, Kim Downs.

Ashford Scorers:
Adam Smith, Dave Greenfield

As the light over Short Lane faded and the temperature plummeted, the Men’s 5th XI took to the pitch to face second place Eastcote Eagles. Our faithful crowd had long since sought shelter from the harsh condition, favouring the warmth of the clubhouse. With a bare XI, Ashford took heart in welcoming back Scott “the Aussie” from his travels and midfield rock Sandy Bedi, sporting a rather dynamic pair of lyrca shorts. The other appearance of note was the return of ex-Ashford 1st team keeper Mark Smith, who had kicked off his slippers (well, umpiring slippers anyway) to come back out of retirement and take to the field.

The game started passionately with both sides playing some quick and direct hockey. Eastcote took the lead early on when a through ball found their star player, a known Middlesex half-pint dynamo, in acres of space. There was then nothing Ashford could do but watch as he calmly passed the ball round Mark, who had unfortunately had a moment of indecision (I’m afraid to use the words “senior” moment), and into the goal.

This was not the start Ashford had hoped for, but the Red and Blacks didn’t let their heads drop and battled on regardless. A trademark Adam Smith free hit just outside the D was carefully deflected by Matt Chapman but the effort went narrowly wide of the left-hand post. With Ashford piling on the pressure the Eastcote defence showed signs of cracking when a short corner given against them resulted in a war of words and ended in some regretable verbal abuse from both sides. Umpires Dan Holland and Charlie Cottrell performed excellently the under pressure and slowly diffused the situation allowing play to resume. Ashford managed to convert the following short corner, but the ball failed to connect with the backboard as it deflected off the top of the keeper’s pads and was deemed to still be rising, giving Eastcote a 16 hit.

The break in play allowed Eastcote to gain possession as Ashford took their foot off the gas as half time approached. A crash ball through the middle to their centre-forward was skilfully laid off and the following shot did find the back of the net. However skilfully only described the way he used both feet to confuse the Ashford defence, and so the goal was disallowed once the Eastcote captain had owned up to the incident.

A rallying team talk at half time from a rather aggravated Dave Greenfield meant Ashford got off to a flying start. Piling on the pressure Eastcote conceded a short corner and the push out found Adam Smith who meandered his way through the oncoming runners with his usual deft stick skills and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner, past stranded keeper and the surprised defender glued to the post.

The Red and Blacks were on a roll and it didn’t take long for the pressure to pay off again when a fast ball into the Eastcote D found Dave Greenfield, Ashford’s answer to Robbie Fowler, who guided the ball into the back of the net with a neat deflection. Score: 2-1 to Ashford… what a turn around!

Now I’m sure that result would have made a few team captains in the league choke on their Monday morning cereal but unfortunately for Ashford Eastcote weren’t going to leave Short Lane with out a point. As the game entered its last minute another through ball found the Eastcote “Ronaldo” centre-forward who laid the ball back to their mini superstar, and with a lot of skill and a little bit of luck he scooted right, found an opening and scooped the ball off the deck, looping it just inside Mark’s left-hand post leaving him waving at thin air. Full time score: 2-2.

Looking at the league table, the Men’s 5th XI are now propping up the table due to Eastcote 8th XI stealing all three points against Bicester at the weekend. A good result against Bracknell next week is essential before hoping for another shock home result against league leaders Oxford Hawks in the last game before the Christmas break.

Ladies 4s only had the bare 11 players on Saturday against West Hampstead but they fought hard and gave 100% committment to the game. Unfortunately Kirsty B was injured during the warm up and so in the second half she moved from defence to attack. Becky Hewes therefore dropped into defence and had a great game. Everyone played really well, tireless work from the midfield of Sue, Bryony and Hannah created a couple of chances. New colt Nicola Croxon battled well up front but unfortunately the strong WH defence stopped any attacks from Nicola, Emma and Kirsty. Brownie and company battled in defence and gave the WH forwards trouble from getting a shot on goal at first. However West Hampstead openned the scoring from a slight defensive error to make it 1-0 at half time.

