Droitwich HC 0 : 4 Worcester Pippins

On a bitterly cold early evening the Pippins produced a rugged performance against a Droitwich team containing two adults. The majority of the early play took place in the Droitwich half as the Pippins demonstrated their desire to move the ball quickly and with purpose.

After several near misses (we need to work on converting crosses from our right wing) it was left to Dan Rickman to open the scoring with a powerful shot from a penalty corner (after good work from Tom Scotson to drive the ball into the “D” and win the corner). For the rest of the first half the match was more even as Droitwich retained possession and started to look for gaps in the Pippins defense. Thankfully the Pippins remained resolute to the danger.

Unfortunately by now many of the Pippins were getting frustrated by niggly officiating matched with a lack of communication from the Umpires. The best way for Badgers players to learn is through clear communication why a decision has been made – not left scratching their heads.

It would have been easy for the Pippins to get increasingly frustrated the more the match went into the second half without another goal – instead they let the Coach take that pressure! Their reward for exerting continued pressure and their ambition were three further goals in the last quarter of the match.

Dan Rickman was rewarded for another excellent display by completing his second hat-trick in three matches. The final goal came from Cara Nyamekye as she somehow managed to stab the ball home from the right despite a second later suffering a hefty collision with the goal-keeper.

After the match took nearly 2 hours to complete, the Coach and Parents were grateful to retreat to the warmth of the clubhouse!

Player of the Match: Dan Rickman

Scorers: Dan Rickman x3, Cara Nyamekye

Squad: Austin Shipley, Bella Fielden, Alastair Borwell-Fox, Thea Boyce, Ben Lawrence, Matthew Boulton, Stuart Boocock, Dan Rickman, Alex Byng, Eliot Turner, Cara Nyamekye, Tom Scotson, Ethan McDonald-Smith