Wellingborough VS OUNDLE LADIES 1ST

​Well hello again avid readers... Oundle ladies 1st team met Wellingborough on the AstroTurf today as the season continues to pick up pace. 

Oundle were ready to pick themselves up from last week, bandage the wounds quite literally and put their best stick forward. 

We got off to a flying start and made our presence known with a lot of effort around the attacking D. Wellingborough defended in force making themselves a difficult wall to break through. A big thank you to Victoria and Emily Ferguson, a mother-daughter power duo who stepped up for the first team this week and demonstrated some excellent attacking play.  Emma Aubury had a strong game as always making some superb runs, long balls and interceptions for the defence. 

It’s fair to say it was a frustrating game for Oundle this week... The seemingly excessive use of the umpires whistle resembled a 90s rave at times! Every minor foul by Oundle (including some fictitious ones) were spotted a mile off but that eagle-eyed umpiring didn’t always apply to our opposition.  This resulted in a disputed short corner being awarded to Wellingborough in the first half from which they scored meaning the score at half time was 1-0 to Wellingborough. 

This spurred us on however and quickly in the second half Sophie Rookes scored for Oundle!! Wellingborough are a skilled, ambitious team and Oundle pride themselves on not getting riled during the game but it was a tall ask today. Wellingborough scored again in the second half after a clear foul.  This was widely contested by both teams and after a brief exchange between umpires this second goal was disallowed. The final minutes of the game were a battle of wills for both teams but the score remained 1-1 at the final whistle. 

Karen Whatley-Darrington deserves a mention this week for a number of epic saves on the goal line as well as fairly challenging the umpires on behalf of the team. Player of the match went to Sophie Rookes for her undeniable skill and being our goal scorer today!