Medic Girls Thrash UCL

Having lost a match a few days earlier during a freak weather storm in the remote countryside, the ICSM Ladies 1st XI definitely felt we could use a giant dose of good luck when we trooped out to play on Sunday 25 November. The early morning sunshine and prospect of playing at Harlington boded well for our second LUSL match of the season, but with the loss of several forwards as well as a key defender (who had been beaten up by Wednesday’s opposition with a hockey stick) meant that we all had butterflies in our stomach.

Our opposition had been a league above us last year… And after having a flawless season, had been promoted to an even better league. This was obviously a first cause for concern. On top of this, our presumption that non-medics haveall the time in the world to train to be hockey gods couldn’t be avoided, and rumour had it that they had international-level strikers. Our fantastically positive captain Rosie Belcher encouraged everybody to put on a brave smile, but in reality we were hideously nervous. Like I said, we could use some luck… Whether it was a coincidence that Rosie managed, for the first time in the season, to win the coin toss, was a question to be answered by the final score.

From the moment the whistle blew to mark the start of seventy minutes of leg-destroying hard work, the whole ICSM team was focused, determined, and skilful. Passes were strong and simple; tackles were made with a real determination to win; and whenever a mistake was made, the team pulled together to help out. And instead of being distracted by the surprise that we were actually making UCL look slow and inexperienced, we continued to keep up the pace.

However, what we had struggled with in previous games was achieving a result from our hard work: after all, the score at the final whistle is what really matters. But after some superb ball distribution from central-midfield Charlotte Read, striker Alis

n Kent was just too skilful to be stopped by the UCL defenders, passing the ball to Kylie – who placed the ball solidly into the goal. It goes without saying that the defenders cheered loudly, our forwards ran back grinning from ear to ear, the midfielders were jumping up and down – and Anna Hurley was doing all of the above at the same time.

With some skilful attacking from the opposition and a sneakily-placed pass against the feet of one of our defenders, UCL had their first short corner against us. The rumours about this team’s skill ringing in our ears, we fully realised that a well-rehearsed routine on their part could land them an equaling goal. Although Sharon “Shazza” Ocansey made a run out that Usain Bolt would have been proud of, they messily pushed the ball passed our club captain and goalie, Jess Mistry.

Our realisation that we absolutely were the better, more strong-minded team that day, made us fight back with a vengeance. Exclamations of “come on medics!” echoed around the pitch, whilst the UCL players simply argued with the umpires and didn’t talk to each other. At half time, we were feeling elated but, as Rosie pointed out, still had a lot of work to do.

Even though our legs were starting to feel like they were made of lactic acid, we started the second half with an expectation that UCL were going to be more than slightly angry… So solid was our effort that Charlotte Lees, who had played a match the day before and consequently “couldn’t run properly”, played a second half that earned her the title of MVP. With some initial play in our D, Jess made a cracking save with her stick well above her head, and Annabel Groome on the right and Roz Marshall as centre defence worked hard to clear the ball. Anna made some fantastic runs up the right wing, with forwards Alison, Flick, and Kylie all offering passes so that we could score more goals and show this team what we’re made of.

With this incredible team effort, and the support of our coach Justin from the sideline, Lees was able to score two perfectly placed goals in the second half… One of them even from lying on the ground after falling over. Clearly balance was one of the (few) areas where UCL did have the advantage.

With the final whistle, we all attempted to contain our excitement at the result. Every single team member had put in phenomenal effort, and we had out-played our opposition fairly and squarely… At the end of the day, that giant dose of luck that we’d all hoped for wasn’t even needed.