Our match last Saturday was a home game and we took the last pitch slot of the day ( at an earlier time of 3pm).The opposition were Brentwood 4 who had dropped from the league above last season but who had won their last run out 10-0. Should we be worried? Anyway, a beautiful sunny, autumnal afternoon at Warners was the perfect backdrop for the match. Having watched the mens 1s game preceding ours, we gained some inspiration as to how we could up our game, and hoped that there would be some spectators left in the stand to cheer us on. Our team of 13 was joined by a rare appearance from Bella Heron, who unfortunately works more than plays hockey now, and by Yolande Reci, who was making her debut for Ladies 4s, having transferred from a local club who wear a blue kit. Sarah Tape was also re-acquainting herself with the astro after a period of absence! We won the first push back and proceeded to move the ball up the pitch into the vicinity of the D but couldn't get a serious shot on goal to get an early lead. Brentwood were predominantly a young team and the combination of youthful legs and reasonably accurate passing, saw them make several breaks in quick succession. They had an older player who seemed to be camping out in their D, directly infront of Char, waiting for the touch to try and score. She was thwarted in any attempt until 20 minutes in when she managed to trickle the ball over the line. We held our heads up and continued on. Having mentioned their youth, I will also mention ours who were keeping the pressure on - Lois, Sophie, Izzy, Abigail did not stop running! The (slightly!) less youthful players also played some good hockey - Yolande was dominating in CM and was constantly disrupting their passes as was Sarah J out on the right. Bella slotted into any position she was moved into and played consistently well throughout the match, although a lifted ball which narrowly skimmed their goalhangers cheek did not go unnoticed by Suzanne and was deemed dangerous. The second half did not afford us any goals, unfortunately. We certainly had several shots that went wide of the mark but the elusive leveller never came. The defence managed to avert any further increase in the score margin by successfully blocking all penalty corners. Cheekgate continued as Abigail's stick made contact with the face of a Brentwood youth who went off the pitch but then came back on again. This caused time to be stopped and Suzanne to get shouty as Brentwood were not adhering to the concussion policy for under 18s. Having convinced the oppo that a cheek is an integral part of a head and the youth left the pitch , we continued playing for what was left of the game but the score remained at 1-0 to Brentwood. A slightly frustrating match is an apt description. The Player of the Match votes were very close, with Abigail being pipped by Bella for the accolade. Thanks go to Mike Rapp who was roped into running the subs rota but found himself freelancing after about 5 minutes and thanks to Stephanie Rapp and Sarah (aka Jamie) Tape for the lovely first home teas of the season. Next week we make the arduously long journey to KES to play the pink and black army of S & B