KSHC 1s 1-6 Plymouth University 1s

WITH Storm Bert settled, Kingsbridge & Salcombe Hockey Club 1st XI were back to playing after last week's cancellations. The first half of the season had taken a toll on some of the KS players but they stood on the sideline ready to support their team all the same, against a strong Plymouth Uni side.

From the start, the strategy was a half-court press and the defence of Natalie Lake, Lisa BB and Tess Baker were strong to keep Uni away from the D. If they were able to get a shot away, Ellie Mallie dealt with it, with strong clearances.

Julie Lee and Violet stepped up to play for the 1s and they worked hard in defence and up front. With sixteen minutes played Julie took a run down the right and crossed the ball into the D for Violet to slot home.

Plym Uni were not riled and continued to switch the play around the back and propel forward. This was awarded with them hitting the backboard and drawing the game. Plym Uni went into the lead from a well-worked short corned.

Fi Douglas worked tirelessly in the middle, intercepting the ball and passing it forward into space. Unfortunately, she took a stick to the face and had to leave the field. Later to discover she had broken her cheekbone.

There were amazing passages of play with Hannah Cox running endlessly and making it hard for the Uni side. Helen had the defence twisting and turning to stop her going into the D or passing. Islay Box was driving down the right side and could outpace the defence. Although KS were down to no subs, they were able to get shots on goal and get the Uni keeper to make saves.

Lou Read was always in the right place and stepped through to intercept the ball or get the sneakiest of touches to take the ball. Ply Uni, with four subs, were able to keep up the pace and had breaks to score. The whistle blew, with the score at 6-1 but KS had shown their passion and resilience to keep on going and work as a team.

There were votes for Julie, Hannah, Lou and Nat but with some incredible runs, commitment and overall amazingness, Tess was Player of the Match.

KSHC 2s 1-6 Newton Abbot 1s

This week the KSHC 2s travelled to Newton Abbot. Nerves about facing top of the league were met with a positive attitude all the same.

KS started out strong with a quick goal from the amazing Lisa Ansell. Their forwards all worked so hard this week, Julia van den Broek and Laura Hamilton really pushed themselves to every ball. Lolly Dickson joined in for a short stint before taking a ball to the ankle and having to go off. In the midfield, Sophie Lake was excellent in the centre, and Carina Rogers worked really hard on the wing. KS finished the first half down 3-1.

Hannah Pillar was excellent as sweeper, making some excellent hits down the field. Nicky Sheppard, Darcy Wall, and Naomi Redmonds were a strong defence and all made some amazing stops. Four juniors were involved this week and all took a turn to get some time on field. The game finished 6-1, Player of the Match: Julia van den Broe.