Darkness falls across the Pitch
The midday hour makes us twitch
Players crawl in search of the ball
To terrorize you to the core
And if the Keeper stands her ground
When given a card for getting loud
Must stand and face the Refs of Hell
And rot inside the shin pads smell
The foulest stench from the battle fought
The funk of forty thousand ‘shorts’
And grizzly ghouls from every club
Are closing in to seal your subs
And though you fight to win the game
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere hockey player can resist
The evil of the thriller
AH HA HA HA HA HA HA….’
The spirit of Halloween was in the air this weekend as the match against Wellingborough 1s saw phantom fouls and out of body experiences…
Wellingborough started strong and really used the width of the pitch well putting Oundle under pressure. We quickly got the measure of them, pulled our socks up sharpish and retaliated with speed and strength to meet their play.
Our midfielders today; Issy Gorely,Charli Elphinstone and Kat Hughes were unrelenting with their interceptions, tackles and ability to drive the ball forward. I’ve previously championed players on the left wing but today was Hannah Postlethwaite’s turn to shine. Queen of the right wing! The speed at which she can out-run players and still control the ball is phenomenal.
Midway through the first half came the first challenge from Wellingborough on goal. It was a very busy D and unfortunately the ball collided with an Oundle foot. A flick was awarded to Wellingborough as the umpire felt the ball would have gone in. We did challenge this call based on where players were situated but ultimately as a club we do endeavour to respect umpires and their decisions. As passionate players this is not always easy when we feel an error has occurred but equally umpires have a tough job on occasion. Wellingborough swiftly scored from this opportunity.
Not long after, Wellingborough were back making another attempt on goal which was expertly halted by Karen Darrington (GK) but Karen and the forward from Wellingborough both ended up on the floor. A short was awarded to Wellingborough which was rapidly escalated to ANOTHER FLICK by the umpire at the OPPOSITE end of the pitch!! AND our GK being sent off… spookily good eyesight or phantom apparition? The argument for this being that the umpire felt our GK took the player out and didn’t touch the ball…
Now, Hattie Smith had an incredible game this weekend. She is a strong, skilled player who is always optimising her position on the pitch and supporting all plays and passes. Extra praise should go to Hattie as she admirably stepped in as ‘Goalie’ with only a face shield to defend Wellingborough’s second flick. But once again they scored from this questionably awarded penalty.
Understandably, as a team, we were perturbed by these 2 awarded flicks but we were not deflated by them, and quickly had our own shot on goal facilitated by Oundle Legend Tasha Darrington and the talented super power that is Evie Hurst who got the touch in. Leaving the score at half time 2-1 to Wellingborough.
A quick pep talk by Captain Ruth and we were back on for the second half. The defenders were on fine form this weekend with Ruth Trolove, Kat Barnes, and Emily Burdett in particular making some excellent clear outs from our defensive lines. Emily was quick to apply pressure and as a result Wellingborough didn’t have any clear shots on goal in the second half. This was Emily’s debut for Oundle 1s this season along with Ivy Lee, whose quick ball skills and directional changes left the opposition in a daze. Congratulations for a great game Emily and Ivy, and thank you for stepping up.
Player of the match was quite rightly awarded to Charli Elphinstone for the second time this season. She never seems to tire and oozes class on the pitch.
