Ladies' 8s in damp draw with Witney 4s

On this wet Saturday afternoon, Ladies 8’s met with Witney 4’s. The weather did not get better but that did not dampen our spirits. 

The beginning of the match was slightly static, and we started a bit slowly. However, it was particularly clear that as the game picked up, we were dominating the pitch and keeping it in our possession. The defence played extremely well putting in the wisdom of our Wednesday training sessions with the ball being transferred round the back from Gill to Zoe and Deborah to Niv and up the pitch. In the first half, we maintained most of the possession. We had many D penetrations and a narrowly missed deflection from Lexie. As half-time approached, the score line remained level. 

The second half got even better. We fought as a team and wanted it more as a team. Some great play from everyone. With the ball going from Lexie, across the opponent’s goalkeeper to Laura, it was a close opportunity to get it in goal. Fortunately, a rebound off the opponent’s goalkeeping pads led to Hawks finding the goal. We were 1-0 up. Hawks continued the fight with Hannah holding the midfield well. Forwards and inners were united in their 16-yard press causing difficulty for the opponent to get the ball through. An unfortunate break from Witney led to what should have been a penalty flick being considered a goal when Zoe stopped it on the line. Nevertheless, we didn’t let that stop us. A stellar dive from Deborah led to Hawks getting a free hit. Everyone played exceptionally using small, quick passes down the line from Aimee to Huei to Lexie down the left and Libby to Laura to Cat down the right and there was a fantastic run from Zoe with the ball from one end of the pitch to the other.  

A cracking performance today.  

The nominations for player of the match included: Aimee, Libby, Huei, Cat, Lexie and Zoe but the winner was Zoe who had an excellent game.  Many thanks to Mak Diab for the photos in very difficult conditions.