Evergreens finish strongly

Evergreens 4, Watton 1

HOCKEY: Evergreens continued their 100 per cent home record this season with a win over bottom of the league Watton.

Evergreens started slowly and allowed Watton to pressure their goal. Resilient defending from Tracy Daglish prevented them from taking an early lead.

Evergreens then broke through and a goalmouth scramble led to a Tash Bates strike deflecting off the keeper’s pads and flying over the line.

Some scrappy hockey saw out the remainder of the first half and Evergreens were lucky to go into the break with a 1-0 lead.

Evergreens re-grouped at half-time and came out stronger and more determined in the second half.

A penetrating run from Harriet Segasby cut through the Watton defence before she crossed the ball for Sam Turner to slot home.

Watton responded immediately and scored straight from the re-start. This motivated Evergreens to dig deep and they started to play some efficient hockey.

Well-worked passing down the right wing saw Hannah Mitchells’ effort on goal denied by a post. Sam Turner then put Bethan Gill through one-on-one on and she was unfortunate not to score.

Watton were then reduced to 10 players for a short period when their last defender was shown a yellow card for obstructing Sam Turner and denying Evergreens a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

Watton came back and created several chances but Naomi Holl was relentless in her defensive midfield role, which inspired the rest of the team to finish the match strongly.

Katie Taylor played the ball into Tash Bates, who scored her second goal with a great strike between the keeper’s legs.

Continued pressure from Louise White paid off when she battled with the Watton defence to set up Harriet Segasby to finish off the game and seal a 4-1 victory.

Player of the match: Tracy Daglish.