The ladies 1st team travelled to a very windy Don Valley for the 1st game of the New Year. Slaz had a score to settle after being held by Don Valley to a 2-2 draw in our first game of the season. The game started with some persistant pressure from the opposition which was well absorbed by the strong Slaz defence. After initially being on the back foot, Slaz soon wound into gear. Some brilliant outlet play by Man of the Match Katie Firth created lots of chances for the forwards. There were a few one-on-one chances that were thwarted by Don Valleys excellent goalie; but the first goal soon came from a penalty corner with a straight shot rebounding off the keeper only to be lifted by Mandy into the back of the net to send Slaz 1-0 up.

The second half started with strong play from both sides. A penalty corner goal, again by Mandy was disallowed for being just over the backboard. Don Valley then piled on the pressure with consecutive penalty corner chances but didn’t look like scoring. Time after time they were met with some great defensive play and some brilliant keeping from Eleanor making a welcome return to the team. Another penalty corner gifted the Slaz side a great opportunity to try out a new short corner routine that worked beautifully (no more details in print otherwise opposition may suss it but we can tell you if you ask as it’s a good one)!

It was a good outing and a well deserved 2-0 win away for the Slaz side with many positives to take away from the game. Next week the ladies are at home to face Alnwick at 12.00.