Basildon 0 – Brentwood 1

This week Brentwood ladies 1’s made an early morning trip to local team Basildon hoping to bounce back from their loss last week.

Brentwood started the game strongly and immediately applied pressure on the Basildon defense winning a number of short corners in the first few minutes. The midfield of Natalie Gilder and Anna Guida worked well together and with some one touch hockey were able to link up with Charlotte Holt on the right hand side who was able to use her speed to drive down the wing and release Nikki Brimson in space up front. Brentwood’s break came after 15 minutes when Lisa Payne won another short corner and Haylee Adams was able to fire the ball into the bottom left hand corner and give Brentwood a 1-0 lead. Following this lead Basildon started to fight back and came close to getting a goal back however solid defending by Emily Wright and Sandy Pass kept them at bay.

The second half started much the same as the first with the Brentwood forward line of Louise Humphreys and Lauren Simmons troubling the Basildon defense and applying a lot of pressure. Brentwood almost extended their lead when Lucy Partridge won a short corner. The injection this time found Shirley Osmotherly who passed the ball to player of the match Ruth Tilsley on the penalty spot, however Tilsley was denied by the post. Basildon again upped the pressure and were fighting hard to find the equalizer. A succession of short corners in the final 10 minutes of the match saw them come close a few times, however some good saves by keeper Lorna Parsons and a couple of important goal line clearances by the Brentwood defense kept them out and the game finished with Brentwood taking the 3 points.

Next week Brentwood host St. Albans at Becket Keys School at 12:30pm