The tenacious 2's have had a mixed season with highs and lows, but there hasn't been one game played that this spirited team haven't given one hundred per cent.
On 29th February, on a bitterly cold morning, the 2's travelled to play PHC Chiswick 3's, second in the league table, knowing it would be a tough game. Ashford started well with good game play and short accurate passing, but PHC Chiswick came out fighting and scored 3 goals in the first half. The second half saw a regrouped Ashford begin to play as a unit and create some goal opportunities, alas all were denied by the home teams strong defence.
To their credit, Ashford also denied any more goals from PHC Chiswick and the final score was 0 - 3.The 2's next match on 7th March was against top of table Hampstead and Westminster 6's, playing at home in front of a supportive crowd. Ashford made a great start and were ahead after only 7 minutes from an amazing goal scored by Jenny Tippel from a top of D strike.
Unfortunately, the visitors scored soon after from a quick break, but this didn’t keep Ashford’s spirits down and the team battled on. A second, very unlucky goal went in for Hampstead and Westminster and Ashford were down 2-1. Then disaster struck when Ashford were down to 11 when top scorer Jenny came off with a bad knock on her knee.
However, with some shuffling around and good teamwork Ashford rallied well. In the second half, Ashford played a more defensive game and managed to keep the barrage of attacks from Hampstead and Westminster to only two more goals. This was a debut appearance in the 2's for Tina Clarke, who played fantastically and won man of the match with a convincing 7 votes, very well deserved! Despite their loss, Ashford 2's had a great game against a very tough side and the crowd enjoyed the match.On 14th March, the 2's made the long journey to Southgate to play their 4th team. Desperate to win some points, captain Elize Brown gave the team an inspirational pre-game talk which must have worked as Ashford went out to play their best game of the season. In front of the usual large home crowd, Ashford played simple, effective hockey, switching the ball and connecting their passes. All the hours of training paid off and they were rewarded with two fantastic goals from forward Kim Downs, scoring with her impressive drag flicks into the top net. Ashford win 2 - 0 and were ecstatic - three points at last!
Ashford 2's finish their season in a safe 9th place, but captain Elize Brown speaks for all her team when she says "our place in the league really does not reflect the teams performance this season, we just need to get the ball into the back of the net!"
