The 1st XI continued their impressive start with a tense 5-4 over Maidstone but an availability nightmare meant weakened sides and defeats for the 2nd XI and 3rd XI. The Ladies lost 0-3 at Richmond but the old boys held their ends up with the Hamstrings beating St Albans 2-0 and the Barnstormers being denied a win with a late equaliser.
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| Jay Harman adds the fifth goal |
1st XI 5-4 Maidstone
Click here for match photos
A win is a win but at 5-2 up against the bottom side and with our forwards carving holes in a fragile defence, at one stage a rout seemed on the cards as Jay Harman with a hat-trick led the way with some crafty deflections. But then we rather lost direction, shipped two rather easy goals, and ended the game rather nervously. But we remain unbeaten in third with a visit to leaders Horsham, a side with the tightest defence in the league, promising a much tougher day out.
Richmond 3-0 Ladies
The mind games started ahead of the whistle as we warmed up. There were odd looks from the opposition as we practised our 360 degree looking using the rugby netball technique before the game. We were ready. We battled hard against the oppo and elements, passing well across the team with lots of calling. Unfortunately they snuck one past us in the second quarter. The game continued to go from one end to the other with strong performances from midfield and some great saves from Michele however the first half finished 1-0 to them. We came out fighting again in the second half. Several shorts at both ends but nothing going in. They then managed to find the back of our net twice before the final whistle was called to end the game 3-0 to them. There were a lot of positives for us to take away and we felt we’d had a strong game but just been outmanoeuvred on a few occasions and not been able to put away our chances. Man of the Match went to Nikki however the votes were spread across several in the midfield as there was lots of outstanding play.
Wanderers III 3-0 2nd XI
No report
3rd XI 3-4 Old Reigatians
Report to follow from Eds Copleston. You have been warned.
Hamstrings 2-0 St Albans
You have to feel for Tim Cook. Stuck on the A3 in solid traffic so by the time he arrived the game was well underway and they had found two umpires, he must have thought his day couldn’t get any worse. He was wrong as he had to watch Andy Loates and then Neal Fox score, the latter from at least a yard out. Stuart Sleeman, more than two years after his terrible injury, made an hugely popular return to action and showed all his old tricks up front. Hamstrings are now top with three wins in three.
Barnstormers 1-1 Basingstoke