U16 Girls dominant in Harrogate

On a cold and foggy morning the Driffield U16 girls travelled across to Harrogate for their first away match of the season. Having been beaten by Hull in their previous fixture the girls had a point to prove and confidence was high. A flurry of attacks in the first 5 minutes of the game put the pressure on a Harrogate defence but alas, the Harrogate goalkeeper kept a series of shots out. The whole team moved as one, but the next few minutes continued in the same vain. But then, after a flurry of passes in the mid-field, Amber Scott found herself on the edge of the D - ably beating a defender and the keeper to slot the ball home to the jubilant celebrations of the crowd.

The first quarter continued with great attacking play, but the Harrogate defence held true – shots unfortunately flying wide and many blocked by either the central defence or the goalkeeper. Three unfortunate short corners finished the first quarter in which Harrogate only had the ball in the Driffield half three times and the Driffield goalkeeper, Ellie Pick had taken to snoozing against her goal post.

The second quarter was where Driffield really turned the screw- fantastic positioning from the wings Hannah Percival and Briagh Lawrie meant that the pass outside was very effective. Excellent vision from Amber Scott and Emily Collinge in the mid-field led to many daring and successful runs with the ball up the wings – the clever play leading to finding many Harrogate feet in the D. Short corner after short corner were taken but the hard-hitting shots from Lucy Russell were either saved by the keeper or slipped slightly wide.

Driffield’s frustrations were relieved however when a cracking set of triangular passes from the half-way line between Amber, Emily and Eleanor Taylor found Bella Thompson who calmly slotted the ball home halfway through the second quarter. It was at this point that Harrogate came on the attack and probed Driffield’s D for the first time of the match – however their intent was matched with the strong-tackling of Lucy Russell and Erin Wilson. Tabitha Speight was in space, received the ball and passed it up the wing to the screaming Briagh. In characteristic style, Briagh sped round the outside of the Harrogate left back before turning up the baseline and into the D to find a Harrogate foot. In a moment of genius, Amber’s injection to Lucy was sent hurtling back to her as she charged in, and a first-time slap from Amber was rewarded with the resounding sound of the goals back board.

Half-time came and Driffield were 3-0 up. A very able reward for the excellent, free-flowing, and mature hockey that they played. The team talk was slightly marred however by one of the umpires’ warnings of a card for the next Driffield player who infringes on free hits and a reminder of the 5-yard rule was given.

Jubilant however, Driffield lined up for the second half and continued with the same offensive pace that was a big factor in the first half’s success. Open-play on the left hand side of the pitch between Hannah, Emily and Evie Starrett led to a shot that (unfortunately) whistled past the back post. A strong-press on the Harrogate 16’s led to a lot of interceptions by all involved and a flurry of unsuccessful attacks kept Harrogate on the back foot. However it is here that teams can be dangerous – a Harrogate dribble (in clearance) down the right hand side of the pitch led to a cross goal cross that was unfortunately tapped into the Driffield goal … 3-1 the score.

A slightly stung Driffield responded though in an instant, a ball launched out of the defence by Lucy found Briagh on the right wing … the cross went in and found the awaiting Evie who slotted it past the Harrogate goalkeeper. As Driffield celebrated, Harrogate were left scratching their heads at how quickly the overload had developed. Harrogate desperately fought back towards the end of the 3rd quarter, but the crunching tackles from Tabi, Lucy and Erin nipped any attack in the bud before they developed further.

The final quarter was an all Driffield show, Ellie remained untroubled in the Driffield goal, and the half was characterised by a string of Harrogate 16’s as a series of Driffield attacks narrowly missed the goal – the Driffield spectators becoming more animated with every attack. A period of excellent long-range distribution from centre-back Lucy found Hannah and Briagh on the wings, and short triangular passing play in the mid-field by Amber, Emily and Eleanor constantly led to Bella and Evie finding the feet of the Harrogate defence. With only a few minutes left on the clock Lucy stepped up the top of the D and with a formidable upright hit found the bottom right corner of the goal.

Congratulations to all the Driffield girls on a very well-deserved, team victory. Considering the excellent team performance that was played out on the pitch it is hard to select a player of the match – there were so many passages of excellent play, and everybody was outstanding. That being said, I would like to award player of the match to Lucy Russell for excellent vision in distribution, positional play in both defence and offence and for the upright hits at short corners.

Thank you also for the vocal support from the travelling parents and spectators for supporting the girls and for travelling to Harrogate on a cold and biting Sunday.