Tavistock Ladies 1st XI 2

Teignmouth 3

TAVISTOCK played a non-league hockey match against Teignmouth.

The game opened with some strong attacking play from Emma White and Jo Gaspar. Laura Armstrong had a good game and was keen to get the ball into the ?D? and have some shots at goal.

The ball was quick to be intercepted by the opposition and they did try to get in a few early attacks but the strong defensive play of Fiona Dunn, Lisa Butler, Boulle and Stapleton kept the opposition at bay and resulted in Becky Pitts securing the ball and having some good lead runs with Barratt and Armstrong.

Tavistock were awarded numerous short corners and it was from one of these that Stapleton scored the first goal of the match from a cross from Gaspar.

The pace of the game picked up and Teignmouth were quick to find space on the pitch.

They equalised as there were far too many players in the ?D? for the 4 defensive players to mark. Goalkeeper, Nell Trotter, played well and did save the first major attack on goal but was not able to deflect a strong strike down the side. Tavistock raised their game and Julia Firth battled well and was much more confident in her tackles.

Robynne Honey came onto the pitch and worked extremely hard on the wing. Honey gave some good balls into the running play of Gaspar and Armstrong, allowing Tavistock to be very much the attacking team.

Tavistock scored again with an excellent goal from Armstrong. The second half saw Tavistock again play some good hockey but at times players were extremely guilty of holding the ball and not releasing it earlier enough to a free player. Tavistock need to be able to read the game a little quicker if they are to intercept the ball earlier on the pitch. Teignmouth had a break and played a reverse stick shot at Trotter who was unlucky not to save the goal.

With the score at 2-2 Tavistock were desperately trying to find a way into the goal. Barratt and Honey continued to play well and fought hard to secure the ball when making a tackle.

Despite being the main attacking team, Tavistock were unable to get a shot past the keeper and this resulted in Teignmouth taking the break and purely due to being outnumbered in the ?D they scored the winning goal of the match.

This week, Tavistock are at home at 12.30pm at Bickleigh with a league match against Paignton 2nd XI.

Player Of The Match: Robynne Honey.