Match Report: City Hit Heights Against Gloucester

Gloucester Lions vs Oxford City - 18.01.15

19-9 Win

 

An early start away to Gloucester meant lots of coffee and little sleep, but we arrived  in good spirits and high confidence after some excellent performances. On the back of a brilliant first half against Horfield, we wanted to make it happen for two.

 

Frank had given us orders to win, and the division of Gaz, Dave Ewing, Claire and Ruth started the match scoring a quick pair of goals every time they attacked. We got to three goals before Gloucester responded. They were overly focused on the feed so we kept control of the game and increased out lead to eight goals by half time. Best quote of a dominating first half was just after a City restart following a hard fought Gloucester goal.  One pass, one massive long shot from Gaz, one goal, and cue disbelieving comment from a Gloucester player, "Really??". Half time score 3-11

 

Second half Gloucester fought back and pulled back to within five goals. The memory of the second half against Horfield was still fresh in our minds and meant we were determined to keep control. In the remainder of the game our attacks ranged from multi shot epics to lightning fast straight in goals. Some nice side feeds, drop offs and shots from the side of the court increased our lead. We got tantalizingly close to scoring 20 goals (so many shots rolled around the rim!) but that target remains for another game. A convincing victory as ordered though, and a big step to securing regional league status next season! Full time: 9-19.

 

Scorers: Dave (5), Dan (4), Alice (2), Ruth (2), Claire (2), Gaz (2), Pete (1), Jo (1)

 

MVP: Incredibly difficult choice with so many great performances. Dave got his classic five goals; Ruth marked the nippiest girl I have ever seen; Dan used his speed brilliantly; Gaz stayed calm with a pushy opponent; Alice and Pete had some nifty teamwork on the post; but in the end Claire, with her switching, control on the post as well as two neat goals, is my player of the match.

 

- Match report by Jo

 

Match Report: City Slips To Draw Against Horfield

Oxford City vs Horfield - 10.01.15

17-17 Draw

Our first regional match post Christmas started with us going two goals down. After that, we woke up and started the fight back. Some lovely high long shots from Gaz, Ruth and Dave dropped perfectly; and the Alice and Dan partnership worked well to bring us into the lead. The only downside was that Becca had to come off after a shot led to a foot on foot landing, but Claire subbed on and gelled with the division immediately. 

By the end of the half we had a 12-5 lead and felt pretty pleased with ourselves. 

In the second half we let our lead evaporate. A number of penalties went against us, goals didn't drop, passes were missed and collects bounced away. Our exciting free passes confused us as much as the opposition and the scores leveled. We kept trying and Frank got us to mostly calm down our play. Pete used his pace to get us a runner and Claire controlled the post down the other end. Dan was incredibly dainty in his close marking and later one of the leapy Horifield boys jumped into a stationary Dan landing badly on his own ankle. 

In the final ten minutes we edged one goal up only to have Horfield score in the last three minutes making it a draw. A hard fought match and a close result reflects the two teams competing.

Scorers: Dave (5), Alice (3), Dan (3), Gaz (2), Pete (2), Becca (1), Ruth (1)

MVP: Dave, for his five goals and great all-round performance.

- Match report by Jo