Harriers and Kestrels in great first game

Harriers 1 - 3 Kestrels

The first U12/U14 girls development match of the season took place at St Edwards, with an interclub game between the Harriers and the Kestrels. For many of the girls it was their first ever game of 11-a-side, full pitch hockey - and they all did superbly!

Right from the beginning there was some excellent passing all across the pitch, with really good positioning and structure from both sides. It was the Kestrels (in white) who struck first, who won a short corner. The initial shot was well cleared, but Anoushka slammed the ball into the goal from an incredibly tight angle! It wasn't long until the scores were level though. Bea and Harriet were constantly terrorising the Kestrels defence, with some brilliant leading, and driving at pace into the D. Emily in the Kestrels goal kept out a couple of attempts, but eventually Bea made the breakthrough using her pace to get away from the defence and scoring well on her reverse. The score remained 1-1 until half time, when everyone got the chance to have some much-needed rest, hydration, and wisdom from team organisers Hibby and Reaney. Oh, and some Haribo.

In the third quarter neither team was able to make a breakthrough - Margaret in the Kestrels defence was outstanding, with some excellent tackles, interceptions and superb work rate throughout. Likewise for the Harriers, the backline of Josie, Lorelei and Esme were superb, Josie with some excellent tackles, Lorelei with superb positional awareness and marking, and Esme with excellent distribution and ball pace out from the back. Both Emily and Anna in the two goals were called into action making good saves, to keep the scores level going into the final quarter.

After some more wise words in the team huddles, both sides came out wanting to snatch the win. Jools and Aditi made some excellent tackles for the Kestrels defence, coming out with the ball and passing it on well. Holly and Sienna for the Kestrels did some outstanding passing moves down the left-hand side, looking very dangerous. And twins Ella and Daisy were on opposite teams and had some great battles in midfield. Ten minutes from the end the Kestrels took the lead, after excellent play down the right, with Anoushka driving along the baseline. The ball was pulled back to Daisy who calmly slotted it home. The Harriers then threw everything forward trying to find the equaliser, but it was the Kestrels who struck again, with an almost carbon copy of the previous goal - with Daisy again finishing well. Eventually the time ran down and the score ended 3-1 to the Kestrels after a very well matched and well contested game.

Congratulations to all players involved, and in particular to Harriet and Anoushka for their Player of the Match performances. Huge thanks to the players from the 1s and 2s for playing/umpiring - it wouldn't be possible without you - thank you Emma, Claire C, Hibby, Henri, Kathryn, Reaney, Apples, Odders and Sally. And also a huge thank you to David Cole for umpiring, plus Emily Jones for stepping in to play in goal at the last minute! The difference in the quality of play between the first quarter and the final quarter was immense as the girls grew into the game and grew in confidence - the future of Hawks is looking bright!