The second half saw West Hampstead step the game up and gain several short corners. Their straight strike routine had obviously been well practised and with the ball being quickly pushed straight back in the D, the WH striker belted the ball home. Their next short corner was disallowed due to ball not being stopped outside the D, but the WH Striker amended that error when she buried another straight strike from a short corner to make it 3-0 to the visitors.

Team:
Charlie Kerridge-Smith, Doreen Brown, Linda Burne, Jane English, Kirsty Boxell, Sue Westlake, Bryony Smith, Hannah Richards, Emma Billens, Becky Hewes, Nicola Croxon.

Ashford Scorers:Stacey KenwardAshford were able to welcome back midfielders KATIE GREENE and STACEY KENWARD, along with young defender LOUISE DOUGLAS to their squad for their home game against South League newcomers Banbury on Saturday. However, they were without midfield dynamo NICKY DALY and Coach HELEN THORNALLEY and so super striker JACKIE PARSONS had to continue in her new sweeper role. The game started quietly with both sides feeling their way into the game. Ashford were combining well as a team and constructing some flowing moves and were playing with a new found confidence. Banbury soon started to pressurise the Ashford defence though, but DANI BROUGH and LOUISE DOUGLAS worked tirelessly to support the sterling work of sweeper JACKIE PARSONS and they were able to contain the early attacks. After eleven minutes play the visitors secured their second short corner and opened the scoring with well worked routine.Ashford weren’t deflated though and midfielders KATIE GREENE, CLAIR BRANT, STACEY KENWARD, JO SMITH and TRACEY HOLLAND worked tirelessly to create some good chances and threaten the Banbury goal. Several short corners were gained by the Red & Blacks and JACKIE PARSONS and CLAIR BRANT combined well from one on the twentieth minute to set up STACEY KENWARD who hit the ball home from close in to make the score 1-1. Ashford then worked hard to get another goal, but a strong Banbury attack resulted in them being awarded a penalty flick and Ashford’s deputy keeper LIV SUTTON, did well to save the flick which went low to her left and keep the score at 1-1. Once again Ashford attacked and after thirty three minutes of play JACKIE PARSONS nearly put them ahead with a good short corner strike, only for Banbury to then strike a second goal on the stroke of half time from another short corner.The Red & Blacks continued to play good open hockey in the second half and strikers SUNNY POTTAY and LAURA SAMUOEL ran and worked tirelessly up front to put the Banbury defence under pressure. Several more short corners saw Ashford go very close to getting the equaliser, but no goals were scored by either side in the second half; so despite their best performance for a long time, Ashford still ended up as the losing side! There were so many positives about the game and high standard of the Ashford team work though, that Coach HELEN THORNALLEY and her squad were not disappointed after the game. Next Saturday Ashford travel to Newbury to play Newbury & Thatcham 1st XI in their last South League game before Christmas. The opposition are currently only two places above bottom placed Ashford in the league and if the Red & Blacks can continue to play as well as they did against Banbury, the goal chances and league points will surely come.Team:O Sutton (GK), E Hynes, D Brough, L Douglas, K Greene, J Parsons (Captain), C Brant, T Holland, J Smith S Pottay, L Samouel, S Kenward.

Team Ashford’s momentum shows no sign of slowing down with this impressive 3-0 victory and performance over a decent Eastcote team to maintain 2nd position.

We had a fillip before the game with the addition of Dawson - he dawson’t think he’s fit enough yet so he didn’t start early daws. With Big Amit out for a week, a re-shuffle meant Little Amit aka Elliot came in for his first game at centre defence and with Rosie moving to left back and Ant back in goal, we had 3 of our under-16’s in defence.

