Women's 2nd XI Vs Newquay 2s

Caradon and their travelling bus of supporters made the early trip down to Penzance for a full club day of hockey at the Cup and Plate Finals on Saturday. With Caradon 2s the first game up at 10am, the team were in high spirits but determined to bring home the silverware.

Caradon started well putting pressure on the Newquay defence, despite playing each other twice already in Trelawney 1 and Caradon winning both games, finals day is always a different feel and with the crew shouting and cheering from the bank they were unlucky not to get an early goal.

It was a normal line up but with some players suffering from injuries and recovering from illness, subs were used clinically to keep up the pace and push for that elusive first strike. The forward two of Katie Fear and Laura Hill were using quick passing and stick skills to dent the defensive line, with support from the midfield of Lauren Gouge, Natalie Ridgers, Carina Hodge, Helen Manley and Kirsty Merrin backing them up with quick responses and neat passing.

The hard work finally paid off when Laura Hill was right place, right time to slot home the goal Caradon had deserved, much to the delight of the team and the support.

The gears went up in the second half, both teams took a lot from the break and the refreshment stop put the game into another level with a more balanced end to end match. Neither team were ready to fold or give up, Caradon could have easily ‘parked the bus’ and just defended out their lead, but this is never really how Caradon play and they wanted to get another goal to get that buffer needed to relax a little.

Newquay were throwing everything at Caradon now, midfielders were tracking back and the backline who have been stellar this season – Rachael Spencer, Marcia Burgess, Captain Claire Brown, Nicole Harding with Neve Hunn infront and Lynn Oxenham between the sticks, strong saves were made and positive clearances pushed Caradon on.

With 5 minutes left on the clock and the impending penalty shuffles if Newquay were to score and end the game on a draw, they took their keeper off and swapped for an extra outfield player. Despite the added mind games of this decision, Caradon kept to their game plan and team structure almost getting that second goal with Hill again pouncing on a loose ball only to be gallantly saved off the line by a determined Newquay defender much to the relief of their team and support.

At last the final whistle blew and although it wasn’t the most pretty game of hockey Caradon had played this season, they got the job done and held on to their lead in a strong and confident manner topping off a fantastic couple of months of hockey. Welcoming the summer break, the team will be looking forward to the league return in September and a push for promotion as well as aiming to retain the Cornwall Plate for another year.