1sts girls' hockey v ardvreck

Belhaven    3                    Ardvreck    4

                         Rose Greville Williams

                            Tosca Tindall                              

                            Tosca Tindall

Knowing that Advreck won the Loretto Hockey Tournament last term, we knew that we were going to have give it everything. 

We did not get off to the best of starts as Ardvreck punished us for not being ready and scored within the first minute of the match. Many teams would have given up knowing that they were going to be up against it. Not this team. The early goal by Ardvreck seemed to set alight a fighting spirit within them as they set about turning the game around. Saskia Weir and Sophie Walker-Munro took the brunt of Ardvreck's attack and hardly had time to breath but they both made crucial tackles and kept close to their player forcing the Ardvreck strikers wide. Rosabel Kilgour and Jeanie Gibbs came back to help when needed as Ardvreck seemed to come from nowhere when advancing. However, anything that did break through our defence was met by Olivia Dobson and she soon sent the Ardvreck attackers packing with her strong clearances. Midway into the first half we began to get into our stride and some clever passing between the forwards resulted in Rose Grevillie Williams having a shot a goal and scoring past the Ardvreck goalkeeper. However, it was not long before Ardvreck's brilliance came to the forefront again as some clever work by their forwards gave them a shot at goal and they flicked the ball into the top left hand corner.

Half time we were still in with a chance as Ardvreck were only one goal away from us. Amelia Cookson decided that this was not right and found herself on the end of the ball in the circle and with true Cookson determination she got the ball free to Tosca Tindall who popped it past the keeper. For the first time in the match we were in control. Hattie Harley and Tosca Tindall were making fantastic runs up the wing and produced very good passes into the circle. Iona Brooks was key in the centre as she helped to switch the ball from the left to the right to help vary our attack. However, Ardvreck obviously did not like the loss of control and a couple of short corners later they were two goals clear. Time was against us but not one Belhaven girl gave up fighting on the pitch. With seconds to go Tosca scored a very well deserved goal and even though the score indicates that we lost, every girl should feel a winner for the performance that they produced in the match.

Man of the Match: Olivia Dobson and Hattie Harley