New breed of mixed team players fall short despite valiant effort
Despite not being able to field their best team, a new breed of players showed that the future is certainly bright for the mixed team despite a narrow 10-9 against Birmingham.
Without captain Marcus Howe and vice-captain Paul Chandler, it was all change in the mixed team hierarchy. Today also saw a few débuts for the mixed team that included men's goalkeeper Simon Hart try to the fast paced mixed game. Today also saw freshers Lara Kynoch, Suzanna Tompkins, Daniel Wichler, Holly Potten play for the mixed team for the first time.
It was a tight game all the way through but the visitors just seemed to have the edge every time. Staffs did manage a late fightback but it was not fully completed by the time the final whistle went.
This loss will make it an up-hill struggle for the mixed team if they going to finish in their usual third position behind Loughborough and Warwick with teams like Birmingham and Leicester breathing down their necks.