The U18 Girls travelled to Nottingham (30th & 31st August) to play the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent and to have a great time of team and parent socialising.
First was the University of Nottingham and in a wake-up call of a first match the girls were thrashed 9-1! In the first quarter the girls were blown away with the pace and clinical nature of the match as Nottingham raced into a 3-0 lead. The second quarter was equally tough as Nottingham scored three more times to make it 6-1. In this period the girls scored the goal of the match as Polly finished off a wonderful team goal that she had started by winning the ball in the press. Some great link up play between Lottie, Phoebe, Amelie then put Polly in and she rolled the ball home. The score at half-time was 6-1. The KP girls are constantly improving and this match was no different as they adapted and battled to keep pace with their University counterparts. Despite this the University were too strong and three more goals across the final two periods meant the girls lost 9-1. But what a great opportunity to learn!!
The girls came out fighting the next day and in match two against the University of Nottingham the girls did go down 1-0 in the first period despite a number of good saves from Pascale in goal.
But in the second period it was all KP as a through ball from Lottie was latched onto by Phoebe. She won a corner and Anna rocketed the ball into the top corner! Josefina then put KP into the lead after another through ball from Lottie. Josefina coolly rounded the goalkeeper to flick the ball into the empty goal. In quarter three Nottingham got back on terms through their own penalty corner and it was finely poised at 2-2! You could see that the girls had improve so much in just 24 hours and their confidence and bravery to push and play was inspiring! Indeed on another run by Lottie she won a penalty corner which Phoebe netted for the victory!
The girls then made the short journey across Nottingham to play against Nottingham Trent. Once again the girls went a goal down after a cheap penalty corner was conceded. Despite this, you could see the girls were calm and continued to play with confidence. Just before the end of the first period Polly scored from a broken penalty corner, tapping in from close range. The third goal of the match was scored by Olivia after a superb intercept and run by the inspired Cordy! Her pass to Phoebe was rolled to Olivia and she did the rest.
The second half was very close as chances came and went for both sides. The defensive skills of Camille, Jessica and Elen on full display, as well as the class of Pascale in goal, as they negotiated the skillful University side. The third KP goal came on the break as Summer fed Phoebe who returned the pass for Summer to push home – 3-1. In a sloppy final few minutes Nottingham Trent did capitalise on a KP error however the girls held out for a memorable 3-2 win!
Thank you to the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent for the matches, the hospitality, the University tours and for inspiring our girls! We hope to see you soon!
