The Ladies 1s returned to Midlands Division 1 this season for the first time in 7 years after back to back promotions and it was certainly a season of two halves. The beginning of the season brought with it 2 hen dos and 2 weddings (Congratulations Mrs Cains and Mrs Locker!) as well as plenty of other work commitments, holidays and injuries, meaning availability was rocky to say the least. We muddled through some games with 12 players, instead of our usual 14 strong squad and suffered losses where we deserved draws, and draws where we pushed so hard for the win. Megan Bignell was a star between the posts for us, making game-changing saves and rising to the challenge of facing some top quality goal scorers from our opposition teams. A notable "diamond in the rough" performance was against University of Birmingham 3s at the Ellis where we had an unstoppable first half, putting 3 goals past the usually formidable students and ended the game 4-1 after they adapted their tactics and managed to keep us at bay in the second half. Unfortunately, another string of losses followed and morale was running low as Christmas drew near. A turning point in our season was our return fixture vs Olton & West Warwickshire 2s, which actually fell just before Christmas. We turned out with one of our strongest squads yet and put in an outstanding performance against a disciplined Olton side who were near the top of the league at the time, compared to our 9th place. Unfortunately, some poor umpiring decisions and just sheer bad luck meant that we had 2 goals disallowed, and a goal scored against us from a short corner that should never had been! Losing 1-0 was devastating but lit a fire within the team who were all ready to return in 2020 bigger and better...

And that we did! Squad sizes grew from 11/12 to 14/15 giving us that extra cutting edge on the pitch. We had 17 talented girls to select from each week - a double edged sword for any captain - meaning a strong team was guaranteed but also some players missing out. Every single player took this in their stride and the healthy competition for places saw some players shine and put in some outstanding performances. We slowly started climbing the league table, with every win, we leapfrogged another team, and then another. We scored 10 goals in our first 3 league games of 2020 (only 2 short of our tally from the whole of the first half of the season). After a fairly quiet start, a superstar emerged up front. Sophie Carlton-Greaves wiped the floor with most defenders and scored a particularly spectacular goal away at Birmingham Uni, diving headfirst towards the post for a perfect deflection. The next 3 games would be tough - the top 2 teams in the league, and Ashby (against whom we suffered our biggest defeat of the season before Christmas). But true to our 2020 form, we remained unbeaten, taking 1-1 draws away from home vs both Leek and Matlock and then dominating Ashby in an excellent display of hockey at the Ellis. Our season was sadly cut short, missing out on one fixture and more importantly missing out on a proper send off for Megan Ridley, Hattie Buxton and Sophie who should be heading off to University in September and will be hugely missed! It did however mean our "unbeaten in 2020" record still stands.

A tough yet rewarding season for the Ladies 1s, finishing in a very respectable 5th place in Midlands Division 1. As always, our youthful team keeps our future looking bright and we are excited for another season playing against some more quality opposition (just please, no more weddings!!).