Hockey 1st VS the Leys – Frankie Stenning

Hockey 1st VS the Leys – Frankie Stenning

‘We Can Only Do Tournaments’

Another game of 1st XI hockey, another loss. This time it was the Leys School that stole an RHS win. After a long game the girls walked off of the Astro with a 0-7 defeat. The RHS curse of not being able to score any goals seems to be haunting the 1st team in their matches. 

Following on from the joys of the county tournament the girls walked onto the pitch with their heads held high. Supporters came and watched at the sideline to cheer them on as the girls took on the Leys on the famous beach of RHS. A good warm-up took place and then the game began. 11 hockey players on each team stood facing each other ready to take the win. In this first half RHS played well. Tackles were strong and movement was quick. The ball rolled around the pitch as quick as a lion. Sadly this weeks search for the D appeared fairly unsuccessful for the girls even with such strong play. On the other side of the pitch, the Leys managed to squeeze 2 goals in before the whistle blew. The girls were behind but they were strong. 

Onto the second half. It seemed as if the break was not quite enough for the side. They came onto the pitch and soon after were 5 goals behind. Then the tired legs pulled heads down to the sound of the ball thudding against their own goal. People began to become more and more disheartened. Supporters for the 1st team tried to cheer them on and this achieved a lot for the girls in their defensive set up. However, in attack we could not quite penetrate the Leys set up and so, gradually, the ball started to not make it up the pitch for our forwards to run away with it. After such a strong first half the girls just couldn’t pull themselves up and push on through the pain of losing as well as exhaustion. Nevertheless their defensive tac tics allowed the Leys to finish the game with only 7 goals. A better result than against Fram.

It was a hard fought match with trips and shoulder barges and revealed some strong and good play within the 1st XI. The girls have a huge potential in upcoming games to take their well deserved wins, as they did in the County tournament. Perhaps the girls play is best for the shorter match length as 100% effort can be put into play at all times.

Don’t forget to come support the 1st XI hockey team at their next home game. You can help them win.