Ladies 1's vs Waltham Forest

No chance of a comeback victory

Hertford ladies 1's suffered a 3-1 defeat to Waltham Forest on Saturday maintaining their bottom half position in the league table with only 6 games left to play.

Captain Molly Pallett and forward Sian Foster returned to the side this week with only defender Hannah brown unable to play from the 1's squad. Hertford were hopeful for victory following two previous wins against the visitors but having seen the stats prior to the game knew they had some serious work to do to make it happen.

Forest took first push back on winning the toss and were quick to take and maintain possession using some neat set play in midfield to run triangles down the right side and attack towards the D. A short corner was won by Forest fairly early on in the first half but was saved tremendously off the line by centre back Nicky Estherby. Hertford got one in return shortly after; however a high ball from Pallett towards the goal was saved by the keeper and would have been disallowed anyway for not hitting the backboard.

Forest made a deserved breakthrough half way through the first half and took the lead despite some excellent movement from keeper Mitham in goal. Following the goal Hertford came back with a vengeance and spent most of the remainder of the first half attacking with some excellent ball work in midfield and toward goal but failing to gain anything from it. It was whilst Hertford were in a run of attacks that Forest made a rapid break and Hertford were caught short in defence. A sneaky pass from a 2 v 1 to a player on the back post with only Estherby in the D gave her no chance and the ball was placed neatly in to the back left corner before Mitham had chance to move.

Despite being 2-0 down Hertford continued to battle for the rest of the first half and the goal came after a fantastic ball from midfielder Sophie Rawlinson to forward Jen Heath on the attack. A slip right to Owen in the D saw the keeper come out and although the initial shot was saved by her it was a defender left to guard the line for the rebound. It may not have been the prettiest of goals but after a scrap almost on the line a lifted ball from Owen found the back of net and it was all to play for at half time with the score 2-1.

Unfortunately for Hertford, Forest came out fighting in the second half with elbows and shoulders to go with it. A feisty 35 minutes of yo-yo hockey saw a number of opportunities on both sides but where Hertford failed to capitalise from their chances, Forest bagged themselves a third goal with about 15 minutes left to play and it was their victory when the final whistle blew.

Despite the loss special mention must go to a number of players for their performances on the pitch. Joint mans of the match Jen Heath for her fantastic forward runs and endless energy and Catryn Langley for some superb defending and midfielding! To Lotte Butler for her amazing aerials and to Nicky Estherby for her ridiculous save off the line. Hertford were undoubtedly disappointed with the result of the game but go forward with enthusiasm to make progress up the table as the league draws to a close.