Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s vs Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 2s, league, Saturday 1st October 2005

Won: 4-1

Scorers 1's: Lisa Powell x3, Lynsey Askew x1

Scorers 2's: Cathy Ruffle

Saturday’s match saw the inaugural league games for the newly merged Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s and 2s. Last season both the former Bromley 1s and Beckenham 1s gained promotion to East Division 1, resulting in the merged club having 2 teams in the same league for season 2005/06. These were to form the new club’s 1^st and 2^nd team and when the league games were printed, it was sods law that the first game was against each other.

After a lot of good-natured banter leading up to the game, newly appointed 1s captain, Alison Fox, won the toss and opted for the first push back. For the first 10 minutes or so, the 1s dominated and created several half-chances but it was the 2s who had the first real chance of the game. Breaking quickly, they used their pacey forwards to break down our defence and Ali was forced to make a good diving safe to prevent them taking the lead. This seemed to lift the 2s and for the next few minutes we were under a lot of pressure with the defence being forced to make some timely tackles to thwart the attacks. I have to confess that I was getting slightly worried at this point but shortly afterwards we scored 2 goals in quick succession to relieve the pressure. Firstly Charlotte Ridout picked up the ball at right back and played a lovely through ball to Emma Greenway who ran down the right wing and crossed to Lisa Powell to slot the ball past keeper, Emma Morris, at close range. A couple of minutes later we doubled our lead, again courtesy of Lisa, who poached the ball off the keepers pads following an initial good save from a short corner strike. The 1s regained the momentum for the rest of the half but the score remained at 2-0, mainly due to some top class defending by the 2s’ Jane Woodcock, Sarah Phelps and Tara Woodward.

Our half time team talk was positive but we all agreed that the 2s were giving us a very good run for our money and we needed to continue to give 100% if we were going to retain our lead.

As expected, the 2s came out of the block extremely hard at the start of the 2^nd half and it was only some great defending by Chris McNeil, Hannah Westcar (who made 2 goal-line clearances), Vicki Ives and Charlotte Ridout plus some fantastic saves from Ali Fox, that prevented them reducing the deficit. The 2s attacking trio of Natasia Wiz, Sarah Crosley and Mo Taylor were certainly giving us some food for thought. We held firm though and having absorbed the pressure, pushed forward once again and increased our lead. Tracey Pitcher struck the ball nicely from a free hit just outside the D and found Lynsey Askew who deftly ricocheted the ball at an angle and found the bottom left had corner for a sublime finish. Our lead was increased again a few minutes later as Lisa Powell picked up the ball just outside our attacking 25, skipped past her defender, made her way to the top of the D and struck beautifully across the keeper for a brilliant finish to complete her hat-trick. Having seemingly put the game out of the 2s’ reach the 1s appeared to relax a little too much and the 2s took full advantage of this, pressing forward once again and making our defence work extremely hard. They were unlucky not to score from several good chances and it was only with 2 minutes left in the game that they got the goal they deserved. Natalie Gage struck well from a short corner, only for Ali to make a save which fell to Cathy Ruffle who put the ball into the back of an empty goal. Final score 4-1 to Bromley & Beckenham Ladies 1s.

A great game of hockey which was played in the right spirit, with some cracking end-to-end play. In summary I think that the 1s deserved to win but the score-line was harsh. 2-1 or 3-2 would have been fairer in my opinion but that’s hockey for you! Let’s hope that both teams can take their performances forward into next week’s games and get 3 points each.

Man of the match for 1s: This was shared between Hannah Westcar (great tackles and 2 goal line clearances) and Lisa Powell (a well deserved hat-trick)

Man of the match for 2s: Natasia Wiz. Had a great game up front and in midfield – worked hard and proved the driving force behind several of the 2s chances.

1s Squad: Alison Fox (Gk, capt) Chris McNeill, Hannah Westcar, Charlotte Ridout, Lucy Shepherd, Sarah Bentley, Vicki Ives, Tracey Pitcher, Lynsey Askew, Lisa Powell, Emma Greenway, Laura Brooks.

2s Squad: Emma Morris, Tara Woodward, Jane Woodcock (capt), Sarah Phelps, Natasia Wiz, Alex Ives, Amy Marvel, Cathy Ruffle, Natalie Gage, Sarah Crosley, Mo Taylor, Ashton Tame.