The U16 and U14 Hockey teams enjoyed a week of success, with convincing victories at county level. See below for the full match reports.
U16A
WON 5-2
Having not played much together this season the U16As put in a stellar performance away at Brighton, coming out 5-2 winners.
The first half saw a slow start, as the girls got into the rhythm of the game. However, after 10 minutes the deadlock was broken, as Farrah Stephens-Martin (M) broke down the right side to set up Anna Russell (R) for a close-range goal.
Epsom showed dominance but could not turn this pressure into goals and the first half ended 1-0 in favour of Epsom, thanks to an excellent save from Delphine Ayitey-Hammond (Rv) late on.
The second half really saw Epsom get into their stride. After winning a number of corners, Gina Liebenberg (Rv) duly slotted home two to increase the lead. Epsom pressed on and created some excellent open play opportunities, with Emily Long (R) setting up Juliette Walsh (R) for a far post deflection and some lovely play down the left side of the field from Anna Russell helped Liebenberg complete her hat-trick to give Epsom a 5-0 lead with 10 minutes left.
With the game dead and buried, Brighton were able to come back into the game with two late goals. However, it was too little, too late, and Epsom ran out 5-2 winners. The girls can move on the next round with confidence after playing some very good passing hockey.
Goal Scorers: Liebenberg (Rv) x3, Russell (R), Walsh (R)
Player of the Match: Gina Liebenberg (Rv)
U14A
vs Surbiton High – WON 2-0 (Stephens (R), Jarvis Sobey (Cr))
vs CLFS – WON 5-1 (Gould (Rv) x2, Burke (Rv) x2, Fryer (Rv))
Epsom set out on what is a long journey through the County competition, with a hard start against Surbiton High School. Surbiton started the brighter of the two teams and put Epsom under a lot of pressure. This was weathered through very good defending at the back from Izzy Benzie (R), Arabella Alderman (Wh), Darcie Walsh (R) and Bella Buck (R).
After finding their feet, Epsom showed that they could play some great passing hockey. A well-worked move starting from the left hand side of the field ended with Amelia Burke (Rv) laying a pass off to Ella Stephens (R) who duly finished the move with a great strike. A second goal would come quickly through Georgie Jarvis Sobey (Cr) with a close-range effort off a rebound and at half time it was 2-0 to Epsom. In the second half, Surbiton came out of the blocks fast and caused some real problems for the defence. This did not deter the team as they dug in to hold off the Surbiton attacks. The second half continued as a strong defensive display and the game finished 2-0 to Epsom.
With 3 points gained, the team moved on to play CLFS. The match was dominated by Epsom and they really showed how well they could attack. After creating many chances Epsom took a 3-1 lead into half time, with goals from India Gould (Rv), Amelia Burke and Yasi Fryer (Rv). The second half was much the same and Epsom pressed on with two more goals through Burke and Gould. Credit must got to the CLFS goalkeeper who made a string of saves to keep the score to only 5. The team now moves on to the County finals on the 14th November and the girls can really look forward to what should be a thorough test.
Player of the Day: Amelia Burke (Rv) – worked well for the team and created an important goal in the first game.
