Having dispatched Newent 2-0 in the previous round of the EH Women’s Trophy, Lewes Ladies 1’s made the slightly shorter trip to Teddington HC for another away match. Teddington are the oldest hockey club in the world, so have had longer to prepare for this match than the Lewes ladies.

With the Teddington Ladies 1’s team playing a league above Lewes, Coach Hugo Youngman and his team knew they would have their work cut out to gain the upper hand in this match. With a large home crowd watching and 3 intrepid Lewes supporters doing their best to drown them out, the Teddy bears looked like they meant business from the push-back.

Teddington put immediate pressure on the mid-field and earned an early short corner and a well-placed drag-flick put Teddington in to a 1-0 lead. More pressure followed and the Lewes defence, comprising Sarah Hall, Kerry Fitzpatrick, Carly Wise and Gabster Rudrum had to repel a number of strong Teddington attacks. In fact Lewes were having to fight extremely hard just to gain possession of the ball and were living off scraps. However, a great interception by Leigh Chivers in mid-field fed the ball forward where Anna Hilton’s predatory instincts finished off the move with a beautifully taken goal. 1-1 after 15 mins.

Stung by this equaliser, Teddington upped their work rate and won another short corner. Although, the short corner routine went wrong this time, they fed the ball back into the Lewes D and managed to slide the ball passed Carla Leach, in the Lewes goal. The match was pulsating to watch and the action went from one end to the other with both teams resolutely preventing any further goals and the first half finished with Teddington 2-1 up.

Whatever Hugo Youngman said to the team at half-time worked, because the Lewes Ladies started the second half like greyhounds following the hare. With Teddington pushing the ball high into the Lewes half from the re-start and trying to press Lewes into a mistake, Carly Wise cleverly released the ball to Emma Pavitt who linked up well with new player Emily Robinson and Lewes started to gain more control of the mid-field and it wasn’t long before the Lewes ladies equalised with a lovely finish from the unstoppable Kerry Fitzpatrick.

Lewes now looked the stronger team and it wasn’t long before they scored again through youngster Katinka Morris to put Lewes in the lead 3-2. The umpires started to get fairly animated at this point in the game and the slightest infraction seemed to result in flurry of green cards. Lewes lost 2 players to greens and Teddington also got a green with both sides also losing players to yellow cards late on. Teddington fought hard again to get the equalizer and after sustained pressure managed to slot another goal to leave the final score 3-3. Penalty-flicks beckoned and having lost out to Brighton Ladies 1’s a few weeks ago on P-Flicks, would Lewes be able to handle the pressure? Leigh Chivers stepped up and flicked the ball, which just slid under the Teddington keeper and crossed the line to put Lewes 1-0 up. Tedington levelled the score 1-1 with a well taken flick. Sarah Hall then stepped up and the Teddington keeper had no chance 2-1. Carla Leach then saved the next 3 Teddington flicks, whilst Marie Spence and Kerry Fitzpatrick calmly slotted their flicks in to the Teddington goal to seal a fantastic win which not only put them into the semi-final of the Trophy, but also proved that they can compete with teams from the league above, which will hopefully, stand them in good stead for next season’s promotion battle.

The reward for a great win is yet another away draw, this time against Harrogate on the 20th March. Thanks to the stoic Lewes supporters for making the trip and drowning out the Teddy Bear’s support and well done to the Lewes Ladies for a great win.

Team: Carla Leach (GK), Kerry Fitzpatrick, Sarah Hall, Laura Molloy, Carly Wise, Emily Spence, Marie Spence, Emily Robinson, Leigh Chivers, Emma Pavitt, Gabby Rudrum, Lisa Morrison, Katinka Morris, Anna Hilton. Coach: Hugo Youngman.

Report by Richard Rudrum with thanks.