What a Marvellous March
The last game in February saw the Ladies 1’s raring to go against Hampstead and Westminster 5's, with whom they had drawn 1-1 earlier in the season. The game started fast with some high pressing and tight marking at the back. It was not long before a great passage of play saw the ball being exchanged freely amongst the forwards, with a decisive pass from Nadia Parsons leading to an opening goal from Lucy Downs. After coming under some pressure at the back Ashford won a hit out, Emma Hynes saw Lucy straight down the middle of the pitch and took the opportunity for a quick hit which Lucy picked up and fired into the goal! In what only felt like a short moment after, Lucy was running down the left-hand side and passed a cracking ball across to Kelly Roberts who selflessly pulled the keeper and slipped the ball back to Lucy. The first hattrick of the game!
Soon Nadia was hungry for the goal and made a fast-paced run up the pitch and fired the ball from the right-hand side, the ball was heading towards the keeper, but Emily Bashford got a great deflection taking the ball up into the top of the net.
Nicky Benedict wanted to build on her tally from last week and saw herself receiving the ball from Nadia at the top of the D with time and space, she took the ball wide and fired it home into the bottom left hand corner! More silky skills saw Nadia get a well-deserved goal from a great strike into the netting. The score at half time 6-0 to Ashford. The opposition came out fighting in the second half and the defence had to ensure they kept their focus and composure, thwarting some strong attacks. But soon Nadia showed her desire for another goal with Lucy passing the ball from the right side of the base line with Nadia running in to put away the 7th of the game. Making a run out of defence Hynes passed the ball to Lucy on the halfway line and soon found herself ready to receive it back in front of goal, a dive for the ball paid off and it found the back board. Nadia's thirst for a hattrick was clear and soon before the end of the game she fired home the 9th and final goal of the day. Resulting in a 9-0 win and the best result for the team for many seasons!Moving into March the team were determined to extend their 5-match winning run. The game on 7th March started with the expected high pace that we knew Eastcote 2's would come at us with, resulting in the defence soaking up some early pressure. Great tackles and a crucial early save from Kim Downs in goal kept the opposition at bay. About 10 minutes into the first half the deadlock was broken, a quick hit out from Emma Hynes was played out to Sophie Nicholas who picked out Lucy Downs with a great pass, a fast thinking one-two with Nadia Parson's saw Lucy score her first
goal of the game. Soon after Sophie picked up the ball in the D, she took on the keeper and slotted the ball into the back of the goal! After some more fantastic defensive play at the back, with a lot of confident decision making and tight marking, the ball was back up in Ashford's attacking end and a short corner was won. The much-practised double slip saw the ball crossed into Lucy who picked up the ball and fired it between the keeper’s legs. Half time came seconds later, and the score was 3-0 to Ashford!
With a positive team talk and a focus on switching, the second half saw a confident and composed team, determined to secure the win. As anticipated Eastcote 2's came out hard and, on the attack, they piled on the pressure with a clear tactic to win short corners and boy did they win a LOT! But the back line was stubborn in their defence and were not letting the ball past without a fight! The ball was soon up the other end again with Lucy using her slick skills around what seemed like every defender in sight and put the ball once again between the posts to secure her hattrick! Another flurry of Eastcote short corners saw bodies on the line and eventually after an initial save by Kim, Eastcote got the ball over the line with a rebound shot. With the score line at 4-1 Ashford did not want to take anything for granted and Nadia saw her opportunity to get on the score board dribbling the ball up the pitch and through the heart of the Eastcote defence to roof the ball into the back of the net (via the keepers’ helmet!) With seconds to go Eastcote were on an attack and the ball trickled over the line to give them their second goal. Ashford were not dejected as the final whistle blew and a 5-2 win was secured.
The much-awaited rematch against Ashford’s arch-rivals Staines 1's proved to be our last game of the season on 14th March, and what a scorcher it was! As we prepared for the home game, we knew it was going to be a tough one as Staines were unbeaten all season...so far! The warmup included inspirational team talk from our super coach Jackie Parsons. Before long Lucy Downs was showing what she was made of and opened the score sheet taking the home team 1-0 up. Despite a flurry of attacks and short corners from the opposition, the defence and Beth Jefferies in goal soaked
up the pressure and the score-line remained close at half time. Shortly into the second half Ashford were awarded a penalty stroke for a shot being stopped with a hand on the line. Nadia Parsons calmly stepped up to the spot and fired the ball into the top left corner! Clearly buzzing from her superb flick, Nadia was soon on the ball again, drove it into the D and subsequently the back of the net! Ashford were very much on top of the game and working hard in all areas of the pitch to maintain the strong lead. Lucy went on a run down the left and made a great decision to pass the ball to the P spot, where Kelly Roberts waited to beautifully slip the ball past the keeper. Not satisfied with a 4-goal lead, Ashford were on the attack again with Nadia passing to Sophie Nicholas to covert goal number 5! An awesome game of hockey and a sweet victory! With the final game of
the season being cancelled due to suspension of all hockey fixtures, despite not knowing it at the time, it was a perfect way to end the season! An unbeaten 7 games in a row meant that this was a super second half of the season, with Ashford 1's finishing 3rd in the premier league.
