1s Top of The Table

Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s vs Upminster, league, away, Saturday 22nd October
Won: 5-1
Scorers: Lynsey Askew x3, Lisa Powell x2

On Saturday the ladies 1s travelled to Essex to play bottom-of-the-league Upminster. Despite their lowly league position, we knew that they were going to be a tough side to beat and we’d have to work well as a team to take the 3 points.

The fact that we’d had a break the week before was evident as despite our best intentions, we started the game very slowly. Upminster took advantage of our poor passing and for the first 15 minutes or so, were in complete control of the game. Thankfully for us, young keeper, Emma Morris, was in fine form and made some great early saves to keep the scores level. BromBeck’s first real shot on goal came courtesy of Lisa Powell who made some space for herself at the top of the D and unleashed a powerful strike which looked like it was heading for the top right hand corner. The keeper was beaten but unfortunately for us, the post came to Upminster’s rescue. Upminster quickly launched a counter attack and forced a short corner, which they converted to take the lead. This goal seemed to give BromBeck the kick they needed to shift things up a gear and although still not quite up to scratch, we began to play some much better hockey. The renewed effort paid off as we scored 2 quick goals. These were almost identical in style with Emma Greenway attacking down the right wing to cross for Lisa Powell to convert both times. There was time before the break for us to convert once more, this time with Lynsey Askew playing a lovely cricketing ‘forward defensive’ to deflect Cathy Ruffle’s cross into the goal.

Everyone was upbeat at half time. Despite having taken a while to get into the game, we were now starting to gel and to play some quality hockey, which was reflected by our 3-1 lead. We were adamant that we were going to take this into the 2nd half to ensure a victory.

Upminster came out with all guns blazing when the whistle went and it was evident that they were looking to put us under pressure and get the goals back. However, we dealt with everything effectively with the defence calmly clearing several attacks and Emma Morris again making some good saves when required. It wasn’t long before Upminster began to tire and our classy play shone through once more. We were awarded a free hit just outside the D, which the hard-working Sarah Bentley took quickly and powered a ball towards Lynsey Askew who deftly deflected the ball into the bottom right hand corner. Askew completed her hat-trick a few minutes later to finish off the scoring with a fine team goal. A scintillating series of passes between Lucy Shepherd, Sarah Bentley and Lisa Powell were played before the ball was passed to Askew to tap home. This goal emphasised how we’re now starting to play much better as a team and are beginning to gel. Upminster continued to fight to the end but they could not convert and BromBeck finished as the 5-1 victors.

Another fantastic result for us and one which puts us top of the league with the 5 teams below us all having played an extra game. Next week we’re playing Old Loughts 2s who I’m sure will prove to be another tough team. Let’s hope we can carry forward our 2nd half performance into this game and continue our 100% league record.

Man of the Match: Emma Morris. Had a fantastic game in goal, deputising for Alison Fox. Made some brilliant saves and showed what a promising young keeper she is.

Squad: Emma Morris, Chris McNeil, Hannah Westcar, Charlotte Ridout, Jess Riley, Vicky Ives, Sarah Bentley, Lucy Shepherd, Cathy Ruffle, Lynsey Askew, Lisa Powell, Emma Greenway, Emma Shepherd.

Next Saturday we’re playing at Langley at 3.30pm. Any supporters would be more than welcome!!

Ladies 1s Continue Good Start

Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s v Bishops Stortford, away, league, Saturday 8th October 2005.
Won 2-0
Scorers: Lisa Powell x2

Early Saturday morning saw a bleary eyed BromBeck side travel to Bishops Stortford for their 2nd league game of the season. Having made the perfect start to our campaign last weekend, everyone was keen to continue this and make sure we retained our early poll position in the league. However, in the first half, there was not much evidence of this on show!

We won the first push back but failed to make the most of this as possession was given away. This seemed to set the tone for the rest of the first half as we struggled to put passes together and generally looked like we were still half asleep. There were some good patches but these were few and far between and we were lucky that our defence and Ali in goal were alert to make some fine tackles and saves to prevent Bishops Stortford from taking the lead. I was relieved when the half time whistle blew with the score remaining at 0-0.

The half-time team talk was a bit of a mixed bag with some people thinking we were playing well and others (myself included!) thinking we were playing terribly! We talked about the positives that could be taken from the half and then focused on how we could improve our performance.

The second half was thankfully a vast improvement on the first. Our passing was a lot more fluent and our work rate improved immensely. We had several short corners (13 in total throughout the game) but unfortunately failed to convert any, with their keeper having a fantastic game. It was left to a ‘Lisa Powell Special’ to give us the lead. Picking up the ball near the top of the D, she drove in, turned and executed a perfect finish from the top, which gave the keeper no chance. Lisa then doubled our lead a few minutes later with another great finish. From then on, BromBeck had the best of the chances (including a saved penalty flick taken by myself) but we couldn’t get any more past their strong defence. Despite being 2-0 up we couldn’t relax as Bishops Stortford continued to break quickly and our defensive trio of Hannah Westcar, Sarah Phelps and Chris McNeill all having to be at their best. Hannah in particular made some great clearances, which earned her the man of the match award. As the final whistle blew, Bishops Stortford had one last attempt with a short corner which was again, well cleared by our defence and the final score remained at 2-0.

Another brilliant result for us and one which means we are still joint top of the league in the early stages of the season. Despite the result, I still think that there are a lot of things we need to work on if we’re going to carry on our current 100% record. However, winning when you're playing below par is the sign of a good team! We have a break next week but hopefully we can lift things for the following week against Upminster.

Man of the Match: This was very close between Hannah Westcar and Lisa Powell (again!) but Hannah was the winner with 4 votes. Had another excellent game at the back – coming to our rescue a number of times with some fantastic tackles and clearances.

Squad: Alison Fox (GK, capt), Chris McNeill, Hannah Westcar, Sarah Phelps, Lucy Shepherd, Jess Riley, Sarah Bentley, Vicki Ives, Sophie Davies, Lynsey Askew, Lisa Powell, Emma Greenway.

Ladies 2s Fight Back For Draw

Bromley & Beckenham 2's v Welwyn Garden City
Drew: 2-2
Scorers: Clare Wehrle, Tracey Pitcher

After making hard work of the first half Bromley & Beckenham found themselves 2-0 down to Welwyn Garden City and were disappointed with their performance. After a stern talking to at half time by their Manager, they returned to the game with great team spirit and fought hard and were soon rewarded with a good team effort goal finished by Clare Wehrle. 10 mins from the end of the game, Captain Tracey Pitcher went on a great individual run from the half way line and unleashed an amazing shot from the top of the D that slammed home hard into the left corner of the goal, bringing the score to 2-2 which is how the game ended.

Man of the Match: Tracey Pitcher

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.