WINCHESTER: 5
Harpenden: 0
14.01.07

Harpenden made the long journey to Winchester for the second round of the England Hockey Vase competition to try to put a smile on their faces following Saturday’s disappointing league result against Vauxhall Chiltern.

The Hampshire side quickly dispelled Harpenden’s positive attitude in the first 20 seconds of the game however, as they waltzed through the midfield and put the ball in the back of Harpenden’s net despite a desperate attempt by several players to try to clear the ball out of the D.

1-0 down so quickly left Harps deflated but they pushed up and made steady progress towards the Winchester goal. Some skilful play by the Winchester side calmly evaded all the Harpenden attacks though, and the away team once more found themselves on the back foot chasing the play and going 4-0 down before half time.

Harps came out into the second half determined to get on the scoreboard and even out the game. Short corners after short corners were promptly won but even this advantage didn’t help Harps as the Winchester defensive team kept a clean sheet and aided their cause by adding one more goal to the tally.

Harps were beaten but not disheartened as many positives were gleaned from the game, some excellent hockey was played and lessons learnt for the future.

Team: Emily Meade (GK), Claire Gardner, Natalia Boniface, Georgia Naden, Vicky Borman, Vicky Quinn, Sue Dear, Becky Whitlock, Jac Smith (C), Jules Rees, Karen Lincoln, Julia Bradley & Sabrina J.

A special thanks goes to the drivers, the supporters and Coach for coming to support us in a long distance away game.