3-3 Thriller

Bromley & Beckenham 1's versus Folkestone, home, Saturday 19th November
Drew: 3-3
Scorers: Lynsey Askew. Sophie Davies, Vicky Ives

It was to be a top of the table clash that was to occur on a decidedly cold but sunny day. BromBeck took the initiative with a driving movement by Sophie Davies who released the ball to Lindsey Askew to see BromBeck move 1- 0 up. Despite some staunch tackling by man of the match, Jess Riley, Folkestone equalized within 10 minutes and the half time whistle was blown.

Play was resumed after a stern half time talk - we were not to lose the game - and a quick sprint to regain blood circulation. BromBeck took the lead with a superb short corner strike from Sophie Davies and the battle lines were drawn again. Once again Folkestone were equal to the challenge and although Alison Fox, in goal, performed with the instincts of a jaguar, they managed to slip in a cheeky goal, after a, and we don't like reporting it, quite a good passing move up front which left the defense a little bit bamboozled. The score was now 2-2. Play resumed and it seemed that Folkestone had the bit between their teeth, they battered BromBeck with wave after wave of attack and finally scored from a short corner strike to put themselves in front, the score now being 2-3. It being the first time BromBeck 1's had the taste of defeat in the back of their throats since the start of the league, it has to be said we responded well. The coach took off Hannah Westcar, who had a strong game in defense, to put on a more attacking 4 player forward line. With about 5 minutes to go, the skill and cunning of top goal scorer, Lisa Powell, secured a short corner which Vicky Ives converted to equal the score 3-3. A draw was the outcome, a battle had been played in the spirit of competitiveness and sportsmanship, and a winner was unable to be declared. Needless to say BromBeck are going to relish the chance to clasp victory from Folkestone on the return fixture.

Man of the match: Jess Riley - worked tirelessy throughout, putting in some fantastic tackles and effective going forward too

1s Win at Welwyn Garden City

Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s vs Welwyn Garden City, away, league, Saturday 12th November
Won: 2-1
Scorers: Lisa Powell, Emma Greenway

Saturday was a top of the table v bottom of the table fixture but by the end of the game anyone watching would not have guessed this!

BromBeck started slowly and within the first 5 minutes, Ali Fox in goal had had to pull off her first of many fine saves for the day. It was evident that we were struggling to find our rhythm and WGC were capitalising on this by putting the ball carrier under a lot of pressure and forcing us to make mistakes. I would like to say that it was end-to-end stuff but it wasn’t. A lot of play was taking place in the middle of the pitch with both teams giving away possession. This continued for the next 15 minutes or so when eventually BromBeck began to justify their higher league placing. The passing improved and we began to look calmer on the ball. This lead to the first goal with a good move that finished with a cracking ball by Sarah Bentley into the D towards Lisa Powell at the far post. Lisa got the slightest of touches and diverted the ball back across the keeper into the goal. This goal settled BromBeck and we saw out the rest of the half without too much danger.

We were disappointed with our first half performance but were eager to rectify this in the second half. Unfortunately this didn’t end up being the case.

WGC came at us hard straight from the restart and our defence had to be at their best to prevent the equaliser. Ali Fox made several cracking saves and somehow we maintained our lead. 10 minutes into the half, we broke quickly. Emma Greenway ran down the right wing and crossed the ball from the edge of the D towards the danger area. She ended up topping this and crossing at completely the wrong angle but somehow it bobbled up over the keeper and trickled into the goal! We now had a 2 goal cushion and you’d think that this would make us relax a little and not be so flustered with our passing and general play. Unfortunately, this was not the case and WGC pulled one back soon after. The final 10 minutes of the game we were forced to defend like our lives depended on it. Ali Fox once again made some outstanding saves and our back four held firm to make some much needed tackles and clearances. Somehow we managed to hold on until the final whistle when we all breathed a collective sigh of relief! Final score 2-1 to BromBeck.

Another fantastic result for us and one that sees us at the top of the league with a game in hand. Our performance in the game was extremely disappointing and we have lots of things to work on before next week. However, we got the 3 points we wanted and if we can win when we play so badly then surely this is the sign of a good team!

Man of the match: Ali Fox was the clear winner this week with 8 votes. Made lots of blinding saves throughout the game and was outstanding as our last line of defence.
Squad: Alison Fox (capt, GK), Chris McNeil, Hannah Westcar, Sarah Phelps, Lucy Shepherd, Sarah Bentley, Vicki Ives, Jess Riley, Sophie Davies, Lynsey Askew, Emma Shepherd, Lisa Powell, Emma Greenway.

1s 100% Record Maintained

Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s vs Burnt Ash, away, league, Saturday 5th November
Won: 3-0
Scorers: Sarah Bentley, Cathy Ruffle, Emma Greenway

Saturday’s game was against local rivals, Burnt Ash. Burnt Ash got promoted with us last season and went into the game in pole position in the league so we were all expecting a tough match.

Both teams started strongly and put their opposing defence under early pressure. Alison Fox returning in goal for BromBeck, looked like she’d never been away and made a few very good early saves. As the half progressed, BromBeck began to take hold of the game and had several half chances that they were unable to convert. However, with 20 minutes or so gone, the hard-working Sarah Bentley opened the scoring with a driving run into the D and an accurate finish from the top which bobbled to deceive the keeper. This gave BromBeck the impetus to continue to push forward and Cathy Ruffle made the momentum count by converting a cross from a tight angle for a good quality finish. Half-time score 2-0.

