Despite having to battle through biblical rain and flooded plains we arrived more on time than in previous weeks, completed a Jo Fisher led warm up, had time for drills and hear our Captains’ plan, so things were looking good .

The 4s started strongly, surprising the opposition with a neat ball threaded through by Kate H to Maddie, who calmly executed a sweet tap-in. So, 1:0 up after only a few minutes and thoughts were swirling of another 5, or even 6 niller…..things did go that way, but regrettably rather more in Potters Bar’s direction than ours after that initial high.

There can be no denying the final 6:1 defeat was painful. Due to disruption in a previous game, our drafted in goalie ‘2 games’ Issy didn’t arrive till half time. She kitted up and strode out bravely despite never having played keeper before. Despite the obvious advantage of actually having a goalie, things seemed to go a bit awry for Berko after half time. It seems Potters Bar changed their formation which muddled us somewhat, leading to 2 early goals for them right at the start of the 2nd half .

Outstanding performances in defence were evident despite the score line, with the majority of the POM nominations going to defensive players. Kate Bradley won POM this week for decisive, strong tackles and consistent clearances; I suspect no one will be happy to let her ‘just play occasionally’ after that performance. Jo, Evie and Claire were also extremely active in the second half, all putting in solid strong performances.

Other positives were some great periods of play from our U18s, with significant improvements evident throughout . Annabel Krafft was nominated for POM for being generally everywhere, demonstrating real confidence on the ball and many great interceptions. Sophie le Gassick also received nominations for some tremendous runs and powerful play in midfield. Great positioning from Maddie in the first half led to her goal and Natasha also showed strength and speed in ball carrying on the LW.

Annabel P worked hard the entire match covering a huge amount of ground pushing forward and recovering swiftly to track back to assist in defence. Lillian had the best chances to level-up the score, breaking through on a number of occasions only to be denied by the keeper, her comment on that was…. ‘oh yes, that was annoying’

Personally, I think Andy Thorne also needs a shout out for a most impressive level of background support for the L4s, driving around the countryside from early morning, taking daughter to matches x2 with additional unscheduled mileage to collect forgotten items including the Goalie kit from a surprise location and then proceeding to drag it pitch-side & back, up and down multiple flights of steps . A hearty thanks from all of us.

Despite the result, our return journeys were bathed in sunshine which is surely an auspicious sign for wins in November after a half term break.