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Milly shines as Brighton battle league leaders

Milly shines as Brighton battle league leaders

Shaun Pimley12 Nov 2018 - 20:05
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Women's weekend review - two Alice Webb goals give 3s first win, 4s and 5s in five-goal thriller


Runaway South League leaders Surbiton found Brighton and Hove's women in fighting form at Blatchington and only a single penalty corner goal separated the top and bottom sides at the final whistle on Saturday.

The visiting side was full of juniors, many of whom already had international experience, reports Brighton skipper Amanda Billington. "Coach, Neil Burlinson, has spent training introducing the team to a new formation with a rejig of positions; almost switching defence for midfield. Surbiton, on the other hand, could not have had more contraptions or appliances to aid their planning and training with three cameras at different heights and angles, a pc set up with their own tech guy handling it all.

"Mother Nature was obviously laughing as within two minutes of the game starting, time had to be stopped as the 4m high camera stand came crashing down missing the umpire by a small margin!

"Despite the intrusion, Brighton looked ready for the fight. A long spell battling in the middle of the field saw open play shots at both ends. It was another 20 minutes before Surbiton were awarded their first penalty corner; Jess Harris on full stretch to her left, sending the tornado over the cross bar. It was their second penalty corner that put Surbiton ahead, as they injected the ball directly to the left slip; Brighton set up for the top castle meaning Surbiton had a gaping hole to aim for.

"The rest of the game saw a very even battle with both keepers being tested; the opposition's coach questioned why Brighton are bottom of the league! With fantastic grit all over the pitch, man of the match was hard to choose with many votes going to Emma Wyatt, who had an outstanding game as CB, but was beaten narrowly by Milly Wheatley, who looked confident as she returned to the team this week; its great to have you back Milly!

"Pip Tanner gained the doughnut award before the game even started for realising her skirt was on back to front so stripped pitch side!"

Brighton go to Wimbledon on Saturday still looking for their first league win of the season.

The 2s kept up their winning ways and maintained the pressure on Sussex League premier division leaders Hailsham by going to Mid Sussex 1s and thrashing them 4-1.

"We got off to a strong start, piling plenty of pressure on the Mid Sussex defence, and managing to make a few inroads into the D, but we just didn’t seem to be able to get a clean shot off," reports captain Nivene Raafat. "There were some superb runs down the right hand side by Amber, Charlotte and Lauren, and our tried and tested press once again proved effective at keeping our opponents trapped inside their own 23.

"We managed to win a handful of short corners but it fell to Kelly to break the deadlock with one of her trademark runs into the D, finished with a thunderous shot. It felt like one-way traffic throughout the rest of the first half and birthday girl Jo added to the tally with a close range finish.

"The second half saw plenty of the same intensity, with Hannah L, Redders and Hannah P working together to break down play and counterattack on the left. Then a Mid Sussex clearance managed to make it all the way back to our goal, and keeper Jess somehow got her kickers in a bit of a muddle as she went to clear, letting the ball through for one of their forwards to pop into the goal.

"Mid Sussex looked to pile the pressure on but we were able to put the game to bed with a couple more goals, including another for Jo, who was voted player of the match and kindly shared her many cakes with us all! We’ll need all those calories for next week when we take on the 3s!"

They will find the 3s in buoyant mood after they beat Middleton 3-0 to register their first league win of the season.

"We only went and won!" reports a jubilant Kate Wilson. "Absolutely awesome performance by the 3s, who, having had a tough start to the season with just one point in the bag, desperately needed a win. Alice Webb making her debut up front settled nerves with an early goal from a penalty corner, an absolute peach of a strike that gave the Middleton GK no chance. Early intensity and pressure put us in control with a really mature performance from Maia at left back of particular note."

"Middleton upped their game in the second half and made life a little more difficult. Jo 'Postie' Smith came close with a disallowed goal deemed to have been struck outside of the D. Finally our slick exchanges and interplay paid off with a subtle delection past the Middleton GK by Ange Whitchurch. A third goal deep into the second half, the second for Alice, put the game to bed. A great three points for the 3s that will surely ignite their season."

In division one the 4s met the 5s and match reporting duties were shared by Ellie and Drinky.

"Enter stage left, enter stage right, lights dim and curtain up for the fours vs fives. After a lot of last minute team sabotage by the dirty fours we met excited and nervous for our intra club match. Fives won the warm up as the majority of their players were actually there on time whilst the fours tired from even more dirty tactics of listening into team talks.

"With loud complaints of nervous bowels the game began! The fours won on the washing game as all their white shirts were Persil bright white. It was all jolly hockey sticks with a 3-0 lead for the fours at half time but with the fives breaking through with two goals in the second half there were complaints from the back when fours vice captain Ellie made further complaints about her squeaky bum.

"Half time talk from the fives included targets of actually scoring a goal and not letting them score any more. ‘We shall fight them on the pitches’ seem to work well for them. The game had it all, all the drama, all that jazz, cracking goals, sniper attacks, corners, penalty flicks, trotting, dressage, love passing, coughs and spluttering. Luckily the game was more jolly hockey sticks than elbows at dawn and the end result of 3-2 represented a good fair game. The only tension today is at the bar whilst we argue about whose round it is.

"4s vs 5s showed today that playing for a club not just a team is the way forward. Not only can we do a ruddy good joint match report but we can play a good ol’ game of competitive hockey that the club would be proud of (plus we’re giving back to the club by spending all of Abbie’s wages at the bar! Club spirit at its best! And she is unemployed). We gathered as a whole group on the pitch at the final whistle. At the re-match we have decided on a good old game of Rock Paper Scissors instead or maybe naked twister ..."
"PS: no mention of Bills this week as she was pre-emptively waiting at the bar for the fives' DOD Award!"

The 6s ran into the steamroller that is Eastbourne 2s in division two and came away beaten 9-0, their only consolation being that they did better than Southwick the previous week who lost 20-0 to the league leaders.

The 7s faced division three leaders Burgess Hill 4s, who had won all their previous games and only conceded one goal, so Brighton, even though defeated, could be pleased with a 3-2 scoreline.

"The Super Sevens braced themselves for a tough game against top of the league Burgess Hill 4s late Saturday afternoon," reports Betti Jordan. "We had a strong team with a mix of old and new players and played a different set up with four in midfield, hoping to get the ball forwards more often and score some goals.

"The first half started with swift exchanges and we held the opposition back well, but they managed to get a corner which they converted to their first goal. Brighton kept their chins up even when some kerfuffle by our goal left a gap and allowed the ball to scatter across the line giving BH a second goal. We kept fighting and had a lot of possession, the new set up was working well in distributing the ball forward and we applied a lot of pressure, which eventually enabled the forwards to get through with Nat Barb scoring before the whistle for half time went.

"We started the second half strong willed and Burgess Hill only got very few shots on goal, one of which was converted to make it 3-1, but in a swift counter attack Brighton assembled and Nat managed to score again, after receiving the ball across the D and using the space to whack one in! BH did continue to try and break through the lines, but Brighton’s strong defence kept tabs on their forwards, not allowing space for them to get past or score again. Two minutes before the final whistle the skies opened, but the even the soaking could not diminish the pride we felt for having only lost 3-2 against the top of the league team!"

Captain Nancy Pickford’s plan of a stronger midfield paid off and she praised her team after the match. "Everyone is improving, positioning is better, passing wide is better, running to the ball, resilience and fitness, we did so well!"

MoM went deservedly to Nat Barb, DoD was awarded awarded to the captain and her endearing confusion of left and right on positioning her players.

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