We always have hard, competitive games against these boys so we were up for it from the start - the team were like rampant wildebeasts and stampeded all over a visibly shocked oppo playing our best hockey of the season. First goal came from our second shortie, up trundled Little Amit to belt the ball goalwards and although it was saved, his old boy was on hand to push home the rebound. A few minutes later, another shortie saw Adam Husband hit a shot across the keeper and ‘Reed’ used his elastic superpowers to get his stick in the way….kick on the line, penalty - our first for 2 years! - a twitch of the pelvis, 2-0 and the 2nd for the elder Smith!! Would Reed Richards score a Fantastic Four goals?!?!!!…. No…

Eastcote had to do something in the second half and they did, making several changes to their formation to try to disrupt our game - to be honest, it worked and had a shot not gone just past the post, it might have been very different. Ant also blocked out a decent chance for them and they had a couple of shorts but they didn’t get a goal back, We continued to create plenty of chances but our swift, controlled passing game had been replaced by frenetic running to counter the visitors change in tactics. The game improved as a contest though and it was only in the last 15 minutes that we started to pass the ball around and use the time we had to stretch Eastcote and reduce the pressure on the defence who played very well throughout, in particular Rosie who was my MOM.

In the last minute, Rhino received the ball in the D and tried an ambitious reverse-stick smack but only managed to loop it up in the air and, as the Eastcote defence watched it go up and come down, Shaggy ran on to push the ball in from very close range to complete the scoring.

Injury and illness again took their toll on the Ashford Ladies1st XI squad for the away game against fellow strugglers Hampstead & Westminster 2nd XI on Saturday. Both Coach HELEN THORNALLEY and midfielder STACEY KENWARD had to withdraw late in the week due to injury and illness respectively. However, the Red & Blacks were very pleased to welcome back stalwart midfielder JACKIE PARSONS who had recovered from a recent back injury and she took over the sweeper role for the first time in her Ashford career. Welsh midfielder SAM KENDALL was also back for Ashford, whilst young striker OLIVIA YOUNG was a late call up to the squad.

Due to the game before Ashford’s running late, the 3pm start was delayed and the whole match needed to be played under lights. Play from the start was very even, with Ashford midfield dynamo NICKY DALY doing several penetrating runs, which caused havoc in the home teams defence. Likewise Hampstead & Westminster had a couple of good attacking moves, but debutant sweeper JACKIE PARSONS calmly cut out most of their threatening moves, ably assisted by defender DANI BROUGH. After eleven minutes of play, the home team opened the scoring from a short corner, when a fairly harmless strike from the edge of the circle bounced awkwardly on the water based pitch and fooled Red & Blacks keeper LEANNE SERGEANT to give Hampstead & Westminster the lead 1-0. After the goal the play continued to be fairly even and whilst Ashford were creative in midfield, it was not leading to many chances in the circle or them getting any accurate shots on goal. In the closing quarter of the first half the home side piled on the pressure and it took a couple of acrobatic saves from keeper LEANNE SERGEANT to keep the score at 1-0.

The second half started with further stout defending by Ashford’s new sweeper JACKIE PARSONS, and another brilliant point blank save from LEANNE SERGEANT kept the score down to 1-0. In reply the Red & Blacks forwards LAURA SAMOUEL, SUNNY POTTAY and substitute OLIVA YOUNG were combining well, but it was midfielder NICKY DALY who created the best chance. After seventeen minutes of play the home side went further ahead with a fine cross from the left being deftly met on the right and strongly hit home. Ashford again rallied and secured two shorts corners and OLIVIA YOUNG went close to getting their opening goal as the Red & Blacks upped their game. Despite their efforts, another sweeping move by the home side, saw them score another good goal to take a 3-0 lead, which they increased two minutes later with a fourth goal from a short corner. Ashford refused to let their head drops though and worked hard in the last ten minutes of the game, but despite them gaining several short corners they failed to find the back of the net and the score remained at 4-0. Next Saturday Ashford have a tough home match to third placed newcomers to the league Banbury. However, if they continue to play as well, the goal chances will surely come.

Team:
L Sergeant (GK), E Hynes, D Brough, S Kendall, N Daly, J Parsons, C Brant, T Holland, J Smith (Captain), S Pottay, L Samouel, O Young.

