Last Saturday the ladies 1s played Canterbury 2s at Polo Farm. Rumour has it Canterbury were expecting to walk over Maidstone… to say the least that did not occur and only in their dreams!

Maidstone stepped straight into a ‘half court’ press. Throwing off the Canterbury back four in a way where they had to look up and manoeuvre through a sea of 10 compact Maidstone women in the Maidstone defending half. Canterbury initially crumbled facing this; their balls were flying off the side line, bobbling, not going stick to stick and the youthful Canterbury side began to bicker between themselves about who was moving and who was not. Coach Rak you genius, smiles all around for the Maidstone side.

An injury quickly saw Izzie Ramiro hobble off the pitch, Lesley Price, the usual centre forward, stepped into the centre back position - not on the squads bingo cards for this year. Lesley was a natural and must have jotted down some quick notes from her partner Brendan, usually positioned at the back, who recently represented Wales in O35 World Cup.

Maidstone were truly in fifth gear going down the M20 at 70 MPH - they applied significant pressure in attacking play. Emma Worsfold, Lizzie Ashford and Katie Swaffer had pressure on their backs with Canterbury pressing high however they dominated the mid region of the pitch and skilfully found a way out of the closing pockets. Meanwhile these midfielders also connected well to Steph Lurshay and Gabriella positioned in the front line.

Around 15 minutes in, a short corner was won, Emma Worsfold, who usually is the go to in these scenarios, was taking a breather (how dare she). A German was called upon. The ball was pushed out to Gabriella placed on the top of the D, then slipped right to Rehannah Houghton-Judge. Unknown and unusual territory for Rehannah, time was moving slow for her, she looked up and had all the time in the world. With an “f it” mentality she slapped the ball to the far post, to everyone’s disbelief the back board was heard and a goal was scored. Always planning this tremendous moment of celebration, with adrenaline in places it has never been in before, Rehannah opted for a standard arms in the air screaming celebration instead of the always dreamt forward roll. Maybe next time. 1-0!

Maidstone continued in high spirits, demonstrating the same press, which saw them one up going into the second half.

Canterbury penetrated the half court press with confidence during the second half, they had glimpses of success however these were swiftly and strongly denied but the final women in the Maidstone press, being Keren Loder placed in goal.

Likewise some short corners were won by the Canterbury side, however nerves were apparent and mistakes were made from the opposing side, including the ball not coming out of the D and a goal being disallowed for Canterbury - Maidstone particularly felt the heat here.

A moment of disbelief and kicking off the cards awarded for the season. Lizzie Ashford saw herself awarded with a green card after pushing the ball away when a Canterbury free hit was won, Lizzie attempted to debate this decision however the umpire did not budge. Goodbye to Diz, the girls were a 10 man band.

There was some confusion at times with marking however Maidstone worked together to quickly placed yellow and blue on-top of a Canterbury player. Still with under pressure, Rehannah flew in for a standard block however completely missed the ball and did not discretely hide the horrendous challenge. Goal scorer was sent off with a green card, again down to 10!

With a few minutes left a mentality came in to hit the ball to the opposing corners, reflecting on this maybe holding onto the ball would have been more appropriate or maybe considering a more thought-out timing of this. Canterbury saw in the final minute with possession of the ball, much to Maidstones’ despair, Canterbury managed to place the ball on the P-spot and push the ball into the goal. A few disappointed faces reluctantly met the final score line at 1-1.

Nevertheless, Maidstone were chuffed with their performance and some beers were enjoyed down Canterbury high street following the game. Keren saved the Maidstone side at multiple points thus she was awarded player of the match. The girls will look forward to facing Canterbury 2s at home after Christmas.

This Saturday the ladies 1s face Sevenoaks Acorns at home. This side are currently placed at the bottom of the league however positions are not accounting for much in this league at the moment in time. Feel free to come down to the pitch with your dog and/or partner and of course a pair of gloves - the bar will be open!