The U16 girls made the journey into the Staffordshire Moorlands on Sunday 5 November to face their counterparts from Leek. The girls hadn’t played this opposition before and so it was a trip into the unknown. This was the first championship match in their quest to reach the national finals at Lee Valley for the 3rd year running.
It soon became apparent that Leek were a resolute and well-organised team who were going to be difficult to break down. Indeed, the girls’ patient build up play was initially only rewarded with a couple of short corners that were well saved by the Leek keeper. The deadlock was eventually broken by some good work down the right hand side by Charlotte M and Emma who eventually found Esme who slotted home to make it 1-0 to The Bees. A well-struck short corner by Hattie led to a good save by the keeper. The resultant short was this time fired in by Charlotte T and Jess made no mistake from close range to make it 2-0 after 30 minutes. The third goal was another short corner routine, this time fired in by Sarah.
HT Leek 0-3 Beeston
The fourth goal was not long coming. Charlotte M ran in to the D and found Jenna who gave the keeper no chance. With the game now over as a contest the girls started to get into their stride playing some lovely hockey. It was only the bravery and skill of the Leek keeper that kept more goals from going in. Sofie was doing all she could to keep warm by shouting instructions, advice and encouragement to anything in a Beeston shirt. Charlotte T scored number 5 with a cracking reverse from the edge of the D after more good work by Charlotte M and Sarah. Emma and Sarah then combined well in a 1-2 short corner routine for number 6 before Sarah finished off the scoring with a well-taken 7th after a goalmouth scramble.
Final score Leek 0-7 Beeston
Well done to the girls for playing so well at this early of stage of the season. There will undoubtedly be stiffer tests to come, however Leek should be congratulated for their excellent attitude and effort throughout the match.
Squad: Sofie, Aoife, Fran, Rebecca, Hattie, Lauren, Jess, Emma, Charlotte T, Charlotte M, Ellie-Mae, Esme, Jenna, Sarah and Maddie.
Thank you to Helen for coaching the girls, Phil for organising everything, Bill for umpiring and the parents for supporting the girls.
Please click the link below to access the results and fixtures on the England hockey website.
http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/page_noside.asp?section=2349&sectionTitle=Fixtures+%26+Results
Pedro.