Southend and Benfleet 1’s knew they would have an uphill battle ahead of them (literally, with Sweyne’s slanted pitch) against top of the league Southend. The team started strongly, with some fantastic attacking moves from Lily Cole, Naomi Barker and Ashlie Bolton rattling the Southend defence, who possibly thought they would have an easy ride! S&B stayed strong in defence as well, blocking many attacking moves and Player of the Match, goalkeeper Carmel Kenny, pulling off some incredible saves. It was S&B who broke the deadlock first, with the ball starting at right back with Leanne Neicho, linking passes with Caitlin Meredith, Chloe King and Lily Cole, who hit the ball across to the waiting Naomi Barker, who fired it past the keeper. Southend realised that this may not be the easy game they expected and responded quickly, with attack after attack being thwarted by the S&B defence of Neicho, Charley Edwards and Nina Dabbs. Eventually, Southend managed to break through and equalise, bringing the half time score to 1-1.

The second half started much the same as the first, with end to end play and some fantastic hockey on display from both teams. It was Southend who took the lead after 10 minutes, with a well worked short corner routine being slotted past the S&B defence. S&B remained confident though and knew they were playing well. Not long after, we earned a short corner of our own, with a well worked routine being slammed home by Naomi Barker, getting her second of the game. S&B knew they had a good chance of getting points from this game, with everybody on the pitch battling hard to intercept passes and control the game. Unfortunately, Southend skilfully scored a third and final goal in open play, bringing the final score to 3-2. A fantastic game of hockey from everyone on the pitch, with all players giving 100% effort, and the defence, led by superstar goalkeeper Carmel, keeping Southend at bay. No points gained from this one, but a strong performance giving confidence for next week’s crucial match against Romford.
Player of the Match: Carmel Kenny