Ladies 1st XI Vs Alford 1

Pelicans Ladies 1’s v Alford & District Ladies 1’s Saturday 24th February 2018 at Pelicans Hockey Club 

Pelicans Ladies 1sts welcomed Alford & District Ladies to Lynnsport on a cold but clear, bright and sunny day looking to avenge a 6-0 away defeat in November. 

Pelicans adopted their normal 3-4-3 formation with Atlanta Stevenson in goal, a back three of Emily Pluck at left back, Hannah Aldous centre back and Nic Lankfer right back, 4 player midfield diamond with Laura Tea at the base in the sweeper role, Ellie Burt at the top of the diamond in high centre mid role, Amy Anderson left mid and Annabelle Brown right mid. Three player forward line up of Holly Wilson on left wing, Poppy Beales at centre forward and Ella Scott on right wing. Grace Carrier started on the bench coming on at left wing and left mid as the team shuffled positions throughout the match. 

Pelicans started brightly, building attacks from the back and through midfield allowing the forwards to test the Alford defence. On 20 minutes, Annabelle Brown made a strong run through midfield, her pass finding Poppy Beales in the D, her reverse stick shot trickling agonisingly slowly past the Alford keeper and into the left hand corner. 1-0 to Pelicans. Yet another attack saw Holly Wilson pounce on a loose ball in the top left of the D firing a hard, low shot through a crowded D and into the goal. 2-0 to Pelicans. 

Pelicans continued to dominate with the team, and particularly captain Laura Tea, proving very adept at taking down and controlling the high balls from Alford hits that were a somewhat unusual feature of this match. Approaching half time, another strong midfield run saw a pass into the D met by Ella Scott with a firm and accurate shot that thumped into the Alford gaol. Pelicans went in at half time 3-0 up and a happy team. 

Alford came out after half time with all guns blazing and for the first 15 minutes Pelicans were under sustained pressure. A promising attack saw a goal bound shot stopped on the line by a Peli foot – penalty flick to Alford. Their captain stepped up to take and flicked firmly and accurately towards the top left corner but Atlanta Stevenson in the Peli goal pulled off a great save to keep Peli’s at 3-0 up. This was a key save in a great performance from Atlanta and as Alford heads dropped, Pelicans started to rediscover the accurate passing and running of the first half. With some 10 mins to full time, Ella Scott made a great run on the left wing crossing powerfully and accurately for Poppy Beales to sweep home her second goal of the match. Final score 4-0 to Pelicans which had so nearly became 5-0 as Ella’s last minute shot whistled just past the post. 

POM – Emily Pluck for a strong defensive shift combined with some great passing and work going forward. 

A performance like this has been coming for a while as youth and experience have begun to complement each other and work to their respective strengths. Perhaps even more importantly, the team morale and spirit has built and built and this team know how to enjoy themselves and increasingly, how to win. A great win for the team and just reward for a hardworking and intelligent display. 

Final score - Pelicans Ladies 1sts 4 Alford & District 1’s 0