Premier Division 2B

Bournemouth 0,

KS Cougars 3

After opening the new year at their annual training weekend with coaching mentors One Hockey, the Cou­gars made the long run down the coast to Bournemouth last weekend to reopen their league campaign for the second half of the season.

With a focus on implementing new areas of improvement into their game, KS looked confident as they set up for pushback and opened the game with solid early pressure.

Good early positioning through the middle allowed KS to pass their way out from their 25, moving the ball quickly up the field to link into the high midfield.

Vice-captain Helen Symons received and carried strongly over the halfway line to open the attack as captain Chloe Harvey posted through the defending halfs; connecting well, Symons passed with pace and accuracy to find Harvey.

As Laura Kerly timed her run into the channel, Harvey played a first-time pass, using the pace on Symons ball to split the defence wide open.

The angled ball in front allowed Kerly to receive on the move and drive past her marker to close on goal, drawing the ‘keeper and passing confidently under her dive into the far corner to finish a finely crafted move and put the Cougars in front with five minutes gone.

The KS full-back line of Fi Wadey, Esme Ansley, Gemma Har­vey and Rachel Roberts worked hard to counter the Bournemouth attacks, playing their way out of pressure with some excellent passing and using the transfer to shift the ball well.

Ansley came close to extending the score line after a strong carry forward and follow-up shot flew just wide.

Ending the first half on top, KS created a run of scoring chances through some more fantastic passing and should have gone into half-time further ahead, with three chan­ces going just wide in the closing two minutes.

Continuing the solid pressure into the second half, the Cougars controlled the majority of play, with KS ‘keeper Claire Jones only being called into action a handful of times and clearing well when needed.

Sarah Budgen worked hard throughout the half in adjusting to a new shape in the press and delivered a great effort to keep perfecting her positioning.

Building play constructively around the 25, KS created many opportunities to drive in deflection balls and saw several pacy injections delivered into the danger area which will want to be picked up in future.

With the focus on creating scoring opportunities, a quick shot from Bex Darke at top D created a simple second goal for the Cou­gars, as Fern Tucker was the sharpest player in the D to follow up and tap home when the ball rebounded from the post.

Turning over possession from the resulting pushback, Lou Read played a great ball down the danger line to Kerly, who broke from just inside the Bournemouth half.

With players showing great pace to work hard and support the run, the KS high mids provided opportunities to lay the ball square and wide as the Cou­gars closed on goal.

With so many op­tions to cover around the break, the Bourne­mouth defence were stretched, allowing Kerly to cut through on the ‘keeper and finish the move with a diving reverse stick shot to take KS 3-0 up.

The Cougars continued to deliver great pressure throughout the remainder of the half as players rolled comfortably through a variety of positions.

Abi Bell in particular played through the formation from front to back and delivered quality in every position.

The final whistle blew on a controlled performance from KS as they delivered a well implemented game plan to roll out some progressive tactics.

Working hard to try new skills and communicating throughout allowed the Cougars to measure their success and feedback on pro­gress, embedding some great learning from their weekend with One Hockey.

At post-match teas Fi Wadey took coaches’ player for a strong, considered performance through the full-back structure and Bex Darke won the player-of-the-match vote for a flat-out game through the middle.