The ladies first XI were fully committed with a large squad arriving early to warm up and for the final team talk of the season! We were taking on the Dutch B's in a match that we all knew was going to be tough and physical! The crowds were gathering and the pre match excitement was building.
The Dutch managed to snatch the first goal however, a practiced, and text book short corner saw Charlie equalise not long after, kicking off an exciting 20 minutes of Tornados pressure. A fantastic run of quick Tornados passes then ended in Charlie scoring a perfect flick past the goalie, putting the Tornados 2-1 up!
However, despite the promising start, it sadly was not to be our day... Three excellent Dutch goals in quick succession and a Tornados yellow card for some impressive, yet illegal, ariel stick skills (Kate) saw us 4-2 down at half time and temporarily reduced to 10 players (quote Charlie: "Rich, do you know we've only got 10 players on the pitch?!" Rich: "yes, that's what happens when there's a yellow card...!")
The Tornados continued to battle hard after the restart and we were soon back to full strength with 11 players. Unfortunately another Dutch goal soon put them 5-2 up, but a spell of Tornados pressure and some silky skills from Rosie followed, forcing the Dutch into scoring an own-goal and bringing the scoreline to 5-3. However, the gap was just too big and another final strong Dutch attack meant that the match finished a fair 6-3 to the Dutch.
An outstanding performance from Teej in defence saw her take a well-deserved, unanimous player of the match award. Special mentions must also go to Kirsten and her lightening quick reactions in goal (even head-butting the ball out of danger), Alex (a "breath of fresh air" whenever she was on the pitch), Hils for a solid game in midfield and Lizzie, Suz and Becky for keeping us all well hydrated during (and after!) the game (paddling pool and ice - genius!). Of course, a massive thanks also has to go to Rich for coaching us all season - we couldn't have asked for anyone more committed who kept us all focused throughout the season and hopefully we did him proud by putting into play the moves that we had been practicing at training!
Although the result didn't quite go the way we'd hoped, it was all in all a great day of hockey and a fantastic way to round off what has been an incredibly successful season - congrats ladies!
Milly & Sam W
