Girls' Hockey: U11 v Craigclowan
Belhaven 6 – Craigclowan 4
After some heavy rain, the skies cleared and the girls ventured towards Hallhill for their match against Craigclowan. Warming themselves up they decided ahead of the toss, which end they would prefer to shoot. With Craigclowan winning the toss and the pass back, Hester opted to play into the wind once more.
This was once again a game of two halves. The first half started brilliantly. Alexandra was primed to intercept from their pass back and work with Eliza in attack, whilst Alice R and Lucy held the attack in the midfield. We tried hard to use the wings and play wide which allowed Eliza to make a lucky break and play one on one with the goalie, slipping the ball into the goal. Alice T went for tackles when the opposition came near and was ready to drop into defence to help Poppy and Grace clear the ball. Alexandra was next on target for a goal, and with some good saves from the Craigclowan goalie, another went over the line. Hester was kept busy in defence and made some super saves as the Craigclowan attack pushed forwards. Her saves were cleared to the sides by our two magnificent defenders. Up for another attack, three attempts on goal before Davina found herself in just the right place to put number three on the score sheet.
An exhausted group of girls looked forward to their half time oranges and water and a few words of wisdom from each other. They knew how Craigclowan would feel and were certain they would come back fighting. This they did and our girls had relaxed a little with their play to allow Craigclowan to score their first of the match. Good teamwork again by the Belhaven girls saw the ball up in the attacking circle and Eliza going for her second goal of the match. Play was becoming more even during the second half and saw Craigclowan become more determined to fight for the ball. Some gaps in our defending allowed Craigclowan to take advantage twice to bring the scores even closer. Belhaven however, were not going to give up quite so easily. Some good passing and attacking saw the Belhaven team work well bringing the ball forwards for Eliza to score twice more before the end of the match. The match continued to play up and down the pitch and the Belhaven defence were now onto the Craigclowan ‘goal hanger’. Unfortunately a little scrappy play in the circle just before the final whistle saw another goal over the line for Craigclowan.
Another great match where every girl played with 100% determination. A little too relaxed at the start of the second half, saw the team let down their guard but they fought back once they realised this to keep possession and ahead in the game.
Well done girls!
KG
