2nd League Loss of the Season

Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s v St Albans IIs, league, away, Saturday 25th March
Lost 0-2

Having met at the club at 11am for a 1.30pb, we were sure that we’d left ourselves plenty of time to get to St Albans. Alas, sadly not as the M25 lived up to Chris Rea’s lyrics and really was ‘the road to hell’. 2hrs and 40mins later, we finally rocked up and St Albans kindly agreed to change the start time to 2pm. A very quick warm up ensued and before we knew it we were on the pitch and the whistle blew for the start of the game.

Any cobwebs from the journey were quickly blown away as straight from the push back we forced a short corner. Unfortunately we were unable to convert and it ended up being one of only a few chances for us throughout the game. Having survived the early pressure, St Albans quickly regrouped and were soon challenging our defence. However, Hannah Westcar in the centre of defence was making some particularly strong tackles to keep them at bay and Alison Fox was as always, on fire in goal with several superb diving saves. It wasn’t all one-way traffic though and we managed to create a few half-chances and a couple of clear-cut chances but were sadly unable to finish off the job.

The score remained at 0-0 as we went into half time and to be honest, we were probably more pleased with that than they were. We had a good chat with coach, Scott Falconer, and it was agreed that we all needed to take a bit more time on the ball, not relinquish possession so easily and to make sure of our passes on the slow playing surface.

We went out at the start of the second half with renewed vigour and energy, holding onto the ball better and generally looking more composed. We began to cause the St Albans defence a few more problems but they held their nerve and made several sound tackles to prevent us troubling the keeper too much. It was following one of our forays forward that they regained possession and quickly broke and took the lead. I have to admit that I was right up the other end of the pitch and didn’t actually see what happened until the ball was in the back of the net! 1-0 to St Albans but our heads did not go down. There was still plenty of hockey to be played and we pressed forward, searching for what eventually proved to be, the elusive equaliser. With 8mins left on the clock, (I know this as I asked the umpire!), St Albans doubled their lead having seized upon a rare lapse in concentration by us. For the remainder of the game, we threw everything we had at St Albans, including a barrage of short corners towards the end, but it was not to be our day. Final score 2-0 to St Albans.

A disappointing result for us as we would have been champions if we won! However, we have to be positive in the fact that we all worked really hard, gave 110% for the whole game and didn’t give up until the final whistle had blown. We have one league games left next weekend – at home to Southend – if we take 3 points from this then we are officially East Division 1 Champions! We have a 3.30pm push back at Langley and any supporters would be more than welcome.

Man of the match: Alison Fox – once again, proved that she’s worth her weight in gold with several stunning saves to keep us in the game.

Squad: Alison Fox (GK, Capt), Chris McNeill, Hannah Westcar, Sarah Phelps, Amy Marvel, Lucy Shepherd, Sarah Bentley, Sophie Davies, Lynsey Askew, Sarah Crosley, Emma Greenway, Emma Shepherd.

PROMOTED!!!

Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s v Brentwood, league, home, Saturday 18th March
Won: 4-1
Scorers: Sophie Davies x2, Emma Greenway, Emma Shepherd

After our fantastic result and performance last week, everyone was keen to carry this forward into our fixture against Brentwood on Saturday. Having been given a good run around by them earlier in the season and having lost our influential midfielder, Sarah Bentley, to injury, we knew that this was going to be a good test of character for us.

The start of the game didn’t go as planned as Brentwood started strongly and forced us into making errors, one of which resulted in a short corner. Brentwood failed to capitalise on this early unsettlement though and were later made to pay. With ten minutes gone, BromBeck suddenly seemed to remember how to play hockey. From then on the performance was almost faultless and no one was surprised when we took the lead. Youngster, Sarah Crosley, was instrumental in the build up to the goal as she put pressure on their right back who conceded possession to her. She then drove towards the base line and crossed for Emma Shepherd to shoot. The keeper did well to save but the rebound fell to Emma Greenway who lifted the ball over her into the bottom right hand corner. Get in! Our lead was doubled shortly afterwards when man of the match, Sophie Davies, converted a short corner after a delightful little one-two with Lucy Shepherd left Brentwood’s defence bamboozled. Despite several more chances to increase the lead, the score remained 2-0 at half time.

