Bourne and Deeping Hockey Club ladies round-up

Bourne Deeping Ladies' first team smashed eight goals past rivals Cambridge South in a hard fought game which, despite the scoreline, was by no means a walkover.

Midfield dynamos Norah Brill and Becky Warters controlled the middle of the pitch with some tenacious tackling and calm distribution from central positions.

However, the game was finely balanced, with Eliana Russo called upon to make some vital saved, until just three minutes before half-time when Annabel Armitage bagged a quick-fire brace to give the Dragons a 2-0 half-time lead.

The half-time talk certainly had the desired effect and Warters found her shooting boots straight from the restart with an outrageous 12 minute hat-rick, adding a fourth to make it 6-0 before the hour mark.

Geddes, Briault and Murray were calm and disciplined in defence, a perfect base for Florence Dexter, Olivia Portlock and Kiera Maxey raiding down the flanks feeding Armitage who wasn’t going to be outdone in the goal scoring stakes, adding 2 further goals to complete her own four-goal haul.

A great team performance which puts them top of the league.

Bourne Deeping Ladies' second team earned their first three points of the season with a thrilling win against Newmarket.

They had to battle hard in a first half in which they were indebted to goalkeeper Lizzie Hoile on several occasions as they hung on to weather the storm against a Newmarket forward line with a dangerous mix of pace and experience.

The defence was eventually breached with a quality finish, but the Dragons had shown they were more than capable of competing, with some superb passing and aggressive running.

A second half penalty corner was converted by Sophie Brittain and the Dragons tails were up.

For the next ten minutes, they were first to every ball, working tirelessly to support each other.

And, just when they looked like they were starting to tire and may live to rue not capitalising on their dominance, up popped Brittain again with her second of the game, another flicked penalty corner, ricocheting off post and the back of the goalkeeper to take a 2-1 lead.

A nervy final few minutes ensued but the Dragons managed to dig in and grind out a well deserved win.