Ladies' 4s beat Banbury 6-3 at home

With Banbury sitting just below Hawks in the league, and bad memories of a 3-0 defeat at their hands earlier in the season (albeit with no goalie and no subs!), Hawks were keen to chalk up a victory and put clear water between them and us in terms of league points.

The match started in sparkling form, which matched the bright sunshine making a welcome break through lowering clouds. No sooner had the sun disappeared, however, than the terrific form of the Hawks forwards suffered a set-back, with a Banbury goal that came completely against the run of play. An unfortunate communication misunderstanding had enabled the alert Banbury wing to intercept and steal in for very well struck shot. Within minutes of the re-start, Sandra had equalised with a well-worked move that left Banbury looking stunned. A second miscommunication resulted in the second Banbury goal, again against the run of play. Five minutes gone, three goals scored. Hawks regrouped and soon struck back with another good move up through the middle of the pitch and into the back of the net. Eight minutes gone, 4 goals scored. The mystery of how our slight errors had been punished so severely was solved by our observant captain who spotted that two of the opposition had the same number on their shirts. Deborah’s imploring her defence to “mark number 15!” had been only 50% successful thus far. With the defence now organised and with Megan D keeping a close eye out for the ever-dangerous Banbury centre-mid, Hawks were able to play some terrific passing hockey slicing through the Banbury defence time and again to put another three goals in before half time to take the score to a very respectable 5-2.

The team talk focussed on communication – we had been quiet and a little hesitant coming for shorter balls in the first half, but we were certainly not under-estimating the ability of Banbury to come back at us strongly in the second half. They had made precisely that decision and their level of determination was significantly increased, resulting in some strong runs down the wings, which were countered very successfully by Jane and Katie, who were both solid and creative, blocking some excellent Banbury attempts and sending glorious passes up to the waiting Hawks forwards or through the hard-working midfield. The hard work was rewarded by a sixth goal for Hawks - and hat trick for Lucy - for the loss of only one Banbury goal after a barrage of pressure and some terrific clearances by Megan in goal. The last hit of the match had found the back of the net, but sadly, from Banbury’s point of view, and for the second week running, the umpire had whistled for full time before the opposition’s shot had been struck. The game was brilliantly umpired and as one onlooker commented “a real end-to-end cracker” - worthy of the sun that came out as we trooped off the pitch to enjoy our deserved victory over a good opposition.

Lucy Millington was deservedly voted man of the match.

Thanks to Jan Davies for her photos.

Squad

Sophie Ackland, Kate Cannon, Megan Davies, Deborah Evelyn, Zandie Forrest, Jane Holmes, Megan Magrosky, Lucy Millington, Eliza Norris, Gill Petrokofsky, Linda Phillips, Sandra Satterly, Megan Wilds

Player of the match: Lucy Millington

Scorers