It was a brisk December day when Blackheath Ladies 1's set out for their first game on the new pitch to take on Gore Court. To mark the special occasion, coach Jules decided a change in formation was required so the ladies set out to begin the game with a new structure and a couple of puzzled expressions.

Following a fast paced start, the ladies quickly rose to the challenge and solid defensive work from all combined with powerful possession from Emma in the middle allowed Blackheath most of the opportunities at the start of the first half.

Motivated by the cries of support from Graihagh and Mr and Mrs Bohling, the channel of play quickly opened up on the left with some slinky stick skills from Vicky. Persistence paid off and allowed a cross from the left to land straight in Rachel’s lap in the PAINT - a tap in and a 1-0 lead for Blackheath gave the crowd what they wanted.

With a lead secured, Lotta worried all this running might ruin her hair, so she took a conveniently timed tumble to take herself off to the bench. Phew the hair would remain intact.

Doctors duties completed, Jilly refocused on the task at hand and worked hard in the middle to give some excellent opportunities to Sue who was determinedly darting from left to right jabbing at the goal from all angles.

The whistle blew and Jules regathered the team to discuss going forwards and not backwards which really made a lot of sense.

The second half began, Alex upped the aggression levels and took on the Gore Court captain head-to-head. We all know who won that one.

The umpires hadn’t seen enough excitement for one day so decided to mix it up to keep Ella on her toes. Despite echoes of ‘that’s not even a rule’ being heard from the side of the pitch the whistle did go and the short was given.
The team felt riled by the decisions made including the flashing of the green card to Alex. Hannah felt most cheated of all though as she couldn’t give her sister some constructive criticism when she was no longer on the pitch.

With or without 1 player down Banksy and Jen held solid defensive lines and Sal dominated the middle offering up opportunities to all who wanted them.

Sarah did say her elbow was better but her fancy footwork meant arms didn’t seem needed regardless.

Gore court stayed true to their name and put up a good fight, there was blood, sweat and flying plasters but at the end of the day Blackheath returned to take home the 3 points … hurrah!

DOD Lotta for the hair
POM Rach for excellent play up front and that all-important goal.