Arriving in the rain at Emerson Park after, a slip week off, the ladies 3s were ready to give it their all.
Thankfully the rain stopped before the game but was replaced by a fire behind the trees sending plenty of smoke in our direction!

We knew we could be playing against a relatively inexperienced Upminster 5 team, and had been encouraged to make sure we played our game. Despite this the game got off to a slow start, stopped briefly for a change of socks for one of the opposition who had turned up in black socks the same as us! I think it’s fair to say we were not playing our best hockey however we were definitely dominating the game and keeping the ball in our half for much of the time.

After plenty of shots at goal from the forwards and a couple of narrow misses including a couple hitting the post and one flying over the top, Captain Jen scored the first goal with a great strike from a short corner. The rest of the first half was a mix of great runs by Martha and Jemima down the right side, Grace and Emily doing some great work in mid field and some great Max smashes into the D! The second goal came from a brilliant shot from Emily having run the ball down much of the left side and into the D somehow managing to find an angle between the goalie and post. Upminster were making some good breaks with young legs and skill, and at some point found their way into the D and scored an unlucky goal.

Starting the second half at 2-1 up we knew we deserved to win, but were going to need to up our game. More determined and organised we played well in this half with some great defence from our backs, who were also coming up high to help the attack. Emma had a couple of great shots into the D gaining a short from a least one of them. The 2 goals of this half were from brilliant strikes from Emily from the edge of D, the first finding its way through to Jemima on the right post for a great goal and the second flying straight into the back of the net! The last goal came from Shireen sending a great ball across the D to Jen who finished it perfectly! Upminster managed one more break with a well organised consolation goal to finish the match.

Overall another great whole team effort with MOM going to Grace for her excellent play in mid field. No hot mess today for our team, instead these nominations were for the girl in the opposition wearing the wrong kit!

Many thanks as always to Coaches Sam and Jerry for their support and direction!

Suzie