Due to us hosting the U16 Regional Finals, today’s home fixture was switched to Foremarke Hall School and we were very grateful to them for accommodating us this afternoon. This was the final local pool match before the U14 Regional event and will have served as great practice for a few weeks’ time as Repton had the luxury of already being through to the next round.
Beeston, in need of a victory to guarantee qualification, began strongly and exerted pressure on the Repton back-line for a sustained period in the first quarter of the match. Alani Clarson and Molly Gardiner tackled well, and defended the circle excellently but the relentless Beeston pressure, bought about due to a lack of composure when we won the ball, allowed Beeston to take the lead from a good move down the right baseline.
As the half progressed, the balance of play was more even and chances came at both ends. Excellent work from Daisy Wong on the right could not be finished off in the circle on more than one occasion. Another opportunity fell to Elisabeth Fraser who was well-placed, but her reverse-stick effort flashed narrowly wide shortly after Jess Grace’s deflected effort whistled agonisingly passed the other post.
The second half remained well balanced but with Repton failing to convert a penalty corner, Beeston charged down the other end and doubled their lead to give them some breathing space. The final play of the game was another Repton penalty corner but a failure to execute was one of the points highlighted as we look to improve for the Regional Finals in a couple of weeks’ time.
MLJ