Sirens 4 - 0 Sunbury & Walton Hawks 4s (H)

After last week’s Halloween Horror show, we were keen to move on and, if at all possible, come off the pitch basking in a warm Bonfire night glow, possibly having enjoyed a few fireworks and plenty of sparklers. Even before the match we went back to the drawing board and emerged with a new formation (2-3-2-3) and new subbing tactics. With plenty of briefing ahead of the game from Tracey and a “Surge special” warm up, we were ready.

Well, for the first few minutes we kept checking how many players we had on the pitch as it felt like SO MANY!!! And all exactly where they’re needed! We didn’t have to wait too long for the first goal, a classic Victoria T from open play. Buoyed by the good start and a little fearful that it might not last, we got back into the fray. Comms were good and we were delivering quick passing and pressure on the D. The second goal comes from a penalty corner routine with Monica slotting it home.

2-0 at half-time and we’re all feeling great.  The subbing has felt cleaner, we’ve not lost our structure and it’s making a lot of sense.

Our great play continued into the second half. Tracey, Suz and Carmen were rock solid in the back line (leaving goalie Anne-liese a little bored). There was lovely play forward from the wide positions by Lisa and Emma in the second line and Vicky’s silky skills were beautiful to watch. 

The third line worked hard and created tons of opportunities - Cleo, Tessa, Monica and Surge were everywhere they needed to be - quick on the turn and driving the ball forward. Surge’s Inspector Gadget arms made a comeback with some determined one-handed wizardry that defied the laws of physics (and Tracey’s plea for “two hands Surge!”).  The gap in the middle of the pitch that we had been so desperate to fill suddenly seemed very small. Despite some good players in the oppo’s attacking line they struggled to beat us into the D. In fact, we didn’t concede a single penalty corner the whole match.

The fourth line created the longed for fireworks - making the most of the width to drive banana runs in and get some lovely crosses across the goal. Monica got her hattrick by the end of the match to leave us with a 4-0 win. So, we got the result we so badly wanted with a great performance from the whole team.

POM – shared by Cleo and Victoria W 

Wally Wig of the Week - shared by Suz (multiple misdemeanours we don’t have time to list in full but included putting someone else’s stick into her hockey bag (before the match) and a comedy tripping over her own feet) and Wendy (for quietly wandering into the goal on a pre- match check just as Vicky was about to unleash another belter as we practised our short corner routines. Happily, she was spotted in time).