National Championships Tier 2 Cup - U18 Girls v Maidenhead

The Cheltenham U18Gs travelled to Maidenhead for the third round of the Tier 2 National Cup, a team we had not previously played in any competition and knew little about. An evenly fought first half saw Maidenhead dominate much of the possession but resolute defence with excellent goalkeeping kept them at bay. It was Cheltenham who opened the scoring with a well taken Penalty Stroke following an excellent attack. Cheltenham scored again to go two up with Maidenhead clawing one back in open play, mid-way through the first half. A further goal from Cheltenham deep into the first half put us 2 ahead but Maidenhead struck back with a penalty corner to make it 3-2 going into the break. Our scorers were Connie, Lorna and Freya.

The second half was again evenly balanced with many chances for both teams. However, it was Maidenhead who scored again to make it 3-3 mid-way through the half. The half played out leaving the sides deadlocked at 3-3. Penalty shuffles were taken to decide the eventual winner and Maidenhead ran out winners 4-3. Overall, an excellent match with both teams playing some wonderful attacking hockey testing both defences to the maximum. At the conclusion of the game, it transpired that Maidenhead were the Tier 2 National Cup winners last year, so no disgrace in losing out having given them a tough afternoon on the astro. They commented that we had been the best team that they had played in the last 2 seasons.