Ladies 1st XI Vs Ashmoor

Okehampton 1st - 8

Ashmoor - 2

Okehampton were struggling for players and energy on Saturday when they arrived at the pitch to take on Ashmoor. With injuries and viruses, it looked like it could be a difficult 70 minutes of hockey. However, a thorough warm up and inspiring team talk from captain Sophie Whitely, ensured everyone was pumped and ready come the start of the match. Ashmoor applied some early pressure, but it wasn’t long before Okehampton's determination to attack had earned themselves a short corner.  Sophie followed up her team talk with a fantastic rebound shot. It could have been easy for a slightly ailing team to take the pressure off Ashmoor, but instead they followed up with a quick succession of goals from Kim Davey and Nicky Strawbridge.  Ashmoor, were able to capitalise on a couple of short corners before half time taking the score to 3 -2.

It was after half time that Okehampton really got hold of the game. Ellie Jenkins transferred the ball from the defence to the midfield using the width to great affect. Hannah Whitely made it difficult for the Ashmoor attack, by repeatedly getting in front of their players and consistently making great tackles.  The sustained pressure within the Ashmoor half saw a further two goals from Lesley Bingham, one goal from Kim and another one from Emily Rowlands, who was quick to pounce on the ball in the circle. The final goal came from Nicky Strawbridge, with the result ending 8 – 2 to Okehampton. It was a great team effort and the man of the match was shared between Ellie J and Hannah Whitely for their fabulous attacking defence.

Next week Okehampton 1st travel to Totnes to face Dart who are second in the league 8 points behind Okehampton.