Where are the balls?

The start of the hockey season always seems to come round so fast. Some of us are clearly ready, one car left Newcastle early and arrived at the pitch an hour ahead of the set meet time. Others perhaps need a little more time to get up to speed, notably our new captain, Alice, who realised somewhere along the motorway that she’d left the balls behind!

Despite the off-pitch setbacks, our new warm-up left us well-prepared for our first match in YNE Division 1. You'd expect some nerves though and it showed for both team in the first few minutes. However it wasn't long before everyone started to settle and we found a good rhythm, keeping calm and protecting the ball.

The first quarter of the game played out pretty evenly, with both sides slowly building momentum. However there was a turning point when Ben Rhydding's high press put our defence under pressure and the first short corner of the game was awarded. It came to nothing as the first strike was high.

Increasingly our defence was finding it hard to get out from back, despite the efforts of the mids providing support. As the pressure mounted, we received a warning for some enthusiastic tackles. Another short corner was given and this time the deflected shot lifted up into a body on the line. The resulting penalty flick was scored.

A string of further short corners yielded results again when a well-worked routine gave Ben Rhydding a second goal just before half time.

A positive, solutions focused half-time talk and a few changes to personnel at the back meant we started the second half in a similar vein to the first. We were more aware of passing options and started to hold on to the ball again. We also employed Emily’s aerial skills from hit outs to help break down the press.

Just as we were really finding our flow we suffered two green cards in quick succession. Rachel was the unfortunate recipient of what she's calling "a team card" for tackling. And as the buzzer went for her to return to the pitch, Emily unwittingly hooked the foot of her opponent sending her tumbling to the ground. Entirely accidental but apparently worthy of 2-minuntes on the sidelines.

We managed to ride out our time with 10 players successfully, but another couple of short corners for the home side lead to their third goal.

Now it was our time to enjoy some time in attack. Using the width provided by our wing-backs Jenny and Alice, and the space behind the defence for our high forwards, Bobi and Lottie, to run into. This period of control in the game amounted to a couple of short corners. Both shots were well saved by the keeper.

Ben Rhydding weren't done yet. Their fourth and fifth goals were both outstanding solo efforts. There wasn't to be a sixth thanks to Maggie's sliding stick tackle at the top of the D.

Not the start to the season that we'd hoped for, however we're here for the challenge this new league will bring.

Player of the Match: Emily