South Herts 1st XI v Newmarket 1st XI

4th April 2009

South Herts played their last game of the season on home turf against Newmarket last Saturday who were sitting bottom of the table. Herts themselves were sitting in 5th place in the table before pushback.

Herts were missing a number of first team players and called up 5 players from their second team to fill in crucial positions both in defence and attack.

The game started quickly with Herts dominating possession in attack with Sarah Jowett, Vanessa Porter and Sarah Withers creating a number of chances from the forward line. Herts’s first goal was scored shortly after from a great pass into the circle by Shelley Farmer which allowed Jowett to tap the ball past the keeper to give Herts the early lead.

From then onwards, Herts were rarely out of their attacking half, piling on pressure on the Newmarket defence. Herts scored 2 more quick goals each coming from either wings, Porter was positioned well in the circle to put another past the keeper, and an excellent break up the right wing by Withers allowed her to run straight into the circle and have a shot on goal with the keeper was unable to save.

Herts continued to attack and Caroline Partridge found the back of the net helped by the midfield prowess of Anna Walker. At this point Herts realised that they were desperate for more goals and by half time, Jowett had scored a hatrick and Porter and Withers had added another one each.

An 8-0 lead at half time was an usually high score and Herts were now fired up and determined to score more. Newmarket started the second half more lively and threatened into the Herts defence, however, the strong defence of Karen Lawson and Ruth Spencer prevented any shots on goal.

Herts were able to break quickly out of defence due to the excellent work by Walker, and Jowett was unmarked on a number of occasions at the top of the circle and was able to put the ball past the keeper to increase the scoreline. Partridge was next to score after a long corner from the left wing taken by Porter short to Walker who injected the ball into the circle to Partridge who found herself with ample of space to put the ball past the keeper.

The goal fest continued and Walker, deservedly, found the back of the goal with a great strike from the top of the circle along with an outstanding flick in by Porter and another strike by Partridge.

Herts pushed in attack, however, a break by Newmarket found Herts short of numbers in defence and pulled a goal back. This made Herts more determined and some excellent defence by Nicola Holland on the left and Esther Strous on the right allowed them to run up their wings and provide scoring opportunities into the circle that Jowett pounced on.

Towards the end of the game Carrie Waller, with her excellent stick skills beating a number of players, found herself in the circle and her final shot on goal was superbly saved on the far post by the Newmarket keeper.

At the final whistle, Herts were 15-1 winners, with 6 scored by Jowett. Captain Partridge commended everybody’s performance especially from the 2nd team players who played their hearts out and even found themselves on the score sheet. This week’s game is a great example of club team play that notched Herts up a place in the table to finish their first season in the 2SW league in 4th place based on their high score line from this Saturday. An excellent season for South Herts 1s.

Team:

Mo Gough, Ruth Spencer, Nicola Holland, Esther Strous, Carrie Waller, Karen Lawson, Anna Walker, Caroline Partridge, Shelley Farmer, Sarah Withers, Vanessa Porter, Sarah Jowett