Week 22

A delayed start to saturday's game meant Staines' preparations were thrown somewhat, but a dogged workmanlike display ground out a valuable 3 points against bottom of the table Chiswick.

The game started slowly with Staines having the better of the opening exchanges but unable to convert any of the chances that fell their way. Ten minutes in Staines did find the back of the net through a penalty corner from James Chapman. Almost immediately Chapman had a chance to double the lead when Staines were awarded a penalty stroke however, after a short delay for a change of goalkeeper he pulled his shot wide. The score remained 1-0 until half time in what was a very dour uninspiring game.

Staines started the second half again the brighter of the two sides and soon increased the lead to 2-0 when Matt Truman scored the first of his two tap ins. With the second goal Staines should have gone on for a comfortable win, but some inept hockey by both teams led to a goal and two yellow cards for the visitors. With Chiswick down to nine men Staines scored again from a penalty corner when Chapman was on hand to fire the ball home after good work by John Stannard. The game continued on in it's disjointed fashion and Staines managed to score a fourth through Truman after a quickly taken free hit, not long after came Chiswick's consolation goal when their corner striker flicked the ball into the top corner leaving Andy Green in goal clutching at thin air.

So, although Staines were disappointed in the performance the win was vital in keeping pressure on the top teams in the league and this win moves them into second place with a tough away game at Blackheath this coming Saturday.

It was back to League action for Staines Ladies following the long Xmas break and as a consequence it took time for the League leaders to settle back into their rhythm against the division's bottom placed side.Despite starting the game at a high tempo,it looked to have all the makings of "one of those days" during a frustrating first half.Several times the ball went agonizingly past the post before a Staines stick could get a touch,Jo Ive and Alex Teasdale both went close and Mel Martell forced a good save from the home 'keeper at a penalty corner.Staines best chance of the half fell to Martell,her penalty stroke well saved.Havant's defensive tactics seemed to be paying off and then 6 minutes before half time it was the home side who earned a penalty stroke.It was now the turn of Staines 'keeper Maggie Owens to turn heroine as she superbly dived to her right to turn the stroke around the post.

Staines came out for the second half determined to make their pressure count and they had only to wait 11 minutes before taking the lead,Alex Stacey calmly slotting past the advancing 'keeper.Despite further chances going close,the visitors had to wait until the 22nd minute of the second half to increase their lead.Jo Ive deflecting in a neat penalty corner move.Havant's heads were now down and they were fighting to limit the chances to their visitors.5 minutes before the end Stacey scored her second to give the scoreline a better look considering the pressure and possession that Staines had over the 70 minutes.

This week Staines entertain Horsham in a friendly.Horsham are currently top of National League 2 South so it will be a good chance for Staines to assess themselves against opposition from the League that they are aspiring to go into.They will still be without the influence and experience of Ros Suter ( holiday ) and Ruth Hine as she fights to be fit for the following weekend when Staines host Wimbledon in the League,a former Club of Hine's.

Saturday dawned and due to illness and borrowing between teams we had ten players an hour before push back!! This quickly advanced to twelve players as we managed to get Kath and Caroline out of bed to come and play for us!!
Warm ups seem to becoming more and more co-ordinated for us – sprint shuttle runs, dynamics and close stick work! Hayes’ warm up appeared to consist of huddling together and putting on as many layers as possible to ward off the infamous Faulkners’ chill! Well, it was extraordinarily cold!
Burkie as usual demanded a goal in the first five minutes, but despite running our little legs off we were unable to score until just over fifteen minutes gone! And Kate had opened up the scoring for us – everyone was so relieved as they ran back to the half way line but we realised this was only going to be the start of the battle!
We continued to play our game, but still couldn’t score for toffee until we had a long corner where Kate saw Jo was free who tonked it into the D for Juliet to push past the keeper! Mrs Hughes was on the scorecard! Hurrah!
We went into half time knowing we could play better and really dictate the pace to Hayes and play our game, evenly distributing the ball. Kath was selfless up front and encouraging Kate and Ju to score as much as possible but for a while we couldn’t do it! The midfield continued to run their legs off – with special mention going to the Ingrid and Michelle partnership that worked really well on the right! Both were “fear”some and prevented Hayes’ attack! Everyone else worked really hard – as you have to in the ladies 3’s!! Juliet eventually managed to slot another past the Hayes keeper despite tight marking from Hayes. Three nil up and we had no opportunity to step back. Burkie and her bunion were forced to make some crunching tackles whilst Von von von von von kept her cool at left back working extremely well with Linda and Ju!
All in all a great team effort and we came away content with the score. This weekend we’re going into a clash with the top of the table team and we’ll need cool heads and steady sticks to prove our worth!
Player of the match went to Michelle for a fantastic performance at right mid – how adaptable is this girl?! Special mention must go to Kath for playing so well at centre forward despite having only just gotten out of bed!! Doris votes were varied, Kath was nominated for moving her car in the car park so she wouldn’t have to walk so far to the club, Burkie’s bunion was nominated for no reason, Chantel for only touching the ball twice in the entire game (expensive few touches!!) and Doris eventually went to Kate for not knowing her left from her right…………?!!!

A great score overall. Two well deserved goals, the first by Emma Crawley who converted a short corner. The second by Alison Ford which was wonderfully assisted by Emma Crawley (believe Emma wrote this bit of the report!). Staines were up against a very physical team. Two of the younger players (Heather Forster and Laura Scott) both took a tumble an came back a little bloodied - will now have to restock the first aid kit! Team did well to win after a long and arduous trip to the oppos ground! The team returned victorious, albeit a little bashed and bruised.