Bromley and Beckenham vs St Albans, Saturday 3rd December, league, home
Won: 4-2
Scorers: Lisa Powell x2, Lynsey Askew, Sophie Davies

On Saturday BromBeck took on 3rd placed St Albans in a near top of the table clash. The day was indeed much warmer than the previous week's and the BromBeck team were in high spirits due to the prospect of the fancy dress party the same evening . It was felt that a win would help facilitate the festivities of the night !

The game started off with BromBeck playing the ball nicely around the back using Hannah Westcar as the pivot player- it was almost poetry in motion and St Albans did not really feature in the first 15 minutes of the game. BromBeck were fluent in their passing and it was hardly a surprise when the first goal was converted by Lynsey Askew who used a great bit of individual skill and kept her calm under pressure from the St Albuns goalkeeper to push it easily into the back of the net. A second goal followed shortly after to put BromBeck 2-0 up, scored by Sophie Davis, from a slick short corner routine. St Albans, however, retaliated and scored a goal back from what appeared to be a momentary lapse of concentration from the defenders. A second goal from St Albans was to follow with a well struck short corner to bring the score level at half time.

Despite the level score, BromBeck kept calm and in the second half continued playing their passing game, with Sarah Bentley distributing the ball well in the centre of midfield and Vicky Ives having a solid game as sweeper. About mid way into the second half this style of play was rewarded by a goal, scored by lisa Powell, who struck the ball sweetly from the top of the D for a classic centre forwards goal. St Albans tried to offer a fightback but were unable to score. The icing on the cake came with the last short corner of the game where Lisa Powell deflected a straight strike into the roof of the net to make the score 4-2. BromBeck remain unbeaten and secured a 3 point lead at the top of the table.

Squad: Alison Fox, Chris McNeil, Hannah Westcar, Sarah Phelps, Vicky Ives, Sophie Davies, Lucy Shepherd, Sarah Bentley, Jess Riley, Lynsey Askew, Lisa Powell, Emma Shepherd, Emma Greenway

By Vicky Ives

Back to Winning Ways

Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s vs Brentwood, away, league, Saturday 26th November
Won: 2-1
Scorers: Vicky Ives, Emma Greenway

On a bitterly cold morning, BromBeck travelled ‘north of the bridge’ to take on Brentwood. Having lost our 100% record with a draw last week, everyone was eager to get back to winning ways and take 3 points off of them.

Having won the toss, Alison Fox opted for first push back. BromBeck proceeded to seize the initiative from here and started strongly with 2 short corners in the first few minutes, managing to convert the second one. A fierce short corner strike by Sophie Davies was well saved by their keeper, only for Vicky Ives so skilfully slip the rebound in from close range. BromBeck continued to create chances for the rest of the half but also had to be on full alert as Brentwood had a couple of quick breaks. Chris McNeil had a particularly strong game in defence with Alison Fox pulling off some fantastic saves in goal. However, neither side was able to increase their goal tally and the half time score remained at 1-0.

Our half time talk was positive. We had been playing some good hockey in patches and we needed to try and make sure that these patches became more than just patches! I think someone said that if we scored another goal then we’d go on to win 5-0 but if they got one back early in the second half, it’d be a scrappy game and we’d really have to fight for victory. Unfortunately for us, this foresight was correct and the latter proved to be the case.

Brentwood came at us all guns blazing at the start of the second half and really unsettled us. They pressurised our defence non-stop and it wasn’t long before they equalized with a good short corner strike. We weren’t to be dispirited though and continued to press forward at pace and were always looking to regain our lead. The goal eventually came with 15minutes or so remaining. Man of the Match, Emma Shepherd, did a fine job of hassling the Brentwood defence to pinch possession. She then battled her way through a couple of players before passing to Sarah Bentley in the D. The keeper came charging out to her but she calmly slipped the ball to Emma Greenway who put the ball into the back of an empty net. This goal seemed to give us renewed confidence and for the next few minutes Brentwood’s defence were under considerable pressure. A strong appeal for a penalty stroke was turned down, and try as we may we could not add to our lead. This appeared to inspire Brentwood and once again they pressed forward in numbers but thankfully our defence resisted and the final score remained at 2-1 to BromBeck.

Another 3 points for us, which sees us remain at the top of East Division 1 South. Once again we failed to fire on all cylinders, which is giving us slight cause for concern. However, to carry on winning when we’re only playing to 60% of our ability is indeed very positive and bodes well for us if we can lift ourselves for the games ahead.

Man of the Match: Emma Shepherd – had a great game up front – ran her socks off , created the short corner for the first goal and made a brilliant run to set up the second one.

Squad: Alison Fox (GK, Capt), Chris McNeil, Hannah Westcar, Sarah Phelps, Jess Riley, Sophie Davies, Sarah Bentley, Vicky Ives, Lucy Shepherd, Lynsey Askew, Lisa Powell, Emma Shepherd, Emma Greenway