Women’s 4s 6 - 2 Women’s 3s (Pre-Season)
By Emily Hughes
Saturday was a day of internal battles at SHC, and we all know it’s more fun being the underdog in these situations.
Some things felt like they were getting back to normal… Stacey was late for meet time, despite relinquishing my responsibilities I still made everyone do the disco drill, and Sian only really seemed to start warming up once there was a sniff of a shot on goal.
Other things weren’t quite the same as a regular league weekend. Pitch 2 actually got watered – albeit after our opponents insisted on it when we were already in our pre-match huddle. Some might call this mind games…
On to the game itself. Caitlin started by passing the ball to us at pushback in true friendly style, albeit seemingly confusing some of her own team in the process.
Madjob assumed her normal role controlling the team from centre back, but had some new partners in crime in Evie and Stacey, who put in tackle after tackle and calmly cleared any stray balls away from danger. According to Madjob, they weren’t obeying her every order, though.
Scar and Lar took control of any attacks down the wing, bringing out 3D skills and silky V-drags. It may not have been intentional, but I’m pretty sure they were sucking up to our coach, who spent many a session working on these with us last year.
Our midfielders clearly haven’t let their fitness slip over the summer and showed great work rate throughout the game. The longer the match went on, the more they thrived.
Coach looked like a cat playing with a ball of wool: having fun and leaving the oppo in her wake. Traff linked up with everyone on the field, belying the fact that this is her first season with the team. Jen slotted back in and took advantage of knowing a secret or two about the oppo, Freya ran rings around people down the left, and I focused on making sure my Strava stats were going to beat my rival/idol.
After half time, I was pushed up front, presumably to ensure our front line towered over the opposition in every possible way. That was until Bing and Rosina shunted me down to third tallest in the team. Not sure how I feel about this. Together with Sian and Aash, their leads were exceptional, so I guess it’s worth not being the only lanky one in the team.
I was taking the pushback after half time, and did a couple of checks with Sian that I should be passing the ball to the oppo. Either my passing accuracy is shocking, or I think there’s no such thing as a ‘friendly’. You decide.
POM votes were shared across many players, demonstrating just how well everyone played and linked up. Madjob and Evie shared the most nods, so decided it with a race to down a pint.
DOD votes were less split. A couple went to Coach, for an aerial that would only have cleared players of her own diminutive stature and for tackling with one hand – who on earth would do that?? The rest went to yours truly.
Goals: Traff x2, Sian x2, Bex x1, Emily x1
POM: Madjob
DOD: Emily