OKEHAMPTON ladies hockey club U14s team travelled to Exeter to play in the final day of the Devon U14s league.

Their first game was against Plymouth Marjons. Initially the young Oke team found difficulty in putting their passes together and after a goalmouth scramble Marjons claimed the first goal. 

The Oke team stepped up a gear passing the ball around and splitting the Marjon defence with some penetrating balls.  Oke's attacker Liselotte Rademaker looked dangerous on the break but it was team-mate Raychel Williams who outwitted the Marjons goalie to score the equaliser. 

Oke piled on the pressure again and were rewarded with a penalty corner which Tara Davidson confidently converted into the winning goal.

Oke's next opponents were a strong Exe team.  Oke's captain Willemijn Rademaker led her team from the middle, organising her defence well against the fast Exe forwards. 

Full backs Amber Davey and Katy Adams marked tightly and tackled strongly but Oke's keeper Meg Higgs was forced to make several crucial saves.  Oke grew in confidence and were unfortunate to concede a penalty corner from which Exe scored the only goal of the match.

Oke were playing flowing hockey against Ashmoor in their third game.  Ailsa Gibb linked well with Isobel Higgs on the Oke forward line forcing the Ashmoor defenders to tackle hard to keep them from scoring.  Liselotte Rademaker was unlucky not to score early on in the game when her shot just missed the Ashmoor post. 

Molly Petherbridge created the winning goal when she intercepted a ball in midfield and put an accurate ball into the Ashmoor circle – Isobel Higgs picked up this pass and shot on goal, which bounced off the keeper's pad but Liselotte pounced to put it into the back of the net for the winner.

Oke's final game was against the toughest opponents of the day, ISCA.  Oke defended well, marking tightly and intercepting passes but the experienced ISCA players always looked dangerous. 

Goalie Meg Higgs made several decisive saves to keep her team in the match.  Holly Davidson, at left half, soaked up the ISCA pressure tackling well and linking with sister Tara to clear the ball.  Oke battled hard and on several occasions penetrated the ISCA defence but were unable to find their goal. 

Oke were unlucky to concede a goal after a great team performance.