Ladies 1s Match reports

Ladies 1s travelled to Old Wills hosted by some familiar faces. The first half saw many many MANY chances which we just couldn’t convert to a goal, decisions just not going our way but still some beautiful hockey from the girls. After a series of short corners which were defended well by Old Wills we went into half time at 0-0. 

The second half saw Anchs come back fighting but about 10 mins in we began to loose our heads a little, this didn’t last long and with true grit and determination we saw through the frustration and came out the other side. WE and I mean EVERYONE on the pitch fought right until the end, special mention to Mika Scott for gaining player for her endless runs and patience with the battles she faced from the oppo. Finally with about 5/10 mins to spare we got a goal. From a short corner which actually went a little bit wrong which Laura Skillen even apologised for 😅 (but ended being a lovely assist) but still got to Sarah Lack who slot it into the back of the goal. Gaining herself champagne moment of the day. The most deserved and needed goal of the season! 

We kept our heads right until the final whistle, which at times was hard to do! 

Incredibly proud of the team performance. Not only the hockey that we played but also the friendship and collaboration! A game we thought would be a little easier than it was but still one which we can be super proud of. We also managed to share a few laughs - mainly at my expense which gained Meg special. This was for many reasons from her weird team talk, messing up a drill in the warm up, trying to sub off during a short corner and for literally standing still completely missing the ball going past her because she was in awe of one of Laura’s touches on the ball. 

Ladies 1s hosted Blackheath at home and the game began with very strong, steady passes and great stamina! The first goal scored within the first 10 minutes came with a CHAMPAGNE moment by Laura 🍾 This was won through the many short corners we won with one one finally working to our advantage, Laura’s baseball hit smashed into the goal. 

The second goal came soon after, Emma travelled along the base line, passed to Mini who then hit it straight in to the backboard with a bang 💥 

Second half saw the play spread through the width of the pitch with everyone putting in 100%! Laura came through and scored again with another short corner goal 🥅 

Our third goal was from Mika with a strong slap into the D and deflected off Blackheath’s keeper. Meghan who performed a funky dance move soon after, just missed another opportunity on goal and almost earnt herself special if it wasn’t for Emma’s weird and wonderful questions to Herbie! 

Player went to Emma who worked tirelessly in midfield, special also went to Emma who had a fascination with Herbie’s holes 😳 Our Champagne moment went to Laura for the cricket/baseball/tennis smack into the goal! 

Another 4-0 win for the ladies 1s with some really beautiful hockey planed ✨

Ladies 1s travelled to Edenbridge to play a side we haven't met in years, and the sun, wind and rain all joined us for a solid Anchs display.

The first half saw falling trees (watch out for T-rex coming meghan 👀), Emma stepping off the bench and firing in our first with just her second touch, Meg losing an eye, Nat taking a 🎯 to the knee, and just the one short corner to challenge Herbie in goal.

We dominated in the second too, with our second coming from a ball in from Laura which maisie knocked home from close range, a great solo effort from Learna with a reverse shot taking a deflection for our third, and the final touch of the game being a short corner breakdown and Nat claiming our fourth.

It wasn't just our goals that sealed the win - a potm performance from Inners and a peach of a pass from lacky from the backline through to Nat at the top end of the pitch earned a joint champagne moment (with another shout out to Emma's 🚀).

A big thanks to Ann for travelling with us to umpire, and a great 4-0 win for the girls!

Ladies 1s hosted Canterbury today. We knew this would be a tough one as Canterbury came down a league with us. We were up for the challenge from the beginning. The start saw us have a shot on goal which we unfortunately didn’t convert, Canterbury then gained the lead from a well taken flick. Sarah Price almost got a touch but it wasn’t to be! Surprisingly enough we then won our own flick which unfortunately didn’t go in. This took us 0-1 at half time.

