Ladies 1st XI Vs Boots 4

A number of absent all-stars (Caroline, Ruby, Sammy, Lucy, Jo, Alex, Fiona and Gemma) made team selection easy. Everyone available was selected and everyone played a full game. No substitutes. But we welcomed on the touchline, Kate (the Terrier) Parker back from university, who happily joined in the voluble support of her on-field colleagues

In the opening minutes, a powerful Boots team erupted in a tsunami attack on the South Notts goal.  After some of the first multi-player surge had winkled their way past stern Liz (Fleet of Foot) Foster, and  authoritative Freya (the Meteor) Beaumont, Boots encountered the weatherproof-fence reliability of Eleanor ( Rock of Gibraltar) Wallace who  as sweeper was quick to try to shut down wave after wave of attacks. 

Any chance of getting past Eleanor, they then met an on-form Elizabeth (They shall not Pass) Turner who regularly broke the vain hopes of the Boots forwards. Elizabeth seemed to have a thousand arms and as many feet to keep clearing the ball away; to send Boots on their way, to think again. Growing nervousness in the growing number of South’s spectators, and so increased vocal support

Then Liz Foster and Freya Beaumont used their speed and acceleration capably to brush aside the swarms of attackers and to create new opportunities for our Team.

Midfield and defenders piled forward, leaving Eleanor Wallace at sweeper over-exposed to mop up capably at the back. She managed brilliantly. This concerted attacking effort kept Boots for a while on their back foot.

Sophie (Swift to Pounce) Atkinson took control of midfield in the absence of Caroline Brackenbury. Sophie’s creative stardust and sparkling energy were sprinkled over the whole Team. Few possess Sophie’s all-round hockey intellect.

Sophie’s nimble artistry kept foxing the Boots defenders, and outside her, Emma (Speedy Gonzales) Roberts, and Rose (the Crafty) Cartwright, went flat-out inspiring our defenders and then up helping our forwards who were trying to ease past the Boots’ solid defence. And just to mesmerise Boots further, they often slid into becoming temporarily extra forwards. This made tricky, any person-to-person marking by Boots defenders.

It has to be noted that Boots were not taking this lying down, their surging tsunamis on South’s goal continued with highly skilled support from the Boots midfield, stretching our successful defence.

Up front, we had Evie ( Shooting Star) Bates in the centre, Rachael (the Unseen Raider) Grupping, and Becky(Comet) Humfris, all of whom had clearly been in extra training for improving on their already wonderful speed, balance and acceleration. All roamed widely and kept opening up unmarked spaces to receive cunning passes, to enable them to strike repeated shots at the Boots’ goal.

Becky Humfris in particular was one of our very best attackers, an undimming, undiminished velocity of natural energy and skill, but Evie Bates and Rachael Grupping were not outshone in necessary effort, power, ability and cleverness. All part of planned Teamwork. Brilliant.