It was a late game - that annoyed us all, however we were all surprisingly on time and ready for a good game.

We started strong, but with not too much success, took us a good 20 minutes to get into our stride and find a good rhythm of play. Some excellent defending by our mighty defense however kept us in the game. Great distribution by the one and only Biba. Finding the forwards well and getting that ball in the D. Beddoes as ever powering up the right well, to keep forcing that ball in the right place. Well played midfield. We finish the first half 1-0 up. Not enough we need more.

2^nd half was all about Lucy May and Clare Byrne. They both had excellent games and it felt like they were everywhere. Excellent passes out the left, and driving forward to support the midfield. Josie M and Alanna doing super running and picking up the ball so well. The awesome Tash Barnes was back and it is always brilliant to watch you play so well, with what looks like such ease. The match was changed by one of the best goals of this year. Smacked from the left by Clare straight into the goal. AMAZING STUFF. The defense continued to keep it disciplined and defend the 2 goals the forwards had scored for us. Well played all round, great end to the year. Merry Christmas! LM

Josie, Kato, Muldoon, Lucy May, Alex, Clare, Biba, Rosie, Josie , Beddoes, Flick, Alanna , Tash

Scorers: Tash and Clare

Umpire: Mark Jones (massive huge thanks, and really well umpired)

On an unseasonably warm November Saturday, THD Ladies' 2s travelled away to play Cheam Ladies' 1s. This was a crucial game for us as we were third in the table with Cheam only one point behind. We had played Cheam several times before and knew that it was likely to be a difficult match against a well-drilled side.

Unfortunately, we started slowly and Cheam capitalised, scoring two goals in the first half from two well-executed short corners. They also had more chances in the first half but some good saves from Josie and some great defending from Alice prevented them from scoring any more.

Despite a stern half-time talk from our captain, we started the second half slowly again and Cheam were able to get around our defence to score a third time. After this, we finally started to play together and there was some good attacking play by Amy, Helen, Alan and Rosie and a goal by Beddoes. However, there was not much time left and we were unable to score any more in the time available. A disappointing result but hopefully some lessons learned.

A special mention goes to Amy and Jen for making their debut for the 2s (we hope you enjoyed playing for us despite the loss and despite Jen getting injured!)

Josie, Kate, Lucy, Claire, Alice, Lucy-May, Biba, Beddoes, Jen, Rosie, Amy, Helen, Alan

Biba decided before the game that she would like to score 2 goals
every week, but why wasn't Rowan in Croydon? We started well even
without our luckiest mascot. Some excellent pressure from the forwards
resulted in the award of a penalty flick just minutes into the game.
Up strode Kato with all the confidence of well, a very confident
person, but her flick was saved!! Continued pressure led to a short
corner, beautifully stopped by Lucy May and struck by Alex. Somehow
the oppo got a quick breakaway goal to equalise. The rest of the first
half saw some long range balls fed upfield to the tireless forwards
with sustained pressure in the Croydon D, but some awesome saves by
their keeper (and one of their defenders on the line) meant that at
half time it remained 1-1. We continued to work hard as a team,
passing well between us, but as the game went on it became
increasingly obvious that we were facing 13 . Decision after dreadful
decision went against us as the awful umpires ruined the flow of the
game. Since when has the rule been that is is OK to play the ball
deliberately off the back line as long as you are not near the goal?
Frustration rose until a pass from Alan to Rosie in space at the top
led to us going 2-1 up. That was as short lived as our first half lead
and we conceded a confused goal minutes later. We hung on until the
end to draw but it felt like we was robbed. We have officially
complained about their umpires. CB

Josie, Kato, Alex C, Lucy May, Alice K-B, Muldoon, Rosie, Biba, Beddoes, Flick, Alanna, Clare B

To keep this short. Rosie and Helen had some great moves up the right and Helen scored a cracking goal to start us off. This was followed by some awesome play by our mighty captain who closed the first half with a cracking goal from the top of D. 2^nd half Josie stormed the front line and got us to 3-0. Josie was excellent at CF, and a really great goal. Biba finished off the game with a superb short corner that was text book. Left hand corner, slightly raised, hit the back board - LOADS OF POWER! Bosh - Seems easy when we do the right thing, one wonders why, often we make it so difficult for ourselves. J Good game all round. LM

Josie, Clare B, Muldoon, Alice, Kato, Rosie, Biba, Beddoes, Josie, Helen M, Lucy May.

Supporters: Rowen Brown. Please come again.

Umpires: Lou and Hobbsy (Huge Thanks)

The 2s match this weekend was an eventful one. Due to a shortage of defenders (and players in general), Diane kindly stepped in to play for us, and Ellie came back from the forward line to play LB. Both demonstrated impressive commitment, but Ellie's chipped ankle has to win the prize. This injury left us with a side of 10, (plus one in bed hungover...) and after a courageous battle the final score was 4-0. Despite this we did manage some good attacking play, and were all impressed by some superb keeping from Josie.

AK-B

Josie, Alice, Muldoon, Diane, Ellie, Helen, Sarah, Biba (c), Alanna, Jozia, Rosie

A fantastic team performance and a big shout out to our 'stand-in' keeper - Emma, she even managed to save a particularly well deflected shot by none other than our very own centre back - Clare Byrne. Another fashionably (I think those were the words Biba used, it definitely began with 'f'?) late arrival by Alanna, but she made up for it. Pats on the back all round!