 Guildford Fire lived up to their name today in the Surrey Cup by playing some of their best hockey of the season at just the right time...
Pool Game 1 v Surbiton C (4-0 win)
We opened up in the Group games against Surbiton C, and came out 4-0 winners with some lovely passing hockey and cleverly worked goals.
Pool Game 2 v Oxted (8-0 win)
Our second game was against Oxted, where we won 8-0, which was quite an achievement in a 12 minute game.
Pool Game 3 v Old Georgians Dragons (3-1 win)
Our final group game was against Dragons, who had also won their first two matches, and we made the worst possible start by conceding a breakaway goal in the first couple of minutes. The girls picked the ball out of the back of the net and proceeded to play some fantastic passing hockey. Martha M drove up the right wing relentlessly, and put in some great crosses for the forwards to finish off. Then Isla drove up the left wing and laid the ball back onto the defenders’ feet. We scored 3 beautiful team goals and sailed through into the quarterfinals.
Quarter-Final v Guildford B (0-0 at full time, 3-2 win on penalty strokes)
Here we came up against our toughest test of the day so far against Guildford B. The fierce tackling and hard work of the Bs stopped us from playing our usual game, and we were unable to get the ball through the wall of defenders, which they put up in front of the goal. It was 0-0 at full time, and we went to penalty strokes. Rosie, Martha & Eliza calmly slotted their strokes home, and Grace made the key save to put us through to the semi final.
Semi-Final v Surbiton A (0-0 at full time, 2-1 win on penalty strokes)
Here we faced Surbiton A, in what many thought should have been the final. It was an end-to-end game, with very little to choose between the teams and also ended 0-0. We were very confident in the shoot out, and when Rosie fired home her stroke, things seemed to be going according to plan. However, when Surbiton scored and our next one was saved, we started to get a little tense. We needn’t have worried - Grace had it covered! She tipped their next stroke round the post at full stretch, Eliza scored, and then Grace calmly stepped across to save Surbiton’s final stroke. We were in the final!
Final v Old Georgians Dragons (1-0 win)
Here we faced Dragons again, who were determined not to lose to us twice. They put us under intense pressure, and it took two more great saves from Grace to keep us in the game. With 2 minutes to go we broke away and showed some of our super passing again to slot home the winning goal from a few yards out. The crowd went wild, and a few minutes later we had those gold medals round our necks.
Big thank you's too all our wonderful supporters, and to Eliza’s dad for his excellent umpiring all day. Thank you also to Katie and James for making all this possible. Girls: you are all AMAZING. It was a team effort, and you did it for each other.
Team: Grace, Jemima, Holly, Rosie, Isla, Martha M, Martha R, Eliza, Hanna, Poppy
Coach: Libby leadbeater
The team have qualified for the England Hockey South Finals to be held Sunday 6 May at Surbiton. Best of luck in what will be another tough competition!
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