Another top win once again guys and girls. Everyone seemed to cope well with Nottingham's aggression, which is great to see as I think Keele could very well be exactly the same at Varsity. Speaking of Varsity, it is hard to believe that there is only one more game left before the big day.
After the Varsity team was announced I think everyone is starting to see how much responsibility they have in the next few weeks. Everyone is improving and that is being seen on the pitch in matches as well as training.
I'll start Simon who was superb in goal. I know he is not a big fan of mixed but I think Marcus' decision of putting him in goal at Varsity could be a blessing in disguise.
The defence seems to be improving every game. You never gave up on those ground balls and weren't afraid to get as rough as Nottingham. One player that is really impressing in the back line is Lara. She has improved so much in very little time and I can see her contributing a lot, not just at Varsity but for the rest of her time with this team. Another that seemed to make an appearance in defence was Suzi who seems to becoming an all-rounder. First it was scoring goals in attack and winning ground balls and clearing well in defence. Looks like it is just goalkeeper left for this star.
Middie was solid as usual. You were always subbing at the right times and kept a good flow with the amount of minutes for everyone. It was good to see Perkins make another appearance. Despite not playing on a regular basis, he made another solid performance as play-maker and even got a goal along the way.
Other middies that contributed was Shane who is now getting the goals in mixed as well as men's. This type of match was perfect for you and you made the most of it by collecting a hat-trick. I enjoyed your 'warp-a-round' goal that was almost going to be an attempted crease-dive. But I am glad you didn't as their ref would have probably disallowed it.
That now brings me to my next point which is the referee Nottingham had in the first half. Probably one of the worst I have seen, or perhaps the worst ever. There were so many things wrong with her. She kept saying she could not see what happened but that was because she seemed to be stationary on the sidelines by the half way line. But the one decision that got everyone talking was the supposedly "dangerous shot" on their goalkeeper. There was just no logic in this "rule". But thankfully we do not play Nottingham that often as they have travelled to our pitch, so we have a year before possibly meeting that same ref.
Back to the match and my last few mentions will go the rest of our goalscorers. Dimi put in another brilliant display in midfield. Highlight has to be the action roll, with the ball still in his stick and it ended up being an assist for a goal. You got a few goals but it is still short of our top goal scorer Marcus.
Our illustrious captain seemed to prefer playing defence for most of the game, but when he did make a run into attack he managed to keep his slender one goal lead ahead of Dimi. I will expect a lot of ball-hogging by both of these two in the next match.
Final mention will go to former president Jack Tew, who after pinging a ball into Josie's head (dick of the day material), sort of made up for it with a hat-trick. His surprise appearance definitely helped us today as his pace could not be stopped. I also enjoyed one of his goals that confused one of their guys as you made two quick spins when he was only expecting one and then you got the goal.
Next up Birmingham Medics and a win will basically gives us third place. Even though the teams below us have games in hand they still have to play Loughborough and Warwick at least once.
After the Varsity team was announced I think everyone is starting to see how much responsibility they have in the next few weeks. Everyone is improving and that is being seen on the pitch in matches as well as training.
I'll start Simon who was superb in goal. I know he is not a big fan of mixed but I think Marcus' decision of putting him in goal at Varsity could be a blessing in disguise.
The defence seems to be improving every game. You never gave up on those ground balls and weren't afraid to get as rough as Nottingham. One player that is really impressing in the back line is Lara. She has improved so much in very little time and I can see her contributing a lot, not just at Varsity but for the rest of her time with this team. Another that seemed to make an appearance in defence was Suzi who seems to becoming an all-rounder. First it was scoring goals in attack and winning ground balls and clearing well in defence. Looks like it is just goalkeeper left for this star.
Middie was solid as usual. You were always subbing at the right times and kept a good flow with the amount of minutes for everyone. It was good to see Perkins make another appearance. Despite not playing on a regular basis, he made another solid performance as play-maker and even got a goal along the way.
Other middies that contributed was Shane who is now getting the goals in mixed as well as men's. This type of match was perfect for you and you made the most of it by collecting a hat-trick. I enjoyed your 'warp-a-round' goal that was almost going to be an attempted crease-dive. But I am glad you didn't as their ref would have probably disallowed it.
That now brings me to my next point which is the referee Nottingham had in the first half. Probably one of the worst I have seen, or perhaps the worst ever. There were so many things wrong with her. She kept saying she could not see what happened but that was because she seemed to be stationary on the sidelines by the half way line. But the one decision that got everyone talking was the supposedly "dangerous shot" on their goalkeeper. There was just no logic in this "rule". But thankfully we do not play Nottingham that often as they have travelled to our pitch, so we have a year before possibly meeting that same ref.
Back to the match and my last few mentions will go the rest of our goalscorers. Dimi put in another brilliant display in midfield. Highlight has to be the action roll, with the ball still in his stick and it ended up being an assist for a goal. You got a few goals but it is still short of our top goal scorer Marcus.
Our illustrious captain seemed to prefer playing defence for most of the game, but when he did make a run into attack he managed to keep his slender one goal lead ahead of Dimi. I will expect a lot of ball-hogging by both of these two in the next match.
Final mention will go to former president Jack Tew, who after pinging a ball into Josie's head (dick of the day material), sort of made up for it with a hat-trick. His surprise appearance definitely helped us today as his pace could not be stopped. I also enjoyed one of his goals that confused one of their guys as you made two quick spins when he was only expecting one and then you got the goal.
Next up Birmingham Medics and a win will basically gives us third place. Even though the teams below us have games in hand they still have to play Loughborough and Warwick at least once.