Okehampton Ladies seconds 7

Exe U16s 2

THE first half was a closely fought hockey contest and in the early stages Oke piled on the pressure against a skilful and talented U16 team.

After narrowly missing a scoring chance from a short corner Oke soon took the lead with a well-struck reverse stick strike from Jill Williams which outwitted the Exe Keeper.

The young Exe team came back in style forcing Oke captain Sophie Whiteley and defender Brieze Reed to mark tightly and tackle strongly.

The play rapidly moved from end to end testing the players fitness. Oke's Grace Thorp scored when she received a cross in front of the Exe goal and slotted the ball into the back of the net.

Exe retaliated by attacking down both sides of the pitch spreading out the Oke defence. Katy Adams marked her attacking player tightly but it was Sophie Whiteley who saved her team with a spectacular goal line clearance. Exe's intense pressure and fast accurate passing led to their first goal and they soon followed this with a superb solo run from which the young Exe player made no mistake in finding the back of the Oke goal.

Just before the half time whistle Oke scored the goal of the match — Sophie Whiteley tackled an Exe player deep in the Oke half, she sped away with the ball and passed to Jill Williams, who put a perfectly placed pass through to Grace Thorp; Grace then hammered the ball straight into the Exe goal.

The Exe team began to tire in the second half under the relentless Oke attack, with the home team passing the ball around and creating space for their attackers.

Jill Williams scored a superb goal for Oke when she skilfully dodged the Exe defence and hit the ball into the corner of the net. Both Jill and Grace scored again to claim their hat-tricks.

The final Oke goal was deservedly scored by left wing Willemijn Rademaker who had been playing with finesse and skill throughout the game.