I was so happy to be back playing with the dream team after 2 weeks away and in that time the other half of the captain duo, Gabi, has seemed to worked wonders on the team!!! After last week's crazy 3-1 win over Priory, we were feeling pretty pumped which was great to see after a tough start to the season. As has been the case with many of our games this season, we knew this game would be hard, with Brighton and Hove 5s being a formidable opposition and them sitting top of the table after over taking priory last week. Our starting line up was a little different this week as many of our notable players were unavailable. This called for Goldie to step into the backline and Gabi to take control of the midfield as CM. We were blessed with the return of lovely Lou after a prolonged knee injured! Also, due to an absent Freya this week, this meant our goal keeper position was left empty. But thank the lord for Gubs who stepped in and to Carla in the 2s for the loan of the kit!!

It was a glorious start for the 3s, with some of the best hockey I have seen from us this season. The composer on the ball was outstanding, and we were passing the ball between us expertly, dribbling around Brighton players with ease. Goldie and Gabi commanded the centre of the pitch and delivered lovely balls out wide to Naomi and Jess so they could drive up the wing. There seemed to be a huge amount of space for us throughout the first half, and boy did we use it! Our forwards, Pippa and Rhi, were constantly making lovely runs in to receive balls and cause trouble for Brighton's defensive line. Abi, playing top of our midfield diamond, was also a constant issue for Brighton as she intercepted their passes and tired them out. We were very sad to see Lou go off after a dodgy fall on her knee - fingers crossed she'll be back in no time! Our goal (and the only goal of the match) came from a moment of excellence from Naomi as she glided up the field and across the D. Unfortunately she was not able to convert the finish herself, but with the help of Rhi, the ball was in the back of the goal! Great team work from the girls on that one - not a stolen goal according to Rhi ;)

Half time saw a confident team talk and some wise words from Tommo to stay calm and keep fighting! We were once again out hard and fast for this half, but we knew that Brighton were hungry for a goal so we needed to stay alert. After the departure of Lou, Gabi stepped back into our defence and showed a solid display of hockey when we needed her most! We continued to push up the pitch all half, with Isla continually driving up the left hand side and firing balls to Sof who was always making an effort to make perfect runs for the ball this game and even with a ball to the ribs, never stopped! As always from Isla, a brilliant performance - even getting a description of "imperious" from Claude on the sidelines (someone's being reading their thesaurus!!) Meanwhile on the right-hand side, Jess and Pippa were linking up beautifully. Even with tired legs, Jess never failed to stop running to help myself and Pippa! We had multiple very very close calls in this half, with shots from Pippa and Rhi just sliding past the posts. As suspected, Brighton also failed to quit, and after a first half of zero short corners, Brighton managed to gain a few in the last 15 minutes. However, some excellent defending from the defence and a couple of stunning saves from Gubs meant they had no luck getting a goal from us. It was a tense last few minutes, with a short corner as the final whistle was blown, but the final score ended 1-0 to us!!

This week's players player saw votes for nearly half the team! But ultimately the win went to the wonderful, Jess! A great performance this week, showing some beautiful skills and composer on the ball, as well as great determination!

What a solid performance from every single player on the pitch this weekend and I'm so proud of you all for not giving up after a difficult start to the season. Big thanks to Claude and Tommo for your support and help on the sidelines❤️