Our half time team talk was extremely positive – goalkeeper Alison Fox said that she was bored which is always a good sign for the rest of us – and we were determined to put the game beyond reach early in the second half.

With 5 minutes played, Emma Shepherd made it 3, calmly slotting home a short corner rebound from close range. BromBeck continued to dominate and Sophie Davies eventually scored her second of the game to give us an unassailable lead. This was again through a short corner (very pleasing as we have struggled to score from these this season). Davies belied her young years to use a silky bit of skill to skip past the ‘number 1 running person’ (don’t know the technical term I’m afraid!) and then struck the ball powerfully into the corner to put the score to 4-0. Brentwood kept fighting though and finally got a consolation goal to finish off the goal tally for the game. Final score 4-1 to BromBeck.

Yet another positive performance from BromBeck and we are now officially PROMOTED TO EAST PREMIER for next season. We found out during the week that 2 teams actually get promoted this season as opposed to just the one 1 team which we originally thought. We’re 10 points clear of 3rd placed Folkestone and with only 2 games left now, it’s impossible for them to catch us. Well done us!! Next week we have a crunch match against 2nd placed St Albans. If we win this then we will get promoted as champions, even though there’s still one game left after this. BRING IT ON!!

Man of the Match: Sophie Davies. Had a fantastic all round game in the centre of midfield and capped it with 2 good goals, showing what a promising 16 year old she is.

Squad: Alison Fox (GK, capt), Chris McNeil, Hannah Westcar, Sarah Phelps, Amy Marvel, Jess Riley, Lucy Shepherd, Sophie Davies, Lynsey Askew, Emma Shepherd, Emma Greenway, Sarah Bentley

Fantastic Game Results In Win

Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s v Folkestone, league, away, Saturday 11th March
Won: 1-0
Scorer: Lynsey Askew

On a bitterly cold Saturday, Bromley & Beckenham 1’s travelled to the South East to play Folkestone. This was going to be fiercely fought contest giving the fact that having played them at home it was a 3-3 draw. After a good warm, our spirits were high and we ready to go into battle! For the first 20 mins, there was good goal mouth action at both ends, although Folkestone had the better of it with more short corners. There was strong play down the middle with Sarah Bentley playing a pivotal role switching the ball to both the left and right wings. For the last 10 mins of the first half, Folkestone put the Bromely&Beckenham defence under pressure, but with some smart defending by the back four, Amy Marvel, Hannah Westcar, Sarah Phelps and Chris McNeil, and a couple of saves by Alison Fox, kept the score at 0-0 at half time.

A good half time team talk, and the ladies were ready again. However, the weather turned against us all on the pitch and it began to snow. Despite the bitter cold, Bromley & Beckenham certainly came out the strongest in the second half and there were a number of short corners, which unfortunately we could not convert. Finally, our strength of hockey and character showed through, and the only goal of the game came from a neat flick in from the post by man of the match, Lynsey Askew. Although there was still 15 minutes left to play of the game, we kept our cool, defended well, and the score remained at 1-0, and 3 points well deserved for Bromley & Beckenham.

A great game of hockey that was played in the right spirit by both sides. Good luck to Folkestone for the rest of the season (although obviously not too much hehe)

Squad: Alison Fox, Chris McNeill, Hannah Westcar, Sarah Phelps, Amy Marvel, Lucy Shepherd, Sarah Bentley, Sophie Davies, Emma Shepherd, Lynsey Askew, Emma Greenway, Sarah Crosley, Jess Riley

By Alison Fox

Welwyn Wilt

Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s v Welwyn Garden City, home, league, Saturday 4th March 2005
Won: 3-0
Scorers: Sarah Bentley, Sophie Davies, Sarah Crosley

