Fun in the sun!

Ladies’ 7s and 8s both had a gap in their league fixtures, so they decided to play each other.  To make things fairer we split the two squads into two: the white team and the dark team.  Just occasionally there was the potential for confusion as we had both Charlottes on the same team.  Charlotte Vallis played a great game and Charlotte Cannon was very solid in defence as ever.

Unfortunately, we had our first injury even before the game began.  Emilia in goal got a ball on the knee during the warm-up and had to retire from the game.

We had quite a few new players playing today, including three from Back to Hockey.  Jane played left back for the whites and was very good at intercepting the ball before the opposition received it.  Emily played a strong right back and read the game well.  Jill was very strong as centre forward and definitely needed marking!  Phoebe had a great game as mid with a good reading of the game.  Susanne was actually playing her second game for Hawks and did very well on the wing as she has the speed for it as well as the skills.

Soon after play began the dark team scored with a lovely goal from Emmy.  Then Esther scored the next one.  Huei then arrived and joined Shan and Mary on the right in the dark team.  These three made a formidable threesome, moving the ball beautifully between them.  The dark team won a short corner, and the ball was slipped to Esther on the post, and she slotted it in behind Niv in goal.

At half time, Laura and Charlotte C said that with Huei the dark team had two more players than the whites, so they took Hannah back into the whites.  Deborah had hoped they hadn’t noticed!  Hannah had an excellent game for both teams and was always running into space and calling for the ball.

Not long after the start of the second half, Huei was on the P spot when she received the ball.  She carefully slotted it into the corner and Niv didn’t stand a chance.  Laura read the game well had her usual strong game as a wing.  Ros played a very reliable mid with great composure. Becca working very effectively in defence, until she was hit on the leg, and had to hobble off with the help of both umpires.  We wish you a speedy recovery, Becca!

The final goal was well worked by Mary who had been driving tirelessly down the right wing.  It was a great finish to a lot of teamwork.

So, it was an excellent game in the sun, and we all enjoyed ourselves.  It gave the captains, Laura and Charlotte a chance to see all the new players in action.  So, there will be several people moving up to L7s in the near future.

Player of the Match nominations were for Helen (who had an excellent game at the back), and Charlotte V but the winner was to Niv who had a superb game in goal for the whites.  For the dark team, the nominations were for Kate who played a very strong centre half and Emmy who had an excellent game as centre forward.  But the winner for the dark team was Mary who had a superb game at right wing with great speed and skills.

Many thanks to Will Smith and Bella Dawes for umpiring and Simon Aumonier for taking the photos.