An unfortunate draw for the ladies 1's

Hertford ladies 1's travelled away to WGC on a windy and wet Saturday to play on a fairly waterlogged and very bouncy astro. Coach Nick Downer came to offer his support as well as injured forward Sian Foster who ran the subs from the sideline. It was a fairly even game from the start and both teams yo-yo'd up and down the pitch from attack to defence. There were some great breaks in the midfield from accurate and strong defensive hit outs and a number of shots on goal but none of which were converted. Hertford won a couple of short corners in the first half but the pitch was too bouncy for a stick stop and captain Molly Pallet couldn't get a decent shot off from the top of the D. Maddy Twyning made a number of fantastic runs up the pitch but balls into the D from herself, Helen Owen and Sophie Rawlinson were either missed or slightly too optimistic for the other Hertford players to reach. An attack and goal from WGC was rightly disallowed after it failed to touch the oppositions stick in the D despite loud protests from the pitch. It was 0-0 at half time and some observations from the sideline were passed off to the team to try and liven up the second half. Hertford started a lot stronger in the second half and had a number of great attacks within the first 5-6 minutes. Hearty efforts from forward Jen Heath earnt her a one on one with the keeper but it ended in a bundle on the floor and despite trying Owen just couldn't get the ball in the goal before the whistle blew. Hertford were denied any sort of advantage from the play which was fairly consistent throughout the game however it did not deter them. A repeat attack from Heath earnt Hertford a short corner and instead of playing the ball to the top of the D man of the match Maddy Twyning took it on the left and swept a blinder straight through the keepers legs into the backboard to give Hertford a deserved lead. Hertford tried to hold strong and some superb defending from the back four saw WGC fail to convert from all but one of their many short corners. Unfortunately for Hertford one high ball from a WGC striker led to defender Lottie Butler with her arm in a splint and another to a questionable goal as it bounded off Ella Mitham's box pad and dropped down to touch the backboard. Hertford battled in the last 5 minutes to try and make a heroic comeback but to no avail and with a performance that wasn't their best Hertford settled for a 1-1 draw at the end of the game.