Ashford Scorers:
Dan Rose (2), Ryan Holland (2), Amit Bhamra

Team Ashford showed how tough they were on Saturday overcoming crippling nipple rash - yes we bled for the team - to post a convincing win over struggling Bracknell. Our new shirts had turned up and we all looked very handsome, our mum’s would have been proud. Eventually we decided to stop treating the astro like a catwalk and got on with the game…

It was immediately apparent there was a bit more time and space on the ball than usual and we could get our heads up and pass the ball. Of course that would be too easy for us so it took us 10 minutes to impose ourselves us on the game, when we did, a smart move involving Wild Man and Rhino ended with the Time Bandit flicking home. We could and should have scored a couple more but went into half time one-up.

The half time team talk was enlivened by Tony - our crowd doubled for the day - telling us to watch out for flying acorns!

We continued to dominate the second half but couldn’t get the second goal, some interesting runs from Adam caught the eye, he certainly likes cutting inside as one mazy diagonal run would have seen him on the neighbouring footie pitch but for the railings! We then gave up a goal so shocking it has been suppressed by the authorities and you’ll have to come back to this website in 30 years, one element of it was 2 lads calling for the ball and then both leaving it!!

Frustrated by ourselves our play deteriorated and Bracknell had their best spell of the game but their tactic of playing a goal hanger didn’t work and with 15 minutes to go, Big Amit topped in a shortie to calm us down. We then stepped up a gear and went through the pain barrier, as shirts started to chafe the sensitive skin of the brave Ashford boys, to score a quick 3 goals, the first was simple, neat, quick hockey, the ball was cleared to Adam Husband on the left inside our half, he made ground and slipped it to Shaggy - the ball as well - Shaggy - miracle!!!!! - not only had 2 hands on his stick but passed the ball to our resident ewok, Rhino, who rounded the keeper and passed the ball home. The fourth was a shot which hit Rosie’s stick and deflected in and the 5th goal finally broke plucky Bracknell’s hearts…. picking the ball up outside the 25, the brilliant yet modest playmaker-cum-libero Gordon Smith sent 7 of the home team the wrong way with a twitch of his pelvis and then picked out Wild Man, who went past the other 2 of the defence before crossing to Rosie who managed to get his hair out of his eyes to slap it home… Rosie - 2 goals - total distance from goal - 3 yards.

So a comfortable win - according to the Bracknell website we were a larger and more experienced team - not hard to be larger with Egor, Euro and Big Amit in the team - but it should also be reported 4 of our goals were scored by a 12 and 14 year old…

Ashford Scorers:
Ian McAllan, Adam Smith

Saturday saw the Ashford 5’s take on Eastcotes 8th team, with both teams languishing near (or at) the foot of the table already this game was set up to be a bit of a 6 pointer. The pre-match team-talk focused on the need not-to-lose, but the team felt confident that we were more than capable of winning our first 3 points of the season.

The game started brightly with Ashford seemingly taking an early grip on the game, some bright forward play from the debutant Shaun Smith set up a couple of bright moves for the Red and Blacks, although they came to nothing. Mid-way through the first half Ashford turned their dominance into a goal with a good move which was (eventually) bundled into the goal on the second attempt by the Ian ‘Coach’ McAllan, who, as it was later found DID NOT get snipered this week. A second goal soon followed from a short corner as Adam Smith recieved the ball then proceeded to make a couple of defenders look extremely ordinary with his skill, before producing a strong finish.

The second half continued as the first with Ashford playing all the hockey. Eastcote were restricted to a handful of chances which were dealt with very well by second debutant Ian Doggett, who looked calm and solid between the Ashford sticks and produced the 5’s first clean sheet of the season. Some great hockey was produced in the second half without a goal and none more so than the great interplay from the right hand side when superb composure and skill by young Freddie Cottrell produced an opportunity that was missed by millimetres. This capped a terrific performance from the young right-half and shows we’ve got another Cottrell who could potentially grace the higher teams.

A good display by all and a scoreline which didn’t reflect the balance of play - but a win is a win.

Ashford Scorers:
Darren Cole, Ed Green

The 2nds game was a well deserved win with Canterbury scoring against the run of play with a break away goal nicely taken with a reverse stick strike.

Ashford dominated and amassed at least 12 short corners, it was 15 mins into the 2nd half before Smart picked out a blistering lead from Darren Cole, from a free hit outside the oppositions D. Cole deflected to secure the 1 all score line.

