Pivotal decision is the turning point

In the second match of the double header weekend Bloxwich were the visitors in the last 16 of the England Hockey Vase. Now to put this tie into context Bloxwich are leaders of Staffordshire Div 1 having scored 46 goals conceded 6 and lost only once all season and are odds on to be playing Midland Hockey next season. Meanwhile Sils as we know have had an intermittent season although have been playing much better since the Christmas turnaround although a number of established stars were missing for this fixture it was good to be able to call upon the pool of talented youngsters to fill the gaps.

As expected Bloxwich started off fast and were camped in the Sils 25 for the majority of the opening minutes testing the team to the hilt. It was one of those days that was going to be rear guard action with a few goal attempts but Sils stood their ground and weren’t put off by the older adults opposing them. Jess Jecketts was in the thick of the action throughout marshalling the team around her blocking the direct assaults and encouraging everyone to keep it tight. The first main piece of action came on 10 minutes where Bloxwich forced a short corner and it seems that this is where the majority of their goals come from and a good routine was to their surprise booted well away from goal by Joanne Brett to start a Sils attack. But within a few minutes Bloxwich had regained control and a goal bound shot was stopped on the line by a defensive foot with a flick being awarded. All the pressure once again lay on Jo’s shoulders to see if she could come up with the goods once again. As the forward stepped up to take the hit all went quiet as the ball was forced past the post by Jo for yet another flick to be saved. This spurred Bloxwich on ever more and Brett was called on again a few minutes later to pad a fierce shot away. With time running out in the first half a Bloxwich attack resulted in another short corner which was admirably dealt with by the defensive team. As half time came Sils were satisfied with 0:0 but hoping for greater things in the second period.

The second half saw Sils start to ask a few problems of the Bloxwich defence as the young forwards were running them ragged at times although the shots were narrowly wide but at least an offence was in progress and Bloxich were required to keep players back to cover the dangers but found keeping up with Tamara Majevadia was proving to be a problem as she raced through on a number of occasions although the big keeper was able to deal with the eventual shots that came in. Whilst on the other side of the pitch Isabelle Thomas was picking up a number of free hits as Bloxwich tried to slow her down committing a number of fouls in the progress and her tenacity in pressing and defensive duties was getting better as the game progressed.

Ten minutes into the second period Jecketts intercepted a loose ball and strode forward before slipping the ball to Charlotte Harmer who was unfortunately crowded out before she could get any real venom on her shot. Great pressure was being exerted by Sils and Bloxwich were starting to wonder what they had come up against and their defenders were starting to get caught as Majevadia once again robbed a defender on the 25 and raced off getting a shot away that went narrowly wide. Sils were defending bravely all over the pitch and Sophie Price decided to add her head to the equation taking the ball to the head resulting in an enormous egg shaped bump that came up straight away (hope you’re feeling better Sophie). Just after mid-way through the second period came the turning point of the whole tie as a Bloxwich forward raced clear of the defence in an attempt to reach a through ball she was met with the full force of Jo Brett coming the other way the ball was kicked clear, but through the forward who landed in a crumpled heap clutching her wrist, the independent umpire decided to award a stroke rather than a short corner which was dispatched this time despite the valiant attempt by Jo.

Sils although disheartened got back to their game and Majevadia was soon once again rampaging down the line and advanced on goal but her shot from a narrow angle was cleared by the keeper. The game was developing into a pulsating end to end encounter and with Samantha Cooper pushed up front to help with the attack Bloxwich were allowed a little more lee way in the middle they manged to force another short corner following another attack but this was admirably dealt with through a combination of Jo Brett and Kate Huntington. With both teams tiring the killer blow came within 10 to go as a Bloxwich attack mounted a fierce shot came in and via a deflection high to the right of Brett into the roof of the net. There were no further scores and despite Sils best efforts they couldn’t quite get the goals they deserved. But one thing that they can take from the game is that they matched a very strong, structured side that had played together for a number of year and stood toe to toe with them and Bloxwich knew they had been in a tough encounter from the start. Additionally, whilst some of the more seasoned players were missing the youngsters stepped up to the plate and have certainly staked a claim to being regular members of the squad.

MoM: Jointly awarded on this occasion to Issie Thomas for an exhilarating performance, fine attacking display and proving to be a thorn in the side of Bloxwich all game and to Jess Jecketts for another solid performance at the bottom of the diamond thwarting all that Bloxwich could throw at them all game standing up to both the physical battle and pushing Sils on whenever she could and encouraging all round.

DoD: After keeping away from this award Kate Huntington managed to rack up two awards in two matches in consecutive days. Rested from her slumbers on a Sunday and in a rush to get ready for the match one didn’t manage to quite get dressed properly and suffered an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction during the game, bless.