Hereford 3 – 0 Wootton Bassett

Bassett were keen to improve on their league performance from the day before and wanted to remind themselves that they can play good hockey; they faced Hereford in this cup match, who currently lie in 3rd position in the league above Bassett. The match started at a good pace with both teams having periods of possession and creating chances. Bassett pushed up high in the opening stages of the match and great pressure from Rebekah Taylor, Katy Cox and Abi turner made Hereford realise they weren’t going to be able to win this match easily without a fight from Bassett. Hereford opened the score line when they caught Bassett on the break leaving Helen Wright, Zara Salisbury and Meg Emms in goal to attempt to defend against an overload of attackers. The visitors fought straight back, Vic Sammon and Emma Collison combined well together in midfield to work the ball up the pitch and into channels for the attackers to link onto, however neither team managed to convert any more chances before half time despite many efforts.

The second half bought much the same as the first with lots of end to end play. Bassett did win a few short corners early on in the half but were unable to convert any past the Hereford keeper who played extremely well throughout the match. A string of runs down the wing from Cox lead to many close chances for Turner and Taylor but Bassett were struggling to get that final touch needed to get the ball over the goal line! Bassett continued to keep their work rate up and gave their absolute all to keep the Hereford attacks at bay but near the end of the match Hereford were awarded a penalty corner which their star striker drag flicked into the top right hand corner of the net. Hereford got their third and final goal from another short corner strike in the closing minutes. The final score was 3-0 but Bassett were happy they had achieved their aim of playing well and this will hopefully give them confidence to lead them into their final league match before Christmas next Saturday away against West Wilts. Sammon and Turner were voted joint players of the match.