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Jun. 11th, 2011 06:15 pmTo Andover this morning, where Laura O had assembled a team of Hawk girls to play in a charity six-a-side tournament. Exactly six players had been available and willing for this one, so we had no luxury of substitutions, and none of our players was a goalie. Sabrina went in goal for the first game, then Kim took a turn. She confided to me just before she went out onto the field that she was "absolutely rubbish in goal", but in the event she made a couple of decent saves and wasn't to blame for the goal she let in - and the girls still won 2-1. Sabrina took a knock on the ankle in that game, so she resumed goalkeeping duties for the rest of the tournament.
There were only five teams in the Ladies' tournament. To string things out for a decent length of time, the five teams played a round robin, then only the bottom team was eliminated with the other four going through to the semis. Andover New Street had three ex-Hawks, Jodie, Erin and Claire; Jodie came over for a few chats with our girls over the course of the day. The two teams from Gosport Borough Ladies sat next to us; they knew all our girls through Kim who used to play for them.
Our girls won the group with three wins and a draw, setting up a semi-final with Gosport A. We won that one easily, then faced Andover New Street in the final, cheered on by the Gosport girls and a men's team who'd taken to our ladies because, like them, we were wearing orange. Before the final, Sabrina said she was dreading the possibility of having to face a penalty shoot-out as goalkeeper, so it was agreed that if we were drawing with half a minute remaining, I was to shout "COME ON YOU TANGERINES!" at the top of my voice, which would be the cue for Sabrina to hand the keeper's jersey and gloves to Lauren.
In the event, the scoreline was still blank with half a minute left, by which time one of the Gosport girls had already said to our players "You want to change your keeper now" a couple of times. I did the "COME ON YOU TANGERINES!" shout anyway, and made the 'arms rolling round each other' changeover gesture to Sabrina, but neither she nor Lauren moved an inch.
"Are you staying in goal?" the Gosport player asked Sabrina.
"I think so," Sab replied, adding "I hate penalties."
Claire took Andover's first kick, and made Sabrina's life easier by shooting wide. Laura scored. Andover's second hit the post. Kim scored. Andover's third scored. Lizzie stepped up to the spot.
Lizzie looks like the powerhouse she is, and has a thunderbolt shot on her. Some male players near us said "I wouldn't like to face her penalty. She'll blast the ball and the keeper through the back of the net." She buried it.
Andover's fourth kick went in, but was disallowed because the kicker took much too long a run-up. Sabrina blocked the retaken kick with her legs and the Hawk girls had won. Celebration on the pitch, and the Gosport girls shouted "Lift up the midget" (Sabrina is quite petite) - sure enough she got carried shoulder high. The girls went back to the place where we'd been sitting to change into their tracksuits, then were presented with individual trophies and photographed - disappointingly, the actual cup wasn't present, though we were told it would be sent on.
It was a glorious sunny afternoon, so I stopped off at Sutton Scotney services for an ice latte. Alas, the foreign girl behind the counter can't have put the top on properly; as soon as I picked the drink up the top came off and iced coffee went everywhere. I took out a tissue to begin mopping up the mess, till the girl said "I do it" and set about the dual tasks of cleaning the place up and topping up my coffee. My mood wasn't helped by the one other customer there, a bloke who, throughout the whole unpleasantness, stared disapprovingly at me. I briefly gave him a hard stare back, but then just wanted to drink up quickly and get out of there. Feh.
There were only five teams in the Ladies' tournament. To string things out for a decent length of time, the five teams played a round robin, then only the bottom team was eliminated with the other four going through to the semis. Andover New Street had three ex-Hawks, Jodie, Erin and Claire; Jodie came over for a few chats with our girls over the course of the day. The two teams from Gosport Borough Ladies sat next to us; they knew all our girls through Kim who used to play for them.
Our girls won the group with three wins and a draw, setting up a semi-final with Gosport A. We won that one easily, then faced Andover New Street in the final, cheered on by the Gosport girls and a men's team who'd taken to our ladies because, like them, we were wearing orange. Before the final, Sabrina said she was dreading the possibility of having to face a penalty shoot-out as goalkeeper, so it was agreed that if we were drawing with half a minute remaining, I was to shout "COME ON YOU TANGERINES!" at the top of my voice, which would be the cue for Sabrina to hand the keeper's jersey and gloves to Lauren.
In the event, the scoreline was still blank with half a minute left, by which time one of the Gosport girls had already said to our players "You want to change your keeper now" a couple of times. I did the "COME ON YOU TANGERINES!" shout anyway, and made the 'arms rolling round each other' changeover gesture to Sabrina, but neither she nor Lauren moved an inch.
"Are you staying in goal?" the Gosport player asked Sabrina.
"I think so," Sab replied, adding "I hate penalties."
Claire took Andover's first kick, and made Sabrina's life easier by shooting wide. Laura scored. Andover's second hit the post. Kim scored. Andover's third scored. Lizzie stepped up to the spot.
Lizzie looks like the powerhouse she is, and has a thunderbolt shot on her. Some male players near us said "I wouldn't like to face her penalty. She'll blast the ball and the keeper through the back of the net." She buried it.
Andover's fourth kick went in, but was disallowed because the kicker took much too long a run-up. Sabrina blocked the retaken kick with her legs and the Hawk girls had won. Celebration on the pitch, and the Gosport girls shouted "Lift up the midget" (Sabrina is quite petite) - sure enough she got carried shoulder high. The girls went back to the place where we'd been sitting to change into their tracksuits, then were presented with individual trophies and photographed - disappointingly, the actual cup wasn't present, though we were told it would be sent on.
It was a glorious sunny afternoon, so I stopped off at Sutton Scotney services for an ice latte. Alas, the foreign girl behind the counter can't have put the top on properly; as soon as I picked the drink up the top came off and iced coffee went everywhere. I took out a tissue to begin mopping up the mess, till the girl said "I do it" and set about the dual tasks of cleaning the place up and topping up my coffee. My mood wasn't helped by the one other customer there, a bloke who, throughout the whole unpleasantness, stared disapprovingly at me. I briefly gave him a hard stare back, but then just wanted to drink up quickly and get out of there. Feh.
