Ladies 1s
Ladies 2s
Ladies 3s
Ladies 4s and 5s
Ladies 6s
This season summary is being written across the 6s and 7s showing what a season we have had.
There are 42 names listed in the “main squad spreadsheet” and of these 11 moved up into higher teams as Captains looked to stabilize selection both in the first quarter and then even as late as January.
The resignation of 2 players allocated to the 6s by the October break, citing team instability perhaps paints the picture. The challenge was how to use a “constant” of maybe 25 players to get 2 teams out each week. As a consequence 18 “guests” supported the teams at various points, for which we are very grateful. There were one off appearances from Karen Jones, Hannah Witchalls, Lois Wright and even a 10 minute cameo from Rachel Armitage, helping address a 12.30pm start for Hockerill students! Lisa Woodrow, Amy Stiles, Ali Bassett and Vivienne Saunders all helped out the 6s on 4 occasions and Kim Foster (4) and Marni Cochrane (2) made appearances for the 7s.
The 6s had the experience of 6 different keepers over the season with Linda Rowley proving a great help in the first half of the season and Izzy Jones coming to the fore after Christmas when school Saturday commitments calmed down. Stalwart Lis Foote kept for the 7s making 20 appearances, with Elsie Lowe and Lianne Warnell covering a match each.
It was great to see new players coming through with Sophie Cowell (12 games, and 5 for the 7s), Mimi Berney (10) and Christie Ansell (9) making regular appearances for the 6s as well as turning out for the 7s when their availability or our selection deemed it necessary. Nula Boston was moved up from the 7s after only 3 matches and made 18 appearances in defence for the 6s, making her the most regular player, along with Sarah Alderson (18). Karen Leach made 17 appearances and Charlie Woodrow 16 for the 6s and 1 for the 7s.
Despite the challenges of Saturday school Lexi Baird turned out 12 times and managed 4 for the 7s as well, whilst Sarah Tough who started the season unsure if she could balance playing and studying got 9 games in (and 4 for the 7s), whilst Mel Dummet balanced 3 children and a playing husband to get 20 games (12+8) in as well as some umpiring. Marie Surujabally combined work with matches and managed 11 and 2 for the 7s.
Savannah Taylor (9), Marth Trist (9) and Charlotte Turner (6) who all spent some time with the ladies 5s were pivotal players for the ladies 6s at the start and end of the season.
Player of the season, Millie Barrett, who joined form Broxbourne, managed 14 matches (and 1 for the 7s) despite shift work as a physiotherapist. She was a regular at training and showed the importance of this by being able to marshall a 7s team that she had never played with, from the back, as if she did it every week.
The final outcome for the 6s awaits the final jockeying in the South East region (where they play having jumped across regions to even out the numbers in 2021 when the region was restructured). Finishing in 9th place on 17 points with a -46 goal difference the team should stay in 3SE unless the vagaries of teams coming down from 1S means 3 teams have to move down.
Ladies 7s
Over with the ladies 7s in division 5SW selection was just as hard. We were grateful when Libby Hodges turned 13 early in the season and she became a great addition at defensive mid in 12 matches.
3 new players joined the squad around Christmas, Harriet Turner (9), Sophia Vasey (7) and Lottie Wier (4) giving some much needed additional resource and all are junior players to watch for in the future. Holly Haslam (3) brought her pro golfer skills to the fore up front in a few late games.
Katie Pinckney made 6 appearances, coming up from the 8’s regularly and Harkierat Gill made a great debut from the 8s in the penultimate game. A core group of players gave stability to the team through the season: Captain Naomi Holloway made all matches (and one slip match for the 6s), Nyla Smith made 19 7s appearances alongside 3 6s games. Sally Lowe got comfortable at right back playing 18 matches, not missing a game once called up from the 8s.
Chloe Allmark (17+1) and Megan Laws (16) kept the left side a challenging part of the pitch for oppositions and Kim Durbin, lately called up to the England Over 70s team, played 13 matches for the 7s along with 4 for the 6s and a couple for the 5s. Gemma Jarmain was flexible to help out making playing ladies 7s (9), ladies 6s (4) and when childcare dictated also some ladies 8s. Whilst Ange Durnin left it into the second half of the season to take a spot at centre back we felt her presence for those 6 games and Emma Cox who struggled with injury most of the season was a prolific scorer – 20 goals in 8 games (2 of which were in defence!). That’s an average of over 3 a match when attacking.
Emily Wood (10 +3) ultimately ended the season with the ladies 5s and Lianne Warnell (10 + 1), playing outfield for the season, took a similar path to the 5s.
Having found ourselves in the relegation zone in January following 5 games without a win the addition of the new regulars helped the team climb up the table to finish in 7th on 26 points with a positive goal difference of 8 goals. Chloe Allmark was crowned Player of the Season for her creation of attacking opportunities and general tenacity on the left.
Others who contributed to the teams were Beth Metson (7) who got injured at Christmas, Freya Rantell (7) and Jemima Tasker (5) who both moved on to the 5s (7), and Mary Sanders (4).
It was tough going at times this season but I think we ended on a positive note with new hockey friendships formed and new players settling into making Saturday “Match Day”.
Ladies 8s
Ladies 9s and 10s
