University hockey: York 1sts 1 – 0 City of York 5ths

 

The women’s hockey firsts survived a late onslaught by the City of York to record an impressive 1-0 win on Saturday.

During the initial half of Saturday’s Yorkshire league first division match, the home side played in a league of their own. The women’s firsts’ efforts were rewarded within twenty minutes, when Hannah Gauge’s shot from a short corner smashed into the back of the net, pushing the home side into an early lead.
City’s play in the first half was comparatively disjointed and the visitors were lacking in possession, meaning there were no threatening shots on goal that keeper Beanie Usher couldn not casually kick away.

Pressure from Natalie Montezuma on City’s hit outs with reverse stick blocks was one of many demonstrations of skill and control that successfully outwitted City. Such tight defence from the University side with close one-on-one marking meant there were few shots on target for the opposition, making the first half a comfortable yet engaging victory.

This all changed after half time though, as the visitors fought a tougher battle. Just as the women’s firsts were getting tired and possibly complacent about their 1-0 victory, City began to up their game. What had been a noisy, communicative home side became quieter as play progressed, and their previously flawless game started to crack under the pressure.

Both teams were unable to deliver the goods on the other seven short corners issued during play, yet the firsts desperately sought the second goal that would have sealed their victory. The possibility of City of York snatching a late equaliser was a distinct possibility that the home team fought hard to prevent.

A controversial yellow was issued to a City player which left the visitors one player down in the closing minutes of the game. While this could have destroyed the visitors’ spirits, instead it fuelled one final burst of energy that lasted until the final whistle blew. Despite a nail-bitingly close attack from City in the closing seconds the home team still managed to hold on to a hard-earned 1-0 victory.