Potters Bar 1s v Stevenage 1s

6th March 2010

On Saturday Potters Bar Ladies 1s were back on their home pitch at Dame Alice Owens School and played Stevenage Ladies 1s, who were sitting one place ahead of them in the table.

The game took a while to get going with both teams struggling to find their feet and produce their usual standard of hockey. The first half saw both teams have equal possession with most of the play happening within the middle third of the pitch.

Bar were able to produce some attacking opportunities with the hardworking central midfield of Anna Walker and Jo Spinks however any chances to shoot on goal were cleared by the strong Stevenage defence.

Mo Gough in the Potters Bar goal had another great game, however, a short corner was won by Stevenage just before half time to which Gough saved the initial strike but a lapse in Bar’s defending allowed the Stevenage attacked to have another strike on goal which just dribbled past Gough to give Stevenage a 1-0 lead going into half time.

At the beginning of the second half both teams were fully into the flow of the game and the tempo stepped up a gear. Stevenage were pushing hard into Bar’s defence running most of the pitch unchallenged into their attacking circle and some poor defending allowed the striker to receive the ball, turn and pull off a strike on goal beating Gough, to double Stevenage’s lead.

Potters Bar knew they were more than capable of improving their performance and began producing better counter attack opportunities. Potters Bar’s centre forward Sarah Jowett was on form and received the ball in the circle from midfield and cleverly turned beating her defender and scored Bar’s first goal of the afternoon.

This move lifted Bar and they began to have more possession of the ball within their attacking 25m building their confidence. Stevenage were beginning to feel the late pressure brought on by Bar and also stepped up their game, unfortunately for Bar their quick passes through midfield brought Stevenage’s 3rd goal, with Gough having to cope with a crowded goal area where she just couldn’t save the final shot on goal.

Towards the end of the game, Bar won an attacking short corner and a slightly revised move saw Caroline Stanners bring another goal back for the home team. The injected ball found Walker at the top of the circle who slipped it back to Stanners who was unmarked and smashed the ball into the back of the goal.

The game finished Potters Bar 2 Stevenage 3 in another frustrating loss for the home team who are struggling to find their winning ways in the recent weeks. They hope to improve their performance next week away against Welwyn Garden City.

Team: Mo Gough, Claire Moore, Ruth Spencer, Karen Lawson, Faye Jowett, Viki Ayres, Caroline Stanners, Anna Walker, Jo Spinks, Sarah Jowett, Laura Pointing, Emma Passmore, Lucy Edwards.

Goalscorers: Sarah Jowett and Caroline Stanners