MATCH REPORT

The intrepid 8 found their way to Bourne. We were short-handed but in good spirits to face 11 in the freezing cold. We won the toss and chose to play into the wind for the first half. We soon won the ball and started to attack. We didn't get far and were soon facing a determined Bourne attack. After 10 minutes their first goal came. 1-0 to Bourne. Not long after, Bourne crossed the ball across the D to someone waiting on the left post who just managed to get it round Emily's outstretched stick. 2-0 to Bourne. It wasn't long before we won a couple of attacking short corners. The first one went short to Hannah Burton who struck it hard at the goal. The goalie made a good save and we almost got the rebound into the bottom right of the goal.

We managed to hold them off for a while, we defended the short corners well, clearing the ball quickly out. We changed to a 2-2 as that seemed to work better. We lost the ball in the middle of the pitch and they attacked down the centre. Lauren chased and tried to get in front of the pass, but instead got in front of a stick. A bit of a mark on her chin but no blood, so game on. Bourne carried on their attack and once in the D managed to lift the ball just over Emily's stick as she dived. 3-0 to Bourne. Half time.

For the first half of the 2nd half we held them off. Then they scored to make it 4-0. We won another attacking short corner. It went out to Lisa on the right, but it bounced past her. Lauren picked it up and struck it towards the D. Again we came close but couldn't quite get the ball past the goalie. We defended constantly with everyone playing their part, but Bourne scored again. 5-0 to Bourne. Megan got the ball and hit it upfield to Amber who was able to sprint faster than their defence. She was so close to scoring.

Bourne attacked again and passed the ball across to the left. Emily dived to save it, but another player was quickly on it. They hit the ball expecting it to go in, but Rachael was there to stop it just in front of the line and clear it to the right. Awesome stop. While defending a short corner Lisa had a ball hit at point blank range at her thigh – a very impressive bruise to follow. Again she just carried on. We were slightly flagging from all of the defensive play and let in a couple of late goals. 7-0 to Bourne. It was a hard day and we had tried our best with a depleted squad in the very cold and windy weather. POM was shared by Emily Braginton and Rachael Gadsden who both put on an amazing defensive show.