South Herts 1st XI v Waltham Forest 1st XI

28th February 2009

South Herts were back on their home ground on Saturday playing Waltham Forest, second in their league.

Waltham Forest had the early break and strode straight through the South Herts defence with a well worked attack which saw them go 1-0 up early on in the first half. This gave South Herts an early wake up call and pushed them to create a number of attacking penalty corners, which they were unfortunate not to convert.

Eventually, South Herts tried an alternative penalty corner attack and slipped the ball right from the top of the circle, and Sue Richardson was on hand to strike the ball goal bound to bring South Herts back level at 1-1.

South Herts dominated the end of the first half and the strength of the defence prevented Waltham Forest scoring again and the fitness in the mid-field allowed Herts to turn defence into attack effectively.

At the beginning of the second half, South Herts had an injury to captain, Caroline Partridge, which meant she had to leave the field. Sarah Withers filled in and shortly after Herts were awarded a penalty flick due to the Waltham Forest keeper covering the ball not allowing centre forward, Sarah Jowett, any chance of retrieving the ball. Claire Moore stepped up to take her second flick in 2 games and converted (just!...no comment!) to give South Herts a 2-1 lead.

Waltham Forest came back stronger and scored twice during the second half. At the end of the game they were awarded a penalty flick at the other end, and the subtle intimidation from Mo Gough in goal prevented the conversion as the striker put the ball wide.

South Herts worked hard and the final score line does not reflect how close the game was and the hard work that was put in by all.

Goalscorers: Sue Richardson and Claire Moore.