PARWICH.ORG

Sent in by Nia, our roving sports reporter…

The ladies of Parwich have had two fantastic victories in the last two weeks.  The Leek league is made up of young fit women and girls but they are no match for the steely- eyed determination and the years of experience that we display.  Our first victims were Leek Hockey Club who had all the confidence of youth.  They watched us putting on knee supports, trying to hide post baby tummies and struggling to move with grace and energy and decided they were in for an easy victory.  However…….

Ruth and Jannette were on fire with the shooting.  Nothing seemed to miss regardless from where they shot.  Jan and Sandra were feeding the high balls in over the defenders’ heads and – with both shooters holding their position – well there was no stopping the score rate increasing.  The umpires were sometimes a little harsh on the hockey girls and we were awarded a number of free passes and penalties which were quickly converted to our advantage.

Wendy, Nia and Sarah had the game of all games in defence.  There was everything to play for as we took the lead and the opposition tried everything to get the ball into their shooters.  Interceptions were made, shooters were blocked out of the D, and contact was becoming an issue as every ball was chased down and fought for.

The hockey girls were obviously of an age where they couldn’t take the mental pressure and their heads went down and they imploded.  Parwich skipped to a very convincing victory of 10 -18 and yet again showed that looking the part doesn’t necessarily imply a skill level to match!

Last night saw a fantastic match against the Congleton ladies.  They are similar to us with an average age somewhere in the very late 30s and an equally happy go lucky attitude.  They were quick to take the advantage and had scored 4 times before we had blinked.  We were fast to catch on to the fact that Congleton GS never misses and that she was a real threat.  Sarah switched her tactics and block marked her out of the D and this allowed us to regain control.  Passes from the back line were slick and the ball was moved quickly up to our end.  Our usually successful high lobs into the shooters were not quite so effective due to the good Congleton defence so silly mistakes were made and possession lost.

Half time saw us 9-10 down.  A quick turn around and we dug deep, forced the errors from the opposition, took the interceptions and played for time.  We took the lead and just kept it with Congleton snapping at our heels. A really good effort from all the team and some spectacular shooting from our unflappable shooters saw us finish 20-18 as victors.

We are now 2nd or 3rd in the league with 3 more matches to play.  In our new kit and a matching yellow and black ball the opposition are beginning to think that we have a little sting in our tail…..