Free-scoring Valley notch first League win

"We were rubbish + very lucky" - Emily Peters (tvhc)

"We can't play worse than that" - Queenie (tvhc)

"We should have scored but we're better at scoring off the pitch" - University of London

Valley got off to a bad start when our umpire didn't turn up, but unfortunately the same could have been said for the rest of the team. We were hoping that the (much) younger UL students would be hung over but that seemingly wasn't the case. For the 1st quarter it was fairly balanced but after that UL had the edge and it remained that way for the rest of the game. UL won several short corners during the 1st half and had some good strikes on goal, but Linda was equal to them all and made some fantastic saves. Valley created a limited number of chances and short corner opportunities but were unable to capitalise on them. UL had the majority of possession and pressure and Valley were lucky to make it to half time goal-less.

The second half saw more good attacking play from UL but Valleys defence remained determined and Linda continued to keep UL from scoring. Jules made a crucial save on the line deflecting the ball onto the post and Emily R, Ness and Viv worked hard to keep UL at bay. Valley had a few half chances to steal the game, but never really troubled UL's goalie and as the game drew to an end Valley were holding out for the draw. UL had a shot form the edge of the D which just flew over the top bar, this was their last chance of getting a deserved goal but the game ended goal-less and we knicked a point. We are, however, looking forward to the return game as we have been promised Curry for teas, "Poppadoms, yes please?"

Queenie reckons we can't play worse than that but then he has only been coaching us for 1 season ........ It wasn't all bad news on Saturday, Kate will hopefully be back playing hockey next week and the Ladies 2's got a great result against Shirley Ladies.

Congratulations Queenie on passing the 1st phase of your coaching exam, proving you can coach us may be a bit trickier mind. Hannah and Emily P – good luck with the ops next week, and thanks to Garfy (for stepping in), Ali Mac and UL's umpire.

Man of the match: TBD

[Ed: Thanks to Dawn for the match report ]