Ladies 4th Team vs Yateley 2

Wallingford L4s vs Yateley 2s – 5:1 Win 

The L4s made the long journey to Yateley for a 3pm push back in what can only be described as very January hockey weather: damp, grey and mildly soul-destroying. Spirits were further tested upon discovering the Portaloos had no running water. Grim🤮 This was our first match back after the Christmas break and we arrived with just 1 sub.

Yateley came out firing and looked threatening, but were denied their quick start by our calm, composed defence and the ever-reliable Poppy in goal. The ball was swiftly worked back up the pitch to Kerry, who slotted home our first goal and instantly shook off any post-Christmas sluggishness. 1–0.

Teamwork across the pitch was outstanding, with slick passing and relentless effort from everyone. Kerry then doubled the lead before half time. At the break, Coach Harry delivered some wise words — including the novel idea of getting someone on the P-spot — advice we took on board and helped us win 😉

Yateley weren’t done yet. They came out strong in the second half, marking us tightly and pulling one back to make it 2–1, causing a brief wobble and raised heart rates on the sideline. Any hopes of a comeback were quickly shut down by Poppy, who made a series of superb saves — including one memorable stop off her helmet.

From there, Wallingford dug deep. With tired legs and no subs to rotate, the work rate somehow increased. Wonderful assists flowed from Phoebe, Liv, Amber and Elaine, while Helen and Scottie distributed the ball with impeccable timing and accuracy. Our new screens and CM trio were tenacious throughout.

Our flying Scot, Kerry — clearly not in a sharing mood — went on to score another 3 goals.

Final score: 5–1, the exact same result as our September fixture against the same team with Kerry scoring all 10 goals.

Well done to Phoebe, Player of the Match in her very first game with the L4s — an electric debut! ⭐⭐⭐

Kerry also picked up Bobby Broccoli 🥦 for hitting the goalie with her stick and then denying it to the umpire with great conviction 🙄

Big thanks to Coach Harry for keeping us focused and firing — what a shift from everyone. A game of grit & huge team spirit 🏑💚 💪🏻

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏑🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏑🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏑🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏑🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🤣

Match report courtesy of Kerry