Civil Service - Fire on a Frosty Day

Looking the part in the new club kit and hungry for 3 points, the Ladies 4s headed to MES for what was to be an action packed game.

Warm up done. Passback won. Hair tossed. Nails checked. Baby how you feelin'? Ready!

Civil Service obviously felt similar as they put the pressure on as soon as that whistle blew. Those veterans amongst us knew this was going to be a classic East District scrap. Just like the good old days from Division 3. Despite our best efforts, CS found our D and were looking dangerous. Thankfully Saskia was feeling the fire and demanded that defence dealt with this – which they did. As calm and composed as ever, Jen sweeped the ball out to Catie on the wing, who then found Captain Mel further up the wing. The counter-attack was on.

After some backwards and forwards in the centre of pitch, Lucy and Kate’s persistence outdid that of the opposition and with a strong hit, the ball was soon at Olivia’s stick, who performed a fancy turn or two before shooting at goal. Going slightly wide, Kim, well positioned, picks it up and smashes it into the backboard. 1-0 to the Mighty L4s.

With CS back in possession, they attacked with fire in their bellies (not quite up to Saskia’s expectations…) and took advantage of any gaps there were to offer. As our legs tired and half time approached, we were unfortunate to give away a few long and short corners. However, conceded nothing and, the ball quickly found Liv again. One on one with the keeper, there was only going to be one outcome. GOAL! 2-0. Physically battling it out again, things began to heat up (and I'm not talking about the weather) so we all sighed a sense of relief when the half time whistle blew. Time to 1) reconvene, 2) refuel and 3) remind ourselves to keep our cool on the pitch.

Unfortunately, as Coach Paul will confirm, we're not always great at following instructions and often forget vital points in said instructions. Not too long into the second half, CS were ever-present in our D and, for one reason or another, won a short corner. Long story short, we were also quickly down to 9 players as Jena and Mel were... rested. We can laugh about it now but that fire was well and truly burning! If there was ever a chance for CS to grab a goal or two, this was it. With our Captain off the pitch, Jenny stepped up and organised midfield into a deeper position. Their whole team seemed to push upfield. Which ironically worked in our favour after we intercepted a pass out wide which was passed up to a relatively unmarked Liv upfront.

'Sonian's were soon back to 11 players, lessons had been learnt by both teams and more lady-like hockey was played. The fire still burning, Jenny assumes ownership of the ball, takes it wide and blasts it through the keeper’s legs from a tight angle. An absolute peach. 3-0!

The final whistle blew. Baby how you feelin’? The honest answer was tired but it was a great game all in all and we look forward to welcoming our friends to the fortress of Tipperlinn in the new year.

Player of the Match: Kate Flanigan
Thank you to Mairi for umpiring.