A measly 1 point for the ladies 1's

Herford ladies 1's travelled away to play Basildon in the first game of the New year on what was a wet and miserable Saturday afternoon. After a rather rushed warm up Hertford won the coin toss and chose first push back to try and give themselves an early advantage. A strong ball out wide gave Hertford an early break up the left but Basildon were quick to close us down and there no scoring opportunities on either side for quite some time. There were some patches of great play particularly when Hertford used their pace however the game was generally quite slow and sluggish and both sides were good at giving the ball away. Hertfords defence of Lotte Butler, Hannah Brown, Teresa Bartram and Nicky Estherby were as strong as ever and despite some breaks by Basildon in midfield there was very little work for keeper Olivia Veoden to do in the first half. Captain Pallett won a short corner from a left wing run but despite a strong injection from midfield Sophie Rawlinson, Pallett put it the wrong side of Helen Owen on the post and the score remained level. Hertford eventually took the lead towards the end of the first half with a strong ball from Rawlinson to forward Jen Heath near the top of the D. A cheeky spin by Heath lost her defender for a brief second giving her chance to slot the ball neatly into the left hand corner and it remained with Hertford leading for the rest of the half.
Hertford started strong in the second half taking possession from Basildon almost straight from the whistle and had a couple of great runs through the midfield using the wide midfielders Clare Hawes and Maddy Twyning; however despite attempts in the D Basildons keeper remained strong and Hertford failed to score another. The defence had more work to do in the second half and Hannah Brown and man of the match Lotte Butler both had superb games running and clearing balls up the wing relentlessly. The second half was definitely both more physical and more frantic particularly on the oppositions side but it paid off for them during a short corner when a slip right gave their player a clear shot on goal and Basildon equalised to make it 1-1. Hertford fought hard for a second goal for the remainder of the match but as much as Hertford wanted to win, Basildon didn't want to let us and it ended with measly 1 point for Hertford. A slightly frustrating draw yet not a loss and almost an expected lethargic first game back after the holiday festivities.