The GCW “Ladies in Black” (who were in white again just to confuse everyone) travelled to Glasgow on Saturday ahead of the football traffic to take on Strathclyde Uni. What looked like a wet day turned in to just an overcast one. The meet and warmup went well until the coach realised he had left the balls in Aberdeen (oops). The home side were generous and agreed to share theirs and the game was then ready to proceed.
The first quarter was GCWs despite some uncharacteristic tackling and passing but ended 0-0. Also uncharacteristic was taking the lead from a penalty corner, the first of the season, as Eva Sheal followed up from a keeper rebound to slot calmly home.. In the second quarter GCW were again pressing and won a corner. This time the ball broke and Strathclyde counter attacked, the composure in the defensive tackling was not there and somehow the students had broken to score. The students were now much more upbeat and felt confident every time they attacked but some resilience from the GCW girls kept the game at 1-1 at half time.
The plan was to regain control in the second half and let the pressure and mounting attacks count for GCW. The first few minutes dd not turn out that way. A Strathclyde attack was not robustly challenged and resulted in a penalty corner. Some intricate passing in and around the area seemed to bamboozle the GCW unit and the ball found itself in the net for a 2-1 home lead. Now the pressure was mounting as despite all the attacks nothing seemed to be working and the vision of a long dreary trip home began to loom.
Just before the end of the third quarter a corner won by some intricate play into the circle produced a penalty corner for GCW. The girls executed their corner exceptionally well and Heather Hunter flicked the ball past the keeper half way up and into the net 2-2. The final quarter and the only question was could GCW turn opportunities into clear cut chances. A corner 5 minutes into the period proved to be the decisive moment. As everyone expected a flick, Hunter drilled the ball low down the middle of the goal and caught the keeper napping to edge GCW ahead.
Apart from the odd breakaway GCW held their nerve to earn a much deserved but nervy away 3 points.
On Sunday the girls 4s were out at Countesswells against Merlins with some “well kent” faces making a return to action. It was however youngster Hannah Love who got the GCW goal in a well fought 1-1 draw, featuring keeper Fay Bruce. The fabulous 5s were not so lucky coming up against an experienced Ellon 2s and found themselves 2-0 down in the first quarter. The side rallied and were well in the game throughout but just a little lack of experience in the attacking areas prevented any further goals and the game ran out 2-0 to Ellon 2s.