Burnt Ash came out hard in the second half and everyone had to up their work-rate to ensure we kept our lead. Chris McNeil at left back had a particularly impressive game with some fantastic tackles and skill. Having absorbed the pressure, BromBeck began to rebuild their attacking options and it wasn’t long before they scored again. This time Emma Greenway put the ball into the back of an empty net after good play from Lynsey Askew, Lucy Shepherd and Emma Shepherd, opened up Burnt Ash’s defence. Both teams continued to work hard and play good hockey for the full 70 minutes but neither were able to add to the goal tally and the final score remained at 3-0.

A challenging game of hockey and won where we had to work hard for each other in order to win. This result puts us into 2nd place, trailing St Albans by 1 point but with 2 games in hand.

Man of the match: This was extremely close this week with Chris McNeil playing superbly and getting 4 votes. However, the eventual winner with 5 votes was Sarah Bentley who had a fantastic game in the centre of midfield, worked tirelessly throughout and scored a goal.

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

2s Thrash Southend In Well-Deserved Win

Bromley & Beckenham 2’s V Southend, Saturday 5th November
Won: 5-1
Scorers: Sarah Crosley x2, Charlotte Ridout, Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes, Cathy Ruffle

After a disappointing start to the season, Bromley & Beckenham 2’s finally came away with a long-awaited and well deserved 5-1 victory over a strong Southend side.

Although the game got off to a fairly slow start, BromBeck’s first real chance came courtesy of a great run by Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes who sent in a cross for Sarah Crosley to put away. Southend quickly turned their game up a knotch and had several strong counter-attacks, but, sterling defence work from Tara Woodward and Rachel McMillan kept them from scoring.

At half-time we were all upbeat having taken the lead, and we were adamant that we were going to take this into the 2nd half to ensure a victory.

From the start of the second half, BromBecks took complete control and finally started to put on a fantastic display of hockey. The team was at last starting to gel, with everybody putting everything into the second 35 minutes. A Lizzie G special, flicked into the top corner, soon put us 2-0 ahead. The forwards continued to put the Southend defence under a great deal of pressure, and we were soon awarded a short corner. Sarah Crosley stepped up from defence to convert with a powerful strike at goal.
Southend, however had not given up, and were soon on the counter-attack. A period of strong play ended with them scoring from a short corner. Emma Morris then pulled off a great save from a penalty flick shortly after.

The last fifteen minutes saw BromBecks back on top , moving the ball well around the defence and the forwards moving well up the pitch. Cathy Ruffle scored our fourth goal followed shortly by a second goal for Charlotte Ridout, again from a cracking short corner strike.

All in all, a great performance from the side, and well-deserved victory.

5s Fight For Victory

5th team versus Gravesend 3s, Saturday 5th November
won 4-3

Team: Charlotte Walker-Jones,Gail Arnott,Sue Scott,Alex Bezant,Nicky Fraser,Katie Morant,Jessica Judge,Daisy Ridout,Grace Mansfield,Harriet Tame,Ellen Phillips,Rachel Shepherd-Barnett,

Scorers Alex Bezant(2), Katie Morant, Su Scott
M/Match Alex Bezant

Bromley and Beckenham 5s had first push back and pressed the Gravesend Dcontinuously for the first 10 minutes, having several short corners, butfailing to score. Finally, the break came from yet another short cornerwhen Gail Arnott deflected the shot into the path of Alex Bezant who slottedthe ball through the goalie's legs into the goal.From then on it was end to end stuff - quite literally with Gravesendbypassing their midfield and breaking dangerously from long balls from theback and soon they equalised.

Brombecks scored next again from a shortcorner, with Katie Morant this time flicking the ball past the gk from theinitial shot. Daisy Ridout had several opportunities on goal after surgingruns from the midfield, but was unable to beat a gk who played exceptionallywell under sustained pressure from our forwards. Unfortunately, Gravesendmanaged to score again just before half time.

Gravesend were first to score in the second half after a long, telling pass beyond our defence left Charlotte Walker-Jones exposed in goal. Spurred onby our conviction that we did not deserve to lose this match and by the loudand annoying comments of the Gravesend spectators, we continued to press andhad several more short corners.

Eventually a powerful shot from Nicky Fraser, which was just going wide, was deflected into the net by AlexBezant. Our relief was enormous and then when Su Scott popped up in the Dto take advantage of some scrappy play by Gravesend by calmly netting theball past a stranded keeper with a reverse stick flick, we went crazy! Thelast few minutes were frantic as we all fought to keep Gravesend away fromour goal. Special mention here should go to Ellen Phillips and RachelShepherd-Barnett, who stepped in late in the day to shore up our defence andplayed exceptionally well in a new team and in such a tough game.Gravesend had a last minute short corner, which Jessica Judge, running outnumber 1, cleared as she had done the whole match.

Needless to say we were"over the moon" at coming away from such a closely fought match with allthree points. Everyone played with incredible commitment, which made choosing man of the match very difficult. After a shaky start, the 5s arenow playing with great assurance and teamwork, which sees us moving upcloser to the top of division 2.