After a good team talk and regroup we came on strong. The start of the second half was relatively equal but then we dug deep and began getting the upper hand. We had a lot of short corners, one resulting in an absolute champagne moment goal from Natalie Summerhayes, Sarah Lack slipped left to Megan Doutch who took a shot and Nat picked up the rebound and hit it home, tricking the goalie and sending her to the ground for the ball to go over her!

We kept on fighting and had a few more chances on goal. The game ended 1-1!! A great result and an excellent team performance.

Player went to Lacky and Mika Scott for their relentless battling, special went to Maisie (for her orange comments 😅 and Nat for her wonderful bouncy celebration and champagne moment also went to Nat for the unreal goal !

Thanks to Keith Hopkins and Andy for umpiring !

Well done girls an amazing team performance 💜

Ladies 1s made the trip to Orpington to play Knole Park in their opening gambit of the season. With big changes at KP over the summer we genuinely had no idea what we would be facing.

It turns out we had absolutely no reason to be worried. From their pushback, we won a short corner and a fantastic back post cross saw Laura force a great save from the keeper but she wasn’t going to be beaten twice, lifting the ball over her on the second attempt putting us 1-0 up within two minutes of the start.

Knole Park eventually made the most of a short corner, their best player to dribbling into goal.

Anchs weren’t having it though, after a great switch, Amy had the ball in acres of space on the right and drove it half the pitch before smashing it home with a little help from a defensive deflection.

Anchs 2-1 up at half time, and feeling very positive.

Second half saw A’s step on the gas, the third goal came from another great drive from Amy, before she slipped to Tash on the P-spot, who made no mistake slotting home.

Goal four was a big shot from Nat, which Maisie impressively controlled high, before calmly rolling past the KP keeper.

So much of A’s positive play came from excellent defensive work all over the pitch. The forwards and midfielders won the ball high so many times. The opposition’s strongest player had no room or time to play. The only time they slipped past the defence, Herbie came flying out to make an incredible tackle. They did manage to convert their only short of the second half, but only because of a wicked deflection.

Anchs weren’t done though, and in the dying seconds, Nat’s shot was too strong for the keeper and as it trickled through her legs, Charlotte came in to see it home.

A thoroughly deserved 5-2 win for the ladies 1s, five different scorers and an incredible team performance. Player went to Laura, but Amy came in second with fantastic work down the right. Special was shared between the Megs as one forgot her shirt and the other did a little horse trot off the pitch when she got cramp.

Anchs 3-2 Burnt Ash

Anchs Ladies 1s played a friendly today against a Burnt Ash team who will be playing a league above next season. The first half Anchs were clearly still finding their footing as the visitors overwhelmed them a number of times and took the lead after a shot from the edge of the D took a vicious deflection past Herbie.

There were flashes of what we were capable of, as Anchs looked dangerous every time they were in the D and won a string of short corners, including one cleared well off the line.

Ash were the deserving leaders at half time, but Anchs were starting to knock at the door. A good half time talk saw us determined to play more of our own hockey although there was a bump in the road very early in the second period when the visitors converted a (slightly harsh) P-flick.

But the Anchs girls pushed back hard and, using the wings more, working hard off the ball and switching play quicker and better, they were a threat every time they went forward.

The first Anchs goal came from a broken down short, when Meg picked a clearance up outside the area, dribbled in and slotted just inside the right post. The second goal hit the backboard in almost exactly the same spot when Emma smashed home a straight strike on her debut.

The Burnt Ash attack started to lose some of its sting as they found it harder to get out their own area and with a couple of injuries to defenders, the Anchs back line did well to hold them out and some last ditch tackles were well needed.

The comeback was completed when a free hit on the half way line was taken quickly and played right to Jess making a beautiful run into space. Her first shot was blocked by the keeper, but she took the rebound round her and lifted into the far side of the goal.

Final score 3-2 against a team now a league above us. Great fight to come from behind to steal the win. Lots to work on but lots to feel positive about too.

Thanks to Richard for umpiring, Keith for nearly umpiring and the fantastic support we had on the sideline!