Ross Ladies Hockey Club travelled away to Gloucester 4ths after their Christmas break and came away with a convincing 6 - 1 win.
For the first 15 minutes both teams seemed evenly matched and good goal keeping from Bec denied Gloucester a goal. Ross then began to dominate play with impressive surging runs from Lorraine Stephens, one of which paid off, when her excellent through pass allowed Poppy to slot the ball past the Gloucester 'keeper for a 1 - 0 lead.
Ross forwards continued attacking and Becky Austin was unlucky not to score. Gloucester were still battling hard and against the run of play they scored an equaliser. However, a determined Vanessa Ball then produced a skilful solo effort with a well executed shot on goal which beat the 'keeper, giving Ross a 2-1 lead at half time.
At the start of the second half there was more strong play from Vanessa. She controlled the midfield, supported well by a solid defence of Gill Badham, Sharon Finch and Rebecca Hayes. Ross stepped up the pace and were soon rewarded with a short corner. From this, Pauline Hemmingway fired the ball into the net. The pressure from Ross continued and another well-worked short corner allowed Angela Wesley to add to the Ross lead.
Captain Rebecca Hayes made several strong runs on the right and when the Gloucester defence made a poor clearance, Liz Ellis latched onto the ball with a strike which beat the 'keeper. Pauline Hemmingway then controlled the ball to score a 6th goal for Ross after combining well with Lorraine Stephens and Rebecca.
Overall it was an excellent, well co-ordinated Ross team display to add to their impressive unbeaten record this season. The Maze Butterfly Zoo player of the match award went to Vanessa Ball for her strong midfield play. The team's next match is at home on January 23rd against Lansdown.