Tavistock Ladies? Firsts 0

Exmouth Seconds 4

THIS Devon Cup hockey match opened with strong attacking play from Laura Stapleton, Steff Mills and Fiona Dunn.

Exmouth were quick to respond and passed the ball around the pitch. With Tavistock using some second team players, the squad were working well together and Janet Simmons and Kate Eadie, a young Kelly College player, battled well and took on every single player in their path.

The defence of Tavistock picked up players who potentially could have been a real threat to keeper Gaynor Pollard. Zoe Viggers and Babs Horton kept their cool even when the opposition were often losing theirs.

Mills and Stapleton fed numerous strong balls to a running Laura Armstrong who made each one every time. Judy Miller had some good touches on the ball but it was not enough to get past the defence.

The ball came back down the pitch and Tavistock were given some harsh decisions against them resulting in numerous short corners. These were always deflected well with Dunn preventing the direct strike on goal.

The first goal was achieved when Exmouth took a direct hit at the keeper.

At half-time spirits were high as Tavistock knew they were giving Exmouth a hard time in gaining possession and shooting opportunities.

Georgina Rooth had some good strikes at goal only to be deflected out by the keeper. Lisa Butler battled through the

defence but often had no player to pass to across the D.

Exmouth scored three more times to make the final score 4-0. This scoreline is by no means shameful as Tavistock played an excellent game with some strong play from all on the pitch.

Captain Fiona Dunn expressed thanks to Kate Eadie, Janet Simmons and Georgina Rooth for making their debuts with the 1st XI.

Player of the match: Janet Simmons.