GU14 Wrens Off to Winning Start at Cambridge
By Mark Rogers
GU14 Wrens 3 - 0 Cambridge City (A)
GU14 National Supra League
The standard of play in the London Tier 1 GU14 League had taken the hockey world by storm and it was no surprise that rumours were abounding that scouts from the Netherlands, the epicentre of the sport, were descending upon this historic university town to take notes as the Wrens opened their Supra League campaign against Cambridge City. Any idealised notions of dreaming spires, however, were quickly abandoned as the freezing weather had turned the plains of East Anglia into an arctic tundra. The fact that the players wore their official Surbiton Hockey Club bench coats demonstrated the severity of the situation: on this occasion, and this occasion only, survival was more important that fashion.
The first half was a test of patience, endurance, and frozen fingers. Known for their quick starts, the Wrens found themselves thwarted by a determined Cambridge defence, which had not so much 'parked the bus' but 'parked the chest freezer' in a tactical quarter pitch press. For the first nine minutes, the Wrens — who are often on the scoreboard before most teams have even broken a sweat — found themselves locked in a goalless struggle. But then, Eva decided it was time to warm things up, calmly finding the back of the net and sending the Wrens into a 1-0 lead.
The first half continued in typical Wrens fashion, with them holding the lion’s share of the possession. The Wrens peppered the opposition D, with rhyming couplet Lizzie and Izzy working their magic upfront alongside less phonetically pleasing Hattie and Gracie, but the Cambridge City goalie had clearly packed her thermals and was in no mood to let anything through. Meanwhile, Emily and Darcey were doing their best to ensure that Cambridge's rapid counter-attacks didn’t turn into a disaster, working overtime to stop any balls sent flying towards their own goal.
Elsa was a driving force down the wing, stick held at times like an ice-pick, and Tileena and Erin kept knocking on the door in front of the Cambridge D, but it was like trying to break into a frozen ice fortress. Despite relentless pressure, the score remained 1-0 at halftime, which was far too close for comfort as the crowd retreated into their survival blankets with thermos flasks of rapidly cooling tea.
The second half began, and the Wrens wasted no time cranking up the intensity. Isla, channeling the strength of a thousand snowplows, powered through the midfield, linking up brilliantly with Marnie and Amelie to drive the ball forward. The home team, in their traditional pillar box red, and not wanting to spend the entire match as human ice blocks, had jaw-dropping counter-attacks of their own, roared on by the home crowd. Rosie and Carter, however, were like two human barricades, shutting down any attempt to breach the Wrens’ defence. And then there was Poppy, in goal, who braved an early knee injury to stand resolute as the final line of defence.
Finally, after a series of increasingly tense moments, the Wrens earned a penalty corner. Eva, sensing the need to end this contest once and for all, lined up and unleashed a rocket that flew straight past the Cambridge keeper, doubling the Wrens’ lead to 2-0. The away crowd started to relax, before Hattie's beautiful finish in the dying seconds finally put the game to rest.