Our match on 12 October was away against our local rivals, Southend & Benfleet. With a large squad of 15 to S & B's 11, we were hoping that the extra legs would work to our advantage. Following a group photoshoot with their resident photographer, Alan, the subs rota was handed over to Ben Jones and Garry Johnson and the first push back was taken. Initially we were playing well with some thoughtfully executed passes managing to get the ball into the D within striking distance, on several occasions, in quick succession. Persistence paid off and after 12 minutes, Izzy struck the ball and scored putting us ahead. S & B were not to be deterred, and 6 minutes later 'Tonks' equalised following a penalty corner against us. Ten minutes before half time, Zoe received a stick to the head, and although uninjured, engaged in a slightly heated conversation with one of the umpires which resulted in her being awarded a green card, closely followed by a yellow. We were down to 10 going into half time. Despite our hopes of being able to increase our goal tally, completely the opposite happened. Tonks was proving to be a force that we couldn't reckon with and following another penalty corner shortly after the start of the second half, she struck the back of the goal again. We did have several chances to equalise at the other end but the ball either went wide of the goal or didn't reach the stick of the correct recipient. Our fate was truly sealed when S & B scored again, and then again. A 4-1 loss unfortunately. The votes for Player of The Match were quite varied, with newcomer Amelia, Polly, Char & Michelle receiving recognition but it was a triple tie between Abigail, Sophie & Izzy Gus the Gonk needless to say, will be having an exciting time with Zoe next week following her double carding!