Images to follow.
The atmosphere on the astro pitch had been building over the course of the day and was in first gear for the finale of the women’s hockey, with a great turnout ready to cheer on both teams in the 1sts, worth a massive four points in the overall score.
With York’s hockey club yet to lose in any of their matches, you could forgive players and supporters alike for feeling this match may have swung their way to help the university close the gap on their Roses rivals.
The game itself got off to a pretty slow start with the majority of possession taken up by the midfield, Izi Hutchinson’s side seemed the more likely to force a breakthrough but Lancaster were sitting tight and proving though to break down.
Laura Atkinson’s showed great pace and skill as she skipped past a number of Lancaster players to force a White Rose attack, the visitors stepping up a gear to break the deadlock as the half drew on. Inevitably, thanks to a great attack, York got their wish with Emma Beresford scoring for the team in black and gold.
A charge from the midfield led to a save form the Lancaster keeper but all she could do was palm in the ball in the direction of Berisford who pounced on the chance, slotting the ball home with ease to give York a deserved lead. The team will be frustrated however by their reaction to the goal, with some defenders perhaps being guilty off switching off, allowing a Lancaster player who was seemingly left alone in the box to equalize straight from the kick off.
The lead York had worked hard for lasted less than a minute leaving them frustrated as the half time whistle blew, a chance for them to regroup and come again at the reds. York started the second half as the stronger team, with Lancaster forced into last ditch defending to survive an onslaught of York attacks.
An almighty goal mouth scramble left the crowd willing the ball to go in as it bounced around the area, Lancaster struggling to clear and York struggling to hit the target in their quest to take the lead and take a hold of the tie. Eventually however Lancaster got back into the game and with York desperate not to fall behind, a handball in the box led to disaster as a penalty flick was awarded to the home side.
Lancaster took no trouble taking this golden opportunity to take advantage and slotted the ball into the corner to make the score 2-1. York pressed forward at the end in the hope of getting something from the game, with a couple of hosts just creeping wide, the crowd’s reaction showing just how close their team had come at times. York may have felt hard done by as a draw would have been a fairer result, but it wasn’t to be and the final whistle blew to give Lancaster a valuable four points and their first win of the day in the hockey.