Drew 1-1
Scorers: Mel Clewlow
DoD: Susannah Townsend
A rainy day Autumn day in Slough. With expectations of being able to see Windsor Castle whilst playing, we were left with the dark clouds above us and horizontal rain instead with Towner’s dog barking in the distance.
A week at the club that has left us all reflecting and reminding ourselves of why we play hockey. With some poor results recently the sense of unity, team bond and family were the overwhelming feelings from the team from the moment we left Polo Farm. We play hockey to win, we want to be successful but if we don’t smile and enjoy the process and journey then the results certainly won’t be what we expect, this was at the forefront of our minds. This is what set us up on Saturday to get a crucial draw at a tough away match.
A minutes silence before the game to pay our respects to Chris Figgis who sadly lost his life last week was a fitting start to our away fixture, with our arms wrapped tight whilst remembering one of our own in the green and white family.
The first two minutes didn’t go to plan, with an early goal conceded. This didn’t scupper our plans to continue enjoying ourselves on the pitch whilst sticking together as a team and believing in the process. As rocky as the first two minutes were, we grew through the game with each player working hard for each other and playing our game plan. We defended and attacked as one, with everyone putting in a huge shift. Whilst trailing by one goal we won a penalty corner, which was our first of the game. With Mel Clewlow on the top of the D we and the opposition knew what was coming next… a straight hit in to the bottom left corner, it was a rocket with every bit of passion you can expect from Mel. The celebration from each and every person said it all. We went in to half time 1-1… with lots to build on in the second half.
Slough came out firing in the second half, whilst we struggled to get a hold of the game until the last 10 minutes where we created an array of chances that we were unfortunate not to score. With the final whistle going we walked off the pitch happy with a draw against a team who are having a good season, more importantly we walked off the pitch as one team who fought hard for each other and played with pride for the green and white family.
A big game at home next week at the fortress where we will give it our all once again!!