13. 28 January 2023

Old Loughtonians Women’s 1s returned to the top of the East Area Premier Division with a late show at home to City of Peterborough Women’s 1s. It was a tale of the two Emilys as player of the match Emily Davies was the star of the show in midfield and Emily Holmes scored a double in the last 10 minutes to turn the game around.
Loughts started strongly and took the lead on 11 minutes as Katie Gleeson once again showed her quality down the right wing and crossed for Adele Sammons to finish with a deft reverse touch. Half time came and went without Loughts managing to add to their lead and midway through the half it cost them dearly as Peterborough came roaring back into the game. With 15 minutes to go it was 1-1 as Old Loughts conceded a penalty stroke which was duly dispatched by Peterborough. Three minutes later a scrappy second goal left Loughts trailing 2-1 with the clock running down.
The hallmark of this team has been resilience in the face of adversity and once again an inspiring spell saw Loughts turn the game around. On 60 minutes Holmes and Davies combined at a penalty corner and at the second attempt Holmes turned home Davies’ pass to level the scores. With just 7 minutes remaining another penalty corner won by a driving run from Adele Sammons proved to be the winning moment. Stevie Southall’s fierce slap into the D was expertly deflected home by Holmes to win the game for Old Loughts.
The final few minutes were tense as successive yellow and green cards reduced Loughts to 9 players. However they held firm to secure the 3 points and return to the top of the league. Next week Loughts travel to Suffolk to play Sudbury W1s.
The W2s were away against Bedford 2s. A goal from Siobhan Daley levelled the score but Bedford scored late in the match to win 2-1. The W3s secured an important 1-0 win against fellow title contenders Upminster which leaves them 3 points off the lead with 2 games in hand. The W4s were away at Old Southendians 2s and returned from the seaside as 3-2 winners. The W5s also had a good win beating Waltham Forest 4s 1-0.
The England Hockey National League season resumes next week when the M1s entertain Bath Buccaneers at Luxborough Lane. This weekend both the M2s and M3s were in action against first teams and despite missing juniors on international duty both secured 2-2 draws against Blueharts 1s and Waltham Forest 1s respectively. The M4s also drew 1-1 away in their match against Upminster 2s whilst the M5s Willows won 4-1 at home against Upminster 4s with goals from James Greech, Rob Simmons, Daniel Clark and Phil Beauman. The lower teams struggled with the M6s Willows Woodsmen losing 7-0 to Saffron Walden 4s, the M7s Willows Rangers 6-0 away against Waltham Forest 4s and the M8s Willows Axemen 3-0 at home against Thurrock Academy.