Tavistock Pumas 4 Saints 6 TAVISTOCK mixed hockey team, The Pumas, played their first match of the summer season on April 29. The game opened with both teams heavy on the attack and wanting possession of the ball. In defence Tavistock kept the opposition at bay through good defending and marking skills of Kevin Lethbridge and Fiona Dunn. Saints had the ball and seemed to drive into the ?D? on mass and scored a strong goal that keeper James Pitts was unable to save. Laura Armstrong and Tom Honey worked well up front playing the ball around the opposition?s defence, however both of these players missed a couple of goals which were superbly saved by the Saints? goalkeeper. Saints came back and again Tavistock were outnumbered in the ?D? resulting in their second goal. Tavistock had all to play for and Laura Stapleton and Jo Gaspar hassled players and retrieved the ball every time when going in for the tackle. Stapleton and Dunn picked up key players on the right and forced the opposition to take another route. Tavistock had the ball and John Barratt and Matt Way were in the ?D?. A shot was made at the keeper which was deflected and Armstrong struck it back into the goal. New players Emma Passmore and James Barratt played really well and distributed the ball well on the pitch. The second goal came from Matt Way who played a lovely ball that the keeper was unable to save. The score at half-time was 2-2. The second half saw a more determined Tavistock who were definitely the attacking team but it was harder to finish the ball off into the net. Lethbridge and Dunn continued to play well and, despite letting Saints? third goal creep past him, Pitts had some really good saves which kept Tavistock in the game. Honey, Barratt and Way linked well together although there were times when the better option may have been to use one of the good calls from Gaspar or Armstrong. Another goal was scored from Saints and so Tavistock knew they had to lift their game. A short corner was awarded and despite the ladies? first strike being deflected, Way managed to salvage the third goal from it. Both teams were working hard and the number of goals reflects the quality of the game, but Tavistock had the chance to get back quickly to even the score. Another two goals from Saints put them 5-3 in the lead. John Barratt picked his game up and scored a really good goal past the keeper. Saints scored in the final minutes taking the final score to 6-4 to Saints. This was a good first game of the mixed season and reflects how high the standard is in this league, division 1.
