Resurgence continues as Sils seal win

Sils entertained Coventry and North Warwickshire in their latest encounter and attacked from the start with good play down the flanks in an attempt to expose any early flaws in Coventry’s setup. This soon became apparent that Coventry were setup to defend and a line of white shirts packed the defence to block any advance. But Sils held the initiative and continuous pressure was slowly being applied inching forwards towards the D with shots hacked away and intercepted by the patrolling midfield which drew the defence before slipping to the waiting forwards to start the process again. On 12 minutes there was a frantic melee within the D which allowed Frankie Levey to push the ball over the line for the opening goal. For once Sils had their noses in front which allowed them to play some relaxed hockey passing across the field in an assured manner. With Jessica Jecketts anchoring the midfield Samantha Cooper and Ruth Dovey were allowed to push on and supplement the forwards who were already stretching the defence with their speed and tenacity. Georgina Dalby found herself in a more advance role this week and was able to add to the pace of the attack exposing the limitations of there opponents in trying to keep pace.

The Sils defence were having a slightly easier time than of late and were coping admirably with anything coming their way and scooping any loose balls up to feed the midfield to start the attacks rolling once again. With the luxury of 3 substitutes the players were fresh to ensure that the impetus was kept high and defending started with the forwards who continually pressed when required. With the pace of Sophia Cusack added to the front line inroads were being made down both flanks and on 30 minutes a great piece of anticipation by Cusack saw her sprint to the far post as yet another shot came flashing across the D for her to steer into the net to increase the lead and to take some of the anxiety out of the game.

The re-start saw Coventry come out and attack in force from the start and within the first minute had forced their first short corner of the game which was calmly dealt with by the defence. However, things didn’t stay the same for long as in the 43rd minute the defence manged to overrun the ball and then for some reason, known only to themselves, stopped as a complete unit whilst Coventry who couldn’t believe their luck swung the play across goal for a tap in at the far post. The next few minutes saw Sils revert to their old ways as panic was well and truly rampant with passes going astray and the ball being treated like a hot potato but Captain Cooper came to the rescue and calmly ensured things were brought back on track by fetching and carrying the ball into the attack until all around had calmed down and everyone started playing as they can again. As Coventry’s brief foray had been thwarted Sils retook the offensive position and with Sophie Price now settling into her more suited role of a forward the strike force continued to cause problems with the added advantage of Ruth Dovey’s hard running through the middle when needed. For some inexcusable reason, other than to provide an advantage, the opposition umpire decided to card Jeccketts although this didn’t seem to cause to much disruption as the team closed ranks and covered her loss well. As the game developed into the latter stages Sils were forcing a string of short corners and although coming close on several occasions were unable to convert the chances into goals. The tenacity of the team was high throughout and was expertly executed by Molly Sullivan as she raced back to take the ball from a Coventry forward and was merrily on her way before the forward even realised she had lost the ball. With time running out Kate Huntington, in an adept show of skill, intercepted a loose ball and charged forward brushing off the challenges of the opposition until she was eventually stopped at the 25. As the final whistle blew Sils had deservedly took all the points and should take pride in a good all round team performance, chances were created throughout the game and the goal tally could easily have been more.

MoD: Georgina Dalby, another accomplished performance in a more forward position and unlucky not to score.

DoD: Back to the normal routine with our little treasure Naomi back to her best and scoops the award for practicing her gymnastic skills by doing the splits during the game, bless.