Wrens Take Like Ducks to Water in Sunday Downpour

GU14 Wrens 9 - 1 Teddington HC (A)

London GU14 Tier 1 League

It was, to put it mildly, nice weather for ducks on Sunday as the Surbiton Wrens puffed out their outer feathers and took on Teddington in torrential rain at the end of their London league campaign. 

Unfortunately, it was not a case of water off a duck's back and, for the second time this season, talk of absent chamois grips filled the terraces as a diabolical combination of fresh water and the much-maligned non-chamois grip conspired to hold the Wrens back with a series of missed passes, missed shots and other missteps as they struggled to gain fluency. Sensing an opportunity to consign the non-chamois grip to the same Room 101 as North Face puffers and other unapproved attire, the chamois vendors soon set to work on restoring the sticks and the normal order of events on the playing field. 

Eva started the scoring with a sharp reactive shot in a crowded D, threading the ball through a thicket of sticks and past the Teddington keeper. Grace followed shortly thereafter, again with another nicely taken shot. However, with their own Supra League hopes still alive, the home team were not to be outmuscled, their own forwards running the length of the pitch and leaving Poppy powerless to stop the rebound after an impressive initial save. 

The Wrens regrouped and started to show their true colours, with the back four of Isla, Emily, Rosie and Elsa transferring the ball from side as they sought to open up the deep-seated Teddington defence. Erin and Marnie, playing neatly in midfield, forged corridors into the D but the final passes and shots could not break the net. The breakthrough came shortly before half time from a well taken penalty corner. Amelie's bullet-like injection set up a fierce Darcey slap to the back post which was expertly deflected into the top of the net by Carter's outstretched stick. According to the dugout, there was no doubt whose stick had been double chamois-gripped. 

The Wrens management, keen to build on a series of aggregate marginal gains, had invested heavily in nutritional research. After eighteen months of trials, the benefits were coming to fruition as the players returned to the field revitalised and re-energised. Tileena - the Thames Ditton Tornado - and Joycey - the Surbiton Cyclone - immediately took the game to the opposition, hitting hard from the whistle. Superb second-half goals from Eva, Hattie and Lizzie sealed the game for the Wrens with real fluency coming in the final quarter as the chamois grips took effect and the Wrens finally took to the game like ducks to water.