Another loss but Banbury show more resilience

Despite another heavy defeat, there were plenty of positives for Banbury in their eighth straight South Clubs Women's Hockey League loss.
Natasha Roberts hit Banbury's goal against HarrowNatasha Roberts hit Banbury's goal against Harrow
Natasha Roberts hit Banbury's goal against Harrow

Banbury lost 7-1 in Saturday’s division three fixture but the match was much tighter than the scoreline would suggest.

The match began with several strong attacking plays from Banbury. Maddie Hunt and Tash Roberts worked well together and the patterns of play were admirable.

But Harrow’s Felicitas Dahlke grabbed an early goal. That did not dishearten the Banbury side who fought back hard and were rewarded with a tremendous goal by Roberts.

That is how it stayed until halftime and Banbury looked to have had more goal scoring opportunities. The umpires approached both teams at halftime with a warning about behaviour.

Despite ferocious defending from Becca Atkins and Becca Perkins, Harrow quickly established a 3-1 lead with goals from Tash Webster and a cracking penalty-flick from Laura Thompson-Wright.

Things continued to get harder for Banbury who narrowly missed out on converting opportunities into goals.

After several green cards were awarded following some infuriating decisions, Banbury lost all momentum, allowing Dahlke to score another and Webster to complete her hat-trick.

A deflated Banbury side felt like they were playing against the umpires as well as Harrow and Jess Dyson slipped in another goal to complete the scoring.