Ladies 1st XI v Crostyx 1

Hertford ladies 1's travelled to Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in icy cold conditions to play a very strong and very skilful Crostyx side. Due to heavy traffic Hertford arrived with minutes to spare only to find out they had to wait around for the oppositions umpire to finish a previous match before theirs could begin.

Despite a long warm up it was hard to stay focused in the icy wind and Hertford were not overly prepared when the starting whistle blew. The first half was mostly possession for Crostyx. They used the width of the pitch and the pace of their players to their advantage and ran Hertford ragged in midfield. They scored 2 goals in quick succession despite some excellent defending from the Hertford back line and went on to a score a third before the half time whistle went.

There were definitely some patches of great hockey from Hertford and some excellent runs up front from forwards Helen Owen and Jen Heath but the finishing just didn't happen and after the goals came from Crostyx, Hertford heads visibly dropped.

An encouraging half time talk from a Hertford supporter gave Hertford a bit of a buzz and they went back on in good spirits despite knowing they know had to some serious hurdles to tackle to get back in the game. Unfortunately for Hertford, Crostyx had already seen a win in the pipeline and weren't leaving anything to chance. The possession was much more even in the second half and although Crostyx managed to grab another 2 goals in the last 20 minutes Hertford defended their hearts out and kept the score at 5-0.

If it wasn't for the back line of Teresa Bartram, Catryn Langley, Hannah Brown and Nicky Estherby (who saved 3 goals off the line) and man of the match Lottie Butler who had a phenomenal game, Hertford were sure to have lost by many more than just 5. It was a disappointing result but there were also positives to take from the game and with their fantastic performance against Harpenden the week before Hertford remain confident for their next weeks fixture away against Colchester.