The time had come again for SUWPC’s women to begin their climb up the BUCS national trophy ladder. Unfortunately, the table distribution that had gotten the girls to the quatre finals the past two years had decided we needed more of a challenge as our first match was against the team that had knocked us out the previous year: Plymouth. This also meant the girls had their longest trek of the year, even further south, with an early set off time of 10am. The now seasoned team of 10 girls once again met for a bright and early start as they climbed into the minibus for a 3hr drive, Christmas music blasting the whole way. After losing to Plymouth last year, the girls were nervous, and many tactical discussions were had. However, the biggest challenge of the day came for an unexpected destination as Miss Phillips decided that an appropriate pre-game snack to eat in a closed space, we could not escape was not one, but two boiled eggs. Thanks Tilly.  

Grateful to finally be off the bus, the girls arrived early to their match and so spent some time rating the dives and admiring the swimming gala happening in the adjacent pool before getting changed and warming up. Our initial excitement about the gala quickly wore off as we discovered the difficulties of playing with two different whistles in the background.  

Not to lose their speedy reputation, Plymouth won the swim off and began their first attack. Caught less off guard than last year, Soton were immediately on the defensive and some tight marking from Neve and Katie Smith won back the ball and we began an attack of our own. An initial shot from Rhia in-pit confirmed Plymouths tactic of using a drop and showed the Soton girls that the Plymouth goalie was not to be messed with. This back and forth continued for 3 minutes until a speedy counter from Plymouth lead to Iris giving away the first major of the match, and a penalty at that. This unfortunately led to the first goal of the match. Refusing to let the goal difference widen too much the Soton girls tightened their defense further and the back-and-forth attacks continued until a man-up which unfortunately was saved by the opposition. Thankfully, noticing the red faces of the girls, goalie Antonia slowed down her passes to give the girls more time to set up their arc. One more goal from Plymouth in the last 2 minutes ended the quarter 2-0.  

Soton’s lack of goals this quatre led to the girls rearranging their positions slightly to give the South-Eastern league’s top goal scorer, none other than Miss Magill, a greater chance to score. Much like the last quatre, Plymouth once again won the swim off but again the first 3 minutes involved counter after counter from each team. A beautiful save from our goalie led to a corner from Plymouth, and while our girls blocked all the pass routes, Plymouth took it upon themselves to score an admittedly beautiful first goal of the quarter from the corner. Apparently confused by the match events (we later find out why) Jess decided we were losing, not due to the goal difference but due to the fact each team were tied in the majors and so got herself sent out of the pool. A brilliant man-down meant that Miss Grace re-entered the pool to the same goal difference. A tactical play from Katie Magill resulted in a penalty for Soton. But in a surprising turn of events Magill missed her first BUCS penalty as the shot was skillfully intercepted by the goalie. Quick to redeem herself Magill scored Soton’s first goal of the quarter. A quick intermission for some first aid for Rhia as she had proved too much of a challenge for one Plymouth girl who had left her winded trying to counter. One more goal from Plymouth and then two exclusions lead to a double man-up for soton but with only 17s left the final score remained 4-1. 

Now swapping ends, the second half kicked off with a goalie swap from Plymouth as they then continued to collect majors as well as goals. Our man-up was again thwarted by the goalie, and Plymouth were quick to counter and score a goal. Tilly earning her first major of the match led to another man-down for the girls but not to be outdone the shot was easily saved by Antonia who made a beautiful counter pass to Magill who scored another goal for Soton. Apparently now in the groove, Katie went on to score another 2 goals from some pit passes from Rhia and Lucia resulting in a 1 goal difference. Plymouth then managed to score on their next attack, and Lottie decided the others were coming to closer to her major queen title and got herself sent out. This resulted in a swift goal from Plymouth who determined not to let us win the quarter, managed to score a final goal in the last minute, leaving the score 8-4.  

Not disheartened, the girls received a quick pep talk from Coach Alex and lined up for the 4^th and final quarter. Another man-up for Soton led to a quick time out as Alex explained our tactics. This worked beautifully as the girls then scored the first goal of the quarter. Upset at Magill taking the spotlight, Plymouth then scored 3 goals in the next 2 minutes before giving the girls another man-up and now with a lot of practice managed to bring the score up to 11-6. This wasn’t close enough for Magill who then scored another Soton goal not a minute later. Apparently bored of man-ups and wanting to try a man-down, Lottie decided to ger herself sent out again, but a stubborn Antonia refused to let Plymouth score. So stubborn in fact, she managed to give away a major of her own which then secured a goal for Plymouth. Fueled by her major and Tesco meal-deal lunch, Antonia then went on to save an incredible 4 shots in 10s as Plymouth desperately tried to get the ball in the net. Inspired by our goal Magill went on to score Soton’s 8^th and last goal of the quarter. Another exclusion for Plymouth resulted in Soton’s 2^nd timeout and despite a great man-up, Plymouth managed to counter and score the final goal of the quarter. With 20s left on the clock Tilly was determined to have the last say on the match sheet and earned herself a major to conclude the game 13-8. 

Despite a loss for Soton meaning they are out of the cup, a heartwarming speech from Coach Alex on the girls amazing performance during the match and throughout the term meant the girls left in high spirits ready for more festive tunes to serenade us home. A slightly eventful ride home as Miss Grace informed us all she had in fact been hit on the head and wasn’t feeling well, led to a swift pullover of the minibus to acquire some bags. Oh dear. The diagnosis from our second-year med student: probably a concussion. The cure? A Nando’s of course (followed by a trip to A&E). 

A big well done to all the girls for an amazing first term, you’ve all made amazing progress since the start of the year and your dedication to the team and attitude is remarkable, thank you for a fabulous start to the season, let’s smash it in the new year! 

Dick of the Day: Jess Grace for getting a head injury and then being so stubborn we had to make two separate trips to A&E. 

Man of the Match: Antonia Neild for making some jaw dropping saves and keeping the goal difference to only 5 goals. (With a special mention to Katie Magill for scoring an amazing 8 goals and being our only goal scorer). 

Goals/Majors 

Antonia Neild 0/1 

Iris Bugnar 0/1 

Jess Grace 0/1 

Katie Smith 0/0 

Katie Magill 8/0 

Lottie Ratledge 0/2 

Lucia Ciardo 0/0 

Neve Rowland 0/0 

Rhia Perks 0/0 

Tilly Phillips 0/2 

Written by Charlotte Ratledge