A goalkeepers perspective

Well it was off to the coast for what was expected to be a very cold and wet Folkestone with hope in our hearts and cobwebs everywhere else.
We were one point behind our opposition with the opportunity to go second if we won, so were all fired up and ready to play our game from the start.
We started strongly enough with some long and strong passing to test the waters and ourselves, but with the Christmas break and different formation we began to start making silly errors.
There was some good link up play with Emma B and Nix in the middle with excellent support on the right from Jojo.
The defence made up of Megan, Jakki, Berry and Noleen held strong and managed to hold of Folkestone until half way through the first half the attackers broke through and with a cleverly placed player managed to obstruct me (goalkeeper) and score their first goal.
Heads up we headed back to the half way line to start again. We started again with some excellent passes but just did not have enough to get through Folkestone.
A short time later Folkestone managed another break this time leaving the defence behind to head to goal two onto one, I tried to block them off only for one player to smartly send the ball past me on the left hand side.
We headed into half time 2:0 down but still with hope that we could turn this around as we definitely played better hockey at times then the opposition.
The second half began pretty much the same as the first with enthusiasm but again Folkestone managed to get through the defence and slip in number 3.
Again we restarted and with some more battling spirit managed to get a goal back.
We put up a hard fight but alas let in two more goals to make the final score 5:1, disappointing but we still remain 3rd with more than a good chance to climb the dizzy heights of division 4.
The Folkestone hockey shop also benefited from our visit as Daphne bought herself a new and improved glove, had her xmas present wrapped in chamois and then proceeded to get a new bag. I believe that she also managed to get on the scoreline somewhere in the game but I missed that (sorry Daphne).
MOM – went deservedly to Megan for a great defensive/midfield performance.
DOD – went to Tilly, just for being Tilly but it was really good to have her back if only for one game.

Match report written by Goalkeeper Sandra.