With the determination to forget the last couple of games, Bromley and Beckenham ladies 1’s took on Welwyn Garden City at Ravensbourne on Saturday. Having won the toss, BromBeck started well, and it was only 5 minutes into the game, when Sarah Bentley picked up the ball in midfield stormed up the pitch, playing a neat 1-2 with Emma “Man of the Match” Greenway, to receive the ball back at the top of the D, to strike first time past the WGC keeper. This spurred on the rest of the team, and there was some great hockey played, with the girls making use of the speed of both wingers. However, not to be outdone, WGC did have a spell of about 5 minutes where the BromBeck defensive team had to be on their toes, and there were some fine saves from Alison Fox, to keep the scoreline as it was. With newly promoted Amy Marvel into the Ladies 1’s, the defensive team played the ball around the back with Sarah Phelps picking up Emma Greenway on the wing, for her to sprint down to the baseline, a mistake in the D by WGC gave BromBeck a short corner. A superb individual effort by Sophie Davies, saw the WGC keeper sprawled on the floor again 2 - 0.

Half time and the team talk was very positive and everyone was upbeat and ready for the second half. BromBeck looked comfortable and there were several chances for them to go further ahead, with Lynsey Askew, Emma Shepherd and Sarah Crosley all making the WGC defence work hard. The hard work was rewarded, when yet again, Emma Greenway picked up the ball on the right wing split the WGC defence in
half, slipped the ball back for Sarah Crosley to score neatly into the WGC goal.

The final whistle blew and another 3 points for BromBeck. There are now only 4 games left in the season, with 2 tough games away for the girls who must win all 4 to win the league and gain promotion. Any support would be greatly appreciated.

Man of the Match: Emma Greenway for her scintillating, defence splitting runs down the right wing, and setting up two of the goals.

Squad: Ali Fox, Chris McNeil, Sarah Phelps, Hannah Westcar, Amy Marvel, Sarah Bentley, Sophie Davies, Lucy Shepherd, Emma Shepherd, Lynsey Askew, Emma Greenway, Sarah Crossley

By Alison Fox

Back To Earth With A Bump

Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s v Old Loughts 2s, away, league
Lost: 1-5
Scorer: Sophie Davies.

We were awful, they were good and fully deserved to win. The End. :o)




Bromley and Beckenham Ladies 1s vs Burnt Ash, home, league, Saturday 25th February
Drew 2-2
Scorers: Lisa Powell x2

After a heavy 5-1 defeat to Old Loughts last week, BromBeck knew that a win against Burnt Ash was essential to get their confidence back and to continue their push for the league title. Unfortunately for us, this didn’t end up how we had planned.

Both teams started strongly with some lovely hockey being played but as the game went on, this began to change and it became more of a battle of will and strength than of hockey. Both sides cancelled out each other’s attempts at passing and the first half showed little in the way of fluency.

We were pleased when the whistle went at half time as this gave us a chance to re-charge our batteries and revise our game plan.

We began the second half a lot stronger than we’d finished the first half and within 5 minutes had taken the lead courtesy of a flick by Lisa Powell. Instead of Burnt Ash relenting at this point, they came at us with renewed vigour and I don’t think many were surprised when they equalised though a well-worked short corner. Unlike last week’s game, our heads didn’t go down and we continued to fight for everything. It wasn’t pretty at times but we were determined to give as good as we got! Our determination eventually paid off with Powell getting her second with around 15mins left. A good run and cross by Sarah Bentley down the right found Powell who kept her composure to put the ball in the back of the net. Still Burnt Ash kept going though and with just 5 minutes left in the game, they scored what turned out to be the final goal of the contest. BromBeck had a short corner in the dying seconds but it was not to be their day as Burnt Ash bravely defended and cleared the ball away from danger. Final score 2-2.

Another disappointing result in a game that we should really have won if we’d put away our chances. However, a point is a point and we’re still top of the league – we just need to make sure we get 3 points next week!

Man of the match – Emma Greenway, Sarah Phelps and Amy Marvel all got 3 votes each (I actually got 4 but was unfairly (?!) accused of influencing Wiz’s vote so have retracted it!! hehe)

Squad: Alison Fox, Chris McNeill, Hannah Westcar, Sarah Phelps, Lucy Shepherd, Sarah Bentley, Sophie Davies, Lynsey Askew, Lydia Greenway, Lisa Powell, Emma Greenway, Natasia Wiz.