Sean-Michael Campleman reports: "The women's 1s made a trip to Brom and Beck in an attempt to resurrect their season and try and finish strong in mid-table. After a strong squad was envisioned, it turned out that only 12 players would make it to Brom and Beck and the task became that much more difficult from the beginning.

The first half began extremely well with a lot of joy coming down the left hand side of the pitch with Orla blazing a thunderous strike over the top right hand corner of the goal and seemingly motivating the rest of the team to step it up and set in for an early goal. Brom and Beck weathered the initial storm and set about their ways of attempting to pick us apart. We held firm initially after a bit of pressure and unfortunately succumbed to a mistake in our half which was pounced on and they converted the chance.

The team seemed to get knocked by that goal as another one went in soon after. A Brom and Beck carry to the left hand baseline and a dangerous pass across the face of goal led to a player timing their lead back post in front of the defence to make it 2-0. To make things worse soon after, Brom and Beck converted a short corner which they mis-trapped at the top but somehow managed to get back to the left shoulder of the D and fired in a back stick into the far corner of the goal.

A reset at half time and a change in shape was needed as the team regrouped and sorted out to make a menace of themselves in the second half. After 10 minutes of settling in to the new press and formation, we looked better organised and more of a threat with an additional forward up top, Amy Smith powering up the right hand side of the pitch and winning a few PCs in the process.

It was an attacking PC that rewarded the rejuvenated Brighton players with Bara and Orla combining for a well-worked goal. A couple of minutes later, after a free flowing attack on the right, Brighton managed to get a shot away which was blocked and the ball landed at the feet of Dani at the top of the D and, with the goalkeeper still committed to the right, she powered home another goal to make it 3-2 with 10 minutes to play.

The final 10 minutes saw a lot of time wasted by Brom and Beck and the game slowing down whenever the opposition had the ball. Brighton managed a couple of chances but unfortunately it was a little too late and being 3-0 down at halftime would just be too much for the team to get back with only 12 players, as all were dead on their feet from moving up and down the pitch.

MoM - Orla.
DoD - Sean (being very late)."

Lewes 2s 1
BHHC 3s 1

Alex Smart reports: "For the closest away game we have it was quite an eventful trip for some. Google maps told me I’d arrived at the pitch as I pulled up alongside a field of cows. After much pre-match debate about whether we had to pay for parking at the Uni of Sussex, Diva called on ChatGPT for guidance.

This local derby is always a good game and both teams are in contention to serve another sentence in Division 1 West next season. I approached the game with a Good Cop style team talk, encouraging everyone to just play nice hockey (as the Dutch say). Jo went with a Bad Cop team talk to stress the importance of this must win game. I’m not sure anyone was listening to either of us as Tom Jones bellowed S*x Bomb out of the changing room speaker that couldn’t be turned off.

Apart from inspiring team talks (and taking Rich’s green cards), it’s important for the captain to build rapport with the umpires. When asked for my number in the pre-match captain and umpire chat, I said, “I thought you’d never ask”. He was possibly after my player number.

We started well with some immediate strong attacking opportunities. Jo made a welcome return from her travels – showing off her tan nicely at training earlier in the week with a strategic white fleece. She hadn’t lost her touch despite picking up coconuts rather than her hockey stick for three weeks and executed a perfect straight strike on a penalty corner to give us an early lead. Linking up well with her partner in crime, Shelley, we consistently put pressure on the Lewes back line. The pitch lines were slightly wiggly and the goals must have been a few inches too narrow as several shots were just slightly wide.

Izzy’s leads and pace in midfield really helped drive the ball up the right hand side, with Amanda hot on her heels for consistent support to keep possession. Sumi showed great skill in midfield to eliminate and move the ball on. The back line of Lizzy, Diva, Aisha, Zoe and Amanda consistently stepped to the ball to create a defensive wall and were patient transferring the ball, looking for Georgie and Gemma in screen to make crucial leads.

We knew we had to maintain the intensity in the second half to hold onto the lead. Lewes pushed higher on their press at 16s and their right forward successfully intercepted the ball several times. With an overload in the D following a good step, Emily had three players to contend with and they managed to get the ball into the goal and equalise. We made the same error a few more times but Emily made some great saves to keep any further threats out of the goal.

A draw felt like a fair result after a strong performance from both teams. Had the goals been wider, it might have been a win for us. We slip to joint fourth place with Middleton (who we face this weekend) and Mid Sussex. Just five points separate the top half of the table with three crucial games remaining.

DoD: It’s baffling how Jo had such a great game with her car key in her bra for the duration of the match. She actually struggled to remember where she had put it when we left."

Other results

Team Surrey Spartans 1s 0 BHHC 2s 2
BHHC 4s 1 Mid Sussex 1s 1
Crawley 1s 0 BHHC 5s 2
BHHC 6s 2 Lewes 4s 1
Hailsham 3s 1 BHHC 7s 5
South Downs 3s BHHC 8s