It was a bit of a grey day last Saturday. A much changed team from the previous week and still maintaining the quality that’s in this seasons squad. The team were a little subdued as the visit last season by Sonning didn’t really go as we would have liked, but today was a new day!
5 minutes before pushback the umpire asked if Sonning’s keeper was going to get ready! And that’s when clouds darkened as the Sonning contingent stated they were playing without a keeper as an experiment, so 11 outfielders and two subs awaited the Wanderers! Our team manager blew a fuse at the news with the very loud mutterings of “how unsporting” of the Sonning contingent and not playing to the spirit of the game!!
Anyway whistle went and for the next 35 minutes it was a continuous onslaught from the Sonning 11! Despite our valiant defending the 11 outfielders went 0-1 up on the 9th minute but that was it for the first half. The mighty 10 plus goalee fought for every ball and following a structure change we went in at HT 0-1 down but very much in the game.
Following a very positive team talk from Easty and the team manager, the change of formation remained but we had collectively decided to implement chaos hockey. A rock solid defence and beefed up mid, the team who played within the spirit of the game pounced and boom 💥, chaos hockey saw out Julie slotted the ball home! 1-1 and Sonning were on the ropes!! With the wall of 4 defenders and 4 midfielders and importantly a Goalee, Wanderers were able to withstand the 11 experiments and continue to venture to their D a number of times one resulting in a PC being awarded.
So the question really at this time should have been asked was “how’s your experiment going” as with no keeper their defender used their body (leg) to stop the ball on the line! Boom penalty stroke awarded and again with no keeper! a poor defender with a stick and face mask faced the might of Easty power. What did you say 2-1 to Wanderers I hear you say, hell yeah damn right it was. So as the saying goes “ it ain’t over until the umpire blows their whistle” and unfortunately for Wanderers, the umpire blew and awarded a penalty stroke to the 11 outfielders! Fortunately for Wanderers, although being a young club we are very traditional club and we had a goalee! Who would have guessed a goalee could make the difference and ours certainly did boom! 💥 flick saved, the team saw the remaining minutes out and the righteous Wanderers won the match and the moral victory. Massive effort from all 12 outfielders and goalee and a further 3 points, as we move on to Windsor next week.
Goal Scorers – Julie Allington FG, Rebecca Easton PS

Player of the Game, joint between Emily and Goalee Jade!