Ashford pressed on and with 5 mins to go managed finally to put a well worked short corner into the net thanks to a tremendous strike from Ed Green.

Another clean sheet, with no short corners awarded against Ashford. A well desereved 3 points.

Ashford Scorers:
Andy Justice, Kevin Cuffe

Ashford went behind 5-0 in the first twenty minutes before starting to play, a goal was pulled back by Justice from a short corner before half time. The second half started brightly only to mimic the first; Wokingham scored twice more before Cuffy made it 2 for Ashford. Wokingham scored again and had one disallowed before the umpires called time on the 3’s most disappointing performance of the season.

Ashford Scorers:
Sunny Pottay

Ashford Ladies 1st team were still short of three of their regular players from the squad for their home game against fellow Division 3A strugglers Henley on Saturday, and once again coach ‘BOB’ THORNALLEY was called upon to play to help shore up the defence. In the opening part of the first half, Ashford contained the visitors well. However, after ten minutes of play, Henley executed a good short corner routine which resulted in a well controlled slightly elevated strike, from the edge of the circle rocketing by the left hand post of the Ashford goal to put the visitors 1-0 up.

Ashford did not get disheartened though and continued to play well, with goal keeper LEANNE SERGEANT and defenders DANI BROUGH, EMMA HYNES and coach THORNALLEY playing well across the back and the ever consistent and hard working NICKY DALY, being ably assisted by TRACEY HOLLAND in midfield. After twenty or so minutes of play Ashford left midfielder player STACEY KENWARD was involved in a collision with a Henley player which involved a clash of heads that resulted in a head injury to STACEY who had to leave the pitch and unfortunately she was unable to take any further part in the game. The Red & Blacks reorganised and long time defender HILARY HULL came on as substitute and was pressed into action up front. Not long after, Ashford managed to equalise when NICKY DALY took a good free hit outside the circle which HILARY HULL deflected goal wards and SUNNY POTTAY was on hand to scramble the ball over the Henley goal line. Whilst it wasn’t the most stylish of goals, it was Ashford’s, and thus SUNNY’s, first of the season. The score remained at 1—1 until the interval.

The second half continued in a similar vein to the first, with both sides pressing for an equaliser. Unfortunately Ashford were missing some of their heavy artillery up front and were not able to make much headway against the Henley goalkeeper and defence. Despite their frustration, the Red & Blacks kept going, but came unstuck when Henley managed to hit the winning goal shortly before the end of the game. Thus yet again as happened last season, Henley managed to snatch a late victory over Ashford. Despite their disappointment in defeat, Ashford had played much better than of late and next Saturday, they have to travel to Paddington to play Hampstead & Westminster 2nd XI, who are just above them in the League. Coach HELEN THORNALLEY and the squad are therefore keen to continue their much improved form and they are optimistic of securing their first win of the season.

Team:
L Sergeant (GK), E Hynes, D Brough, H Thornalley, H Hull, N Daly, S Kenward, C Brant, T Holland, J Smith (Captain), S Pottay, L Samouel.

The Ladies 4th XI resumed their league fixtures this week, after a break in the schedule last weekend and no opposition teams available for a friendy. First up at a rather cold and frosty Short Lane, the Red and Blacks played host to a Winchmore Hill & Enfield team that were only 1 point below them in the league making this a bit of a division 3 crunch match.

The game started off fairly even although Winchmore Hill & Enfield were looking the stronger side. Good defensive work by Ginge, Linda, Kirsty and Hannah kept the score 0-0 at half time with some fine saves by Charlie.

There were some great runs up the pitch from Ashley and Gillian but unfortunately the Winchmore Hill & Enfield defenders kept our young attackers - Bryony, Nicole and Kirsty S - from scoring.

The team battled well with everyone giving 100%. Hopefully next week the team will be back at full strength to face Teddington.

Team:
Charlie, Ginge, Linda, Kirsty B, Hannah, Ashley, Gillian, Sue, Lisa, Bryony, Becky, Nicola, Kirsty S