L1s get a win and a draw in triangular

Hawks Ladies' 1s travelled to Gloucester for their final pre-season prep. They faced two tough sets of opposition in Gloucester and University of Birmingham 2s. Hawks played some lovely fluid hockey, and they found connections between both existing and new squad members. It was lovely to see the team gel.

University of Birmingham

University of Birmingham we’re up first to face Hawks. The first quarter of the game showed some nice passing hockey and building play from Hawks, who were the dominant side. University of Birmingham showed promise with some solid passing and tackles of their own. The second quarter livened up a bit. After the ball came incisively through the middle and fell to Kim who shot hitting the post. A loopy clearance fell again to Hawks who played it in for Tiny to tidy up by slotting it past the keeper. University of Birmingham responded strongly, by pressurising Hawks midfielder to win the ball. Attacking incisively, and despite making the initial save, Trin was unable to stop the flicked follow up. Hawks weren’t to be discouraged, and building play up the left side, transferred swiftly to the right and then into Megan who calmly flung a low flick to the waiting Tiny who touched it past the keeper. The first half ended 2-1 to Hawks.

The second half yielded yet more high-quality passing hockey from Hawks. But the next goal fell to University of Birmingham with a well finished breakaway goal. Hawks rallied, keeping their high-quality passing play. Hawks won a corner up in the attaching half. The initial strike rebounded off the keeper, falling to a Reaney who swiftly cracked a back foot shot into the bottom corner. Hawks ramped up the pressure in the remainder of the half, and again capitalised on another corner. This time slinging it left post for a waiting Sally Clark to get a touch between her legs and into the goal. The game concluded a convincing 4-2, Hawks walking off with smiles on their faces ready to face their next opposition.

Gloucester

The next game against Gloucester, who play in the league above us, left Hawks the challenge of maintaining their standard of play with tired legs. Despite this, some high quality passing and pressing from Gloucester led to them opening the score line 1-0. It wasn’t until the second quarter that Hawks were able to respond, with an effective press leading to Lucy winning the ball back. She quickly passed forwards to Eloise, who beat the defender with a neat bit of skill, before smashing it past the keeper. The score was an equal 1-1 at half time.

In the third quarter, tired legs saw a slight drop in the quality of Hawks play, leading to a Gloucester winning 2 corners in quick succession. Clinical execution at both with identical straight strikes to the bottom right corner left Hawks 3-1 down. Into the last quarter Hawks stepped up. Passing in short bursts all the way up the pitch, transferring from left to right to create space. A nice pass into the D set up for a Hawks shot, which was saved. The waiting Tiny wasn’t letting that go and pounced on the rebound to tuck it under the keeper, bringing the score to 3-2. Some quality attacking play was seen from both sides for the remainder of the quarter. Continual pressure from Hawks press led to a turnover which was quickly passed forward to Lexi who dribbled around the keeper and pushed the ball home for an equaliser. The whistle blew minutes afterwards, leaving the final result an equal 3-3.

A great team performance across both games, for which the opposition coach gave us kudos. Well done ladies, a good shift. MOM Sally Clark.