Ladies 1s smash Wallingford - 27.09.14

As we completed our sunrise trek to Wallingford, the team seemed ready to go, with final inspiration from our captain for the weekend, Bex Smith. "Let's beat them because they made us get up so early." The simple yet justified statement got us started, and Rhianna Buchanan opened up scoring early with some determined dribbling and reverse flick over ...the goalie. Rhi added another tally quickly after with a chance from the top of the circle. Dodging one defender to the left, Rhi swung reverse and nailed a shot echoing off the back of the goal. For the rest of the half, PHC Chiswick dominated time of possession, with Bex Smith controlling the middle of the field. Bex found some open space at the top of the circle and drilled a pass to Alex Earnshaw to tip into the goal and go into halftime with a three goal lead.

As the hockey competition was a bit one sided, Wallingford attempted some mental warfare by bringing us orange slices at halftime. Half delighted, half reminiscent of childhood, the team almost lost our focus. Almost. Luckily Alex quickly matched Rhi's goal count off a short corner, putting us up 4-0 early in the second half. Harriet Stevenson also wanted in on the fun, and attempted a trio of goals. Unfortunately only two went in, as the third ended in her sitting on the ball.

Although missing Mary Gamble while she guest starred at midfield for the weekend, the defence put up another clean sheet, giving up only two corners and needing Millie Lang's stellar saves only twice. As a final compliment to the day, an opposing team's fan asked coach Pras if they could borrow our fitness coach. Luckily he asked Pras and not the players, as we may have gladly given her away if it meant no more shuttles on Wednesdays. Apparently the hard work is paying off, so we'll keep her around...

Final score PHC Chiswick 6, Wallingford 0.