Ladies 1s rain on Bournemouth's parade

From the starting whistle Louisa England put the away side on the defence. Some skilful play between England and Jem Mackie down the middle of the pitch enabled the Henley ladies to quickly put Bournemouth’s defence under pressure and really set the standard for the rest of the game. A well structured line up around the blacks 16 yard hit out enabled Ellie Roseff to intercept their hit and forward it onto Emma Joseph on the left wing. A quick pass on to England on the edge of the D enabled her to carry it strong to make a powerful shot which was deflected by Lettice Cary on the P spot and put the Henley ladies into an early 1-0 lead.

Henley kept their momentum high and after some precise transfers between Sophie Hoskins, Chloe Nelson and Mel Joyce in the defence line they eventually managed to build play to find Charlotte Cockerton on the right wing. Some silky stick skills by Cockerton meant she could find Cary in the forward line up. Cary dribbled the ball on to the base line and found Cockerton again under her shoulder who slipped it to Kiera Halloran who was well position in front of the goalie to slip it past her stick to put the yellow and blues two goals ahead.

However, the Bournemouth ladies were not willing to let the game slip anymore. Some long balls down the line put Henley’s defence under immense pressure with their attackers quickly getting into the Henley D and winning a short corner. A well-executed defence routine allowed the Henley ladies to run out and stop goalie Robyn Horan from taking any shots, however a second phase of play put the pressure back on and although some great tackles by Hoskins broke down their play, the away side were able to get back into the Henley D and strike at Horan who did some brilliant saves to keep Henley’s clean sheet. A tactical clearance by Cockerton enabled the Henley ladies to come out of danger and with the ball arriving onto Mackie’s stick she was able to do some lovely one-two passes with Katie Knight on the wing allowing the home side to finish the first half feeling like they were in full control of the game.

Following the half time break, the yellow and blues were still increasingly hungry to extend their lead. Although the Bournemouth ladies started with possession, the Henley ladies were adamant it wouldn’t last long. England and Georgie Metcalfe on the forward line up put the away side under such pressure that during a 16 yard hit out that Metcalfe was able to incept their ball across the D. Metcalfe took full advantage of this and in a one-on-one with the goalie struck the ball at full pace and put the home side into a comfortable 3-0 lead. The Henley ladies fought for the remaining of the game to stay in control and eventually finished the match with a well deserved three points.