With a number of players missing yet again, we took the risk to change the formation today and thankfully it paid off! Fatigue by the latter half of the second half opened the door for the opposition today, but fitness is something we can all work on as we move forward.
Our first goal was scored by Patsy who was a welcome re-addition to the team. Having won a penalty corner, Kettering put into action their first routine. The initial shot was saved but fell to Cath whose drilled ball towards the goal was met by the deft touch of Patsy to give Kettering the lead. The second goal came as Kettering continued to press forwards, putting pressure on the opposition and winning another penalty corner. Another routine led to an initial save but this time the ball didn’t come out too far due to the number of players battling for the ball. After a bit of a scramble the ball found its way in with Beth claiming the goal, but Steph and Georgie also in potential contention. We had a few minutes break to the game as Amy seemed to pick up a mysterious injury to her calf, but in true trooper fashion, soldiered on. As the first half drew to a close Patsy had to take a few minutes after a trip led to her grazing her face on the pitch itself. Needless to say the DoD votes today went to the player who tripped her over having been beaten by Patsy to the ball!
As the second half started, Pelicans came at Kettering a bit faster and harder being rewarded with a penalty corner for their efforts. This corner was then upgraded to a flick as a clumsy stumble from Toni saw her lean on the back of the player to avoid falling herself, but was fortunately not carded for the foul and the injured Amy also managed to save the flick which was a relief!
Georgie scored the third goal of the game which also earned our champagne moment as she drove into the circle and after showing perseverance and strength through a number of tackles, stuck the ball into the roof of the goal. A fourth goal could have come as Kettering won a flick of their own but despite stepping up confidently to take it, Toni fluffed it a bit and didn’t take advantage of the opportunity.
Player of the match, Ilana and fellow youngster Lucy worked tirelessly to use their young legs to get the ball out of the wings, being guided superbly by Patsy up front too, and with a bit more composure in the final stage, may well have found themselves on the score sheet too; but right space, lots of effort and listening to those around them!
Pelicans did get on the score sheet as one long ball from deep in their defence surpassed the Kettering midfield and defence and saw them through with a 1v1 with Amy and it was a good finish. With 8 mins left of play though we were fairly confident we were still coming away with a win and as Barry once said ‘you just have to score more goals than them’ and we had.
All in all, whilst the performance wasn’t perfect and there’s still some things to work on, everyone came off the pitch smiling today and not just because we won, but because we worked hard, supported each other and felt like we deserved the win.