A fantastic week of hockey

A super afternoon at Lingfield for the U11/10 A and B teams on Wednesday.  It was the first time the girls had all played together and the communication and teamwork on both pitches was fantastic.  Adopting a back three formation to test the strong Lingfield attack, proved to be the best option as Lingfield struggled to break into the D, and Caterham were quick on the counter, utilising the wings and broke through the Lingfield defence multiple times.  Caterham were unlucky not to convert a number of goal scoring chances, but finally a move initiated by Cora R at right back, set Ella W down the wing and a super cross into Johanna C to finish a well deserved team goal.  A strike by Ella W was goal bound but the ball lodged in the goalkeeper pads to set up a penalty corner with the strike just shaving the outside post.  A closing minutes strike from Lingfield was unfortunately deflected off a Caterham stick into the goal to bring the final score to a draw.  A fabulous game and whole team effort, with particular mention to the U10s, Tahlia G, Priya N and Cora R who stepped up into the team.  The B game was equally as thrilling, Caterham went down 0-1 in the first quarter but fought back in the second with a well-worked team goal, BB capitalised on her role at CF to ensure the ball finished in the back of the net.  Mila VH was a dominant presence throughout the middle of the pitch and super communication from the back by Isabella M at GK. Everyone played their part in the game, with Caterham retaining possession for the majority of the match. A few goal scoring chances missed, but lots to be proud of and things to work on for next time. 

A  group of U9s played in their first 7 a side team format at the Hawthorns tournament on Thursday afternoon.  An opening game against a strong Downsend team was end to end, with both teams tackling hard but neither able to find the goal. Strong defensive clearances from Caterham was the order of the day and the score line remained 0-0. Up next was Rowan Prep and the girls were slightly caught off guard by the constant switch of play from the opposition’s attack, a flurry of goals from Rowan, Caterham could not settle into their positions and ended up chasing their tails. After last week’s matches against Reigate, we knew they were going to be strong on the attack, but Caterham dug deep and were relentless in defense and had a couple of opportunities denied by an equally strong Reigate backline. Reigate sneaked a late finisher to take the game 0-1. Lastly, and with no break, Caterham faced Hawthorns and once again it was end to end, with Caterham denied a goal as it was a fraction outside the circle, Hawthorns again took a late goal and won 1-0.  A super effort by all and given Caterham only conceded one goal a piece to the top two finishers, it was a great experience.