Ladies 1's vs Colchester

Hertford ladies 1's (with a number of 2's players) travelled away to Colchester on Saturday with forward Sian Foster also returning from injury. Hertfords warm up was slick and a winning coin toss meant first push back was theirs. Hertford held possession well in the first 20 minutes of the game and looked to be the stronger team using the width of the pitch well and creating plenty of chances up front. A well worked ball through the midfield found forward Jen Heath on the right wing and a baseline run and cross into the D landed straight on forward Sian Fosters stick who took no time to slot it into the back of the net and give Hertford a well deserved lead. It was perhaps a spot of complacency following the goal which gave Colchester a chance to return fire and much to Hertfords annoyance Colchester managed to claw one back taking it to 1-1 at half time. Colchester came out strong in the second half as Hertford expected and had a run of attacks and short corners all of which were cleared superbly by the back line of Charlie Mills, Laura Sharman, Nicky Estherby and Catryn Langley. Hertford had a couple of great breaks and won a short corner but despite a cracking strike from Foster the ball went wide of the left post and Pallett couldn't quite get her stick to it in time. Colchester took the lead in the second half and instead of Hertford dropping their heads it was the kick they needed to try and turn the game around. Hertford battled relentlessly against a team who thought they had already won and umpires who might as well have been playing. Colchester were given two unjustified short corners in the second half and both strikes were stopped fantastically just short of the line, once by Estherby and once by Sharman on each post. Lotte Butler and Catryn Langley were superb in instigating a wave of attacks against Colchester and some neat play from Foster in the D saw her slip the ball across the keeper into the right hand corner of the goal where Heath was waiting just to make sure it didn't miss. It was not only a huge relief for Hertford to equalise but was also thoroughly deserved and despite it being a disappointment not to win, given the circumstances Hertford left content with a draw. Man of the match deservedly went to defender Laura Sharman for her fantastic work throughout the whole game.