Cambridge City 8 Chelmsford II 2

NE14Hockey East

Premier Division

Cambridge City 8

Chelmsford II 2

AFTER last week's disappointing draw, Chelmsford were lying fourth in the league and knew that Cambridge City, currently the league leaders, would be a tough away draw.

Chelmsford moved the ball round well in the first 10 minutes with some good short passing, utilising Lisa Crane in centre-midfield. It was, however, Cambridge that opened the scoring with a controversial goal, with the City forward dangerously playing the ball down in front of goal before slipping it between the posts. The home team continued to press forward and an impressive reverse stick shot made the score 2-0.

The greens battled on and Ally Farrar was quick to react to a poor ball round the back by Cambridge, winning a short corner. Karen Cooper struck the ball from the top of the D pulling the score back to 2-1.

Cambridge then started to play some excellent hockey, moving the ball round the pitch at pace. They drove into the D, but the City attacker kicked the ball twice before beating Chelsey Claridge in goal. Strong appeals were made, but frustratingly the umpire had somehow missed the foul, and gave Cambridge a gift of a 3-1 lead at a crucial stage in the game.

From this point on Chelmsford faced an up hill battle but continued to work hard to try to close the gap. Louisa Smith, making her debut for the second XI, was strong in midfield and played some good balls through to the forwards. However, City broke quickly and scored again, to make the half-time score 4-1.

After a tactical team talk from player-coach Kathryn Macdonald, Chelmsford took to the field with a positive attitude. The defence again found Crane in space in midfield, who played in Smith to allow the away team to attack down the right but Cambridge had an organised defence, which Chelmsford found hard to penetrate.

Cambridge continued to play well as a unit, and converted two goals in fairly quick succession. Chelmsford refused to give up the chase and Macdonald, working hard in defence, won the ball and picked out Judith Duffin up front with a accurate long pass. Duffin used her pace to beat a defender, then release the ball to Farrar who scored a superb goal with a well taken reverse stick shot.

However, it was not long before the home team again extended their lead using their stick skills, speed and teamwork to score two more goals before the final whistle.