In out, in out, shake it all about!

With player availability a little skew whiff again, Yateley managed to field a full side. The sun was shining, the temperature was hot, and I think we all questioned whether it was the start of October or not!

Yateley started off with some good passing hockey. Direct fast paced balls enabled the Yateley midfield to take the game to Havant. It was great to have Chrissie Collins back with us teaming up with Helen Craston on the left side. A few aerial passes enabled Helen to weave her magicto pass a couple of defenders and attack the left side.

A foot foul by Yateley saw a quick free hit taken by Havant who managed to attack the Yateley defence. A couple of hard tackles from Laura and Tiddles show that Yateley meant business. A quick free hit from Laura released Clare to tap the ball onto Helen who fed a through ball to Mel who saw the ball home.

Yateley had a couple of short corners, which were matched by the Havant keeper, goal line clearance and a bloomin’ post. Within 6 minutes of scoring, a quick break through the centre saw a free ball reach the Havant centre forward who carried the ball and slotted it into the path of the oncoming half who tapped in from top of the D. 1-1.

Yateley found another gear and Scarlett teamed up with Welshy down the right side and passed the ball across the goal to find a connection with Chrissie Collins stick which saw the ball hit the post dead centre. Chrissie that post is still rattling. It was a bit of end to end few minutes with Carole and Nat making some super tackles and Mel and Scarlett being denied by the keeper.

Havant had a couple of short corners before half time, but Frankie wasn’t having any of it, and some solid defending saw the teams stuck at 1-1 at half time. It was hot and running with the ball wasn’t an option, so the start of the second half needed to be more controlled and contain some direct passing.

Havant came out hard, chucking an extra man up front but Yateley held strong. Some excellent running from Nat and Mel on short corners saw the Havant attack closed down quickly. A quick break from Clare and Helen released Welshy and Scarlett upfront and a simple tap in from Clare made it 2-1 to the home side.

Holding on wasn’t an option and with both teams with 11 players it was survival of the fittest.... Frankie or Laura looked at each other and realised they didn’t qualify!!!!

Some quick intelligent balls and some well worked free hits enabled a direct ball from Welshy to flow through into the Havant half. Scarlett chased it down, passing two players on route, around the keeper in the back of the net! SWEET GOAL - Victory was in the bag...

6 minutes to go, Havant short, Yateley knew 1 goal was plenty for the oppo so decided to shut up shop. A firm direct shot at the top, saved by Frankie and directed into open space, where 3 quick passes between the Yateley girls enabled another Scarlett tap in. It looked beautiful!
Final whistle. 3 points DONE.

Yateley 4 Havant 1.