Blood, (a LOT of) Sweat and No Tears.

Wooooaaaahhhhoooo Our Keepers On Fire!

It was hot, ohhhh soooooo hot at Fortress Tipperlinn as the Mighty Watsonians Ladies 4s took on their old foes from last season, Civil Service who had also gained promotion. With many of the old faithful off enjoying a long weekend we welcomed a new batch of awesomeness to the team to add some extra youth and speed into the ranks of the 4s.

CS hit it hard from the off and were rewarded with a short in the first 2 minutes with the straight strike easily kicked away by Keeper Katie. Still settling into new positions the 4s were unlucky to give away another short not soon after but again the straight strike was stopped at hip height by Katie and easily cleared. At this point Jude decided there wasn't enough drama in the game and thought bleeding all over the pitch would brighten up the place after a stick to the hand - thanks to 3's Captain Fi for the first aid!

CS were relentless in the attack and Keeper Katie was forced to slide in to make another save. Somehow the ball came free but with a mad scramble on the ground Katie's stick managed to get to the ball and push it to safety.

In desperate need of a breather the 4s defence sent the ball up the field where Alex E picked it up and drove down the line before slipping a beauty of a pass to Jodie who saw Olivia free on the back post and sent it her way. It was only a formality for Liv to then smash it past the Keeper and put the 4s 1 up. Feeling confident the 'sonians kept good possession and started some lively attacks on the CS D but a solid defence and a couple of good saves kept the ball out the net.

CS got the ball back and sent it flying into the D causing Katie to come way off her line in a foot race against the striker, fortunately there is life in the old dog yet and she got to the ball first to clear it. About a million shorts for CS later without any score due to the brilliance of the 4s defence, the midfield made space and got the ball up into our D where (not Keeper) Katie G got a good shot on goal but a deflection saw it land at Liv's feet for her to tuck it into the back of the net. 2-0 up but CS were not done yet...

Another attack saw blue and reds down in the 'sonians 25 where the ball squeezed through to leave the defence beaten and a one-on-one with, yup you guessed it, Keeper Katie who dived at the feet of the striker, blocked the shot and pushed it wide to Tammy to clear. Phewwww, finally the half time whistle went and a well earned drink could be had.

Energy was definitely flagging in the heat but the Ladies fours kept up the pressure with some solid attacks and good runs up front, unfortunately so did CS... Tammy, Ellie, Anna B, Lauren and Jude played blinder in defence with workhorse Becca running herself ragged in midfield to help hold the ball away from the D. CS, still working the reverse side short were getting more and more desperate to score as the clock ran down, a diving left leg flick saw Katie clear another shot on goal, next up a cheeky lunging nutmeg on a striker to clear another shot back to the sideline.

With the heat sapping energy and tired legs CS won a final short and this time got the ball in the back of the net to take it to 2-1. Next followed 10 minutes of energy draining fight from both sides as CS looked for the equaliser, a mad scramble in the D saw the ball trapped under a prone Katie and two strikers hacking away at her upper legs in a vain attempt to free the ball, or prevent her ever having children, one of the two... With hands in the air protesting and Jude reminding them there was an actual person underneath the pads Umpire Rich stopped the onslaught and let Katie escape with only a few choice bruises.

The last 3 minutes were felt like an eternity but finally the whistle went and we all collapsed in a sweaty, sweaty heap delighted to come away with our second win of the season.

Massive well done to: Jodie, Liv, Tammy, Lauren, Captain Becca, Alex S, Jude (who actually does bleed Maroon, we checked.), Anna B, Holly S, Alex E, Ellie, Sophie and Katie G. A real hard grind of a game, where no one stopped fighting for it, a very well deserved win!

Thanks to Umpire Rich and our massive amount of vocal supporters. Special mention to Jodie's Mum for her concern regarding one of our 'school girls' who got into a slight altercation with the umpire, she was hoping it wouldn't put her off playing women's hockey. Veteran Tammy will be delighted to hear she still looks like a schoolgirl!!