presence of mind to hook the ball out and drawing it back calmly, flicked it in to the back of the net. The whistle blew and the nerve-tingling match ended in a well-earned draw. This was a great team effort on the part of the Tenbury players who deserved to share the points and retain their high league status.
Tenbury Ladies 7 – Ludlow Ladies 5
Warming up for their next round of league matches, Tenbury and Ludlow produced an exciting game marked by a series of 12 goals. Ludlow opened the scoring with a shot from a short corner. Tenbury failed to convert any of their first five corners but Emma Hillhouse scored from the 6th. Ludlow’s defence remained strong in the face of a wave of attacks, with their goalkeeper making several fine saves before Abi Thomas enabled Tenbury to take the lead with brilliant stick work to allow her into the circle where she struck the ball with great accuracy and power. Almost immediately Ludlow levelled the score catching Tenbury on the break and out-manoeuvring the defence. Just before half time Emma Hillhouse collected a pass and cracked the 3rd pass the keeper from close range. The balance of the game shifted in Tenbury’s favour in the second half when Abi Thomas and Tina Bickley quickly scored three more goals, to take the match away from Ludlow. Lindsey Aldridge and Jessica Preece in the centre of the Tenbury defence both played strong determined games as Ludlow regrouped and counter attacked. Their forwards forced Tenbury keeper Kailee Hurdiss into some important saves before being finally beaten with a spectacular strike from a narrow angle. Tina Bickley immediately replied again with another cracking shot. Yet again Ludlow came back into the game which was flowing from end to end with both team constantly involved. A fine individual goal brought the score to 7-4 and shortly afterwards an opportunistic touch from a goal mouth scramble brought the 5th for Ludlow just before the final whistle. The game was a fine example of good skilful hockey and both teams showed great potential for the future second half of the season.
Hockey Ladies Score First Goal After only Two Minutes
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