With such little competitive hockey this season, and the knowledge of the impending lockdown, the girls’ excitement to play was not dampened by the miserable conditions in Cheltenham on Sunday afternoon. With some girls unavailable, for both travel and isolation reasons, it was interesting to see how the girls gelled and also how they developed through the game.
One of the isolation absentees was a GK so we were all very grateful for Isobel Orpin stepping in between the posts and for performing so well, but not until she’d been left exposed by our team defence in the early stages of the game. Some dis-organisation in our midfield and defensive marking meant that we were very open in the opening quarter and, despite us having both territory and opportunities of our own, Cheltenham took a two-goal lead thanks to their swift counter-attacks and smart finishes.
The wake-up call worked and several penalty corners were won as we approached half-time. Phillippa Jowett rocketed an unstoppable strike past the Cheltenham GK from one before a spectacular goal from Miranda Jackson who beat several Cheltenham defenders and struck past the GK to pull the girls level. One of the final acts of the half was another Cheltenham attack which they converted well suggesting that the half-time team-talk should focus on our organisation and defensive shape.
The girls spoke with great maturity and game intelligence at half-time, suggesting what Cheltenham’s strengths and weaknesses were and what we could do to both contain and exploit them. With a re-shuffle of positions and with the plan in mind, the second half was much improved. Miranda Jackson scored two quick goals after the restart before Cheltenham equalised somewhat fortuitously. A seemingly dangerous ball saw our girls stop to expect a whistle but it was allowed meaning Cheltenham were gifted another opportunity which they converted superbly. There is probably a lesson for us in there somewhere.
From this point forward, our girls played their best hockey of the afternoon. Marshalled by Ottilie Sykes and Molly Gardiner, our defensive shape was superb and Ella Bowman’s introduction to the midfield brought a different dynamic too. Megan Prince was involved in much of the good midfield play too as she linked up well with those around her. Five unanswered goals in the final fifteen minutes were reward for the excellent second half display in an interesting game for all involved, especially the spectators.
Thanks to Guada for her coaching support, to Cheltenham for providing two umpires and for the parents and players for making the journey to Cheltenham. Let’s hope that it’s not too long until we can play again!
(Martin Jones)
Cheltenham 4-9 Repton