For the first time this season the U14Bs boarded the coach for an away fixture at Rugby school. The girls were organised, on time and showed every sign that this was going to be a difficult afternoon for Rugby.

However when the match started, the Stowe girls suddenly looked timid. Gone was the purposeful movement forward which had marked our excellent wins over the A teams from St Edwards and Royal Latin school. Yes, Rugby showed some signs of composure on their home pitch, and it was always going to be a difficult assignment. But our hesitancy and lack of confidence opened the door for the Rugby team to get a shot on goal with too much space. An unfortunate deflection of a Stowe stick saw our opponents go 1-0 up.

But as the girls began to settle, so we gained the momentum. Katie looked dangerous every time she got it, launching us forward, with Whistley working hard and tackling tenaciously. Sofia and Emily were brilliant all match, with good talk and control of the defensive line. Sofia was also willing to put her body on the line when needed to save us on the last line. Taryn was also excellent in goal, saving anything and everything the Rugby players sent her way (remember, their only goal came off an unfortunate deflection from a Stowe stick!). Despite having a couple of 1 on 1 with the goalie chances, and a few go agonisingly close to the goals, the final whistle blew and we were left wondering what might have been.

Though disappointing that our lack of confidence at the start cost us, the girls tried hard all match. We will learn valuable lessons from our first away fixture, and look forward to the big match against Bromsgrove next Saturday.

Rev Righetti