Trelawney Division One

Penzance 0

BUDE women have the Trelawney Division One Hockey title in their hands heading into the final day of the season, following a 5-0 victory over previous league leaders Penzance at Budehaven School.

The North Cornwall club went into the game a point behind a side that had won all eight of their previous away trips. However, a virtuoso performance left the West Cornwall club requiring Bude to slip up at Truro on Saturday to avoid finishing as runners-up.

In front of a large crowd, Bude knew they had to come out of the blocks quickly and they did just that as Francis Fox was forced into a fine save from Anna Bury before the in-form Zara Higham shot just wide.

With the experienced Tammy Snowsill and Di Old controlling the midfield alongside Emily Shepherd, the home side had the majority of the possession and when they lost it they were quick to get it back.

It was only a matter of time before they went in front and it was Shepherd who provided it.

After Jemma Ball and Hannah Maloney played the ball out of defence, Maloney gave the ball to Charlotte Prime who moved the ball into the D for Erinne Bickle to shoot, but Kelly Thomas brilliantly cleared her shot off the line. However, the ball dropped to Snowsill whose shot was touched in by Shepherd.

Going 1-0 down seemed to spring Penzance into life as they finally tested the home defence but Grace Chan, Hannah Maloney, Cara Phillips and Jemma Ball stood firm to give them a half-time lead.

Coach Alan Muller used all of his experience during the break to offer some tactical advice on how to get around the Penzance defence and it paid off soon after.

Heather Mathews received the ball from Old and ran down the left, she passed the ball to Shepherd who had moved the ball to the right and played in Prime inside the D, however she was fouled, meaning Bude had a short corner.

From that, Snowsill pushed the ball out to Old and her strike proved far too accurate for Fox and the covering defender.

Bude were fired up and were now well in control of the game as they passed the ball around with ease.

It was soon 3-0 as Zara Higham neatly dispatched a fine strike into the bottom corner from inside the area.

The home defenders were spectators as Penzance sat deeper into their own half. This allowed Phillips, Chan and Maloney to step up and help the midfield. Snowsill scored Bude’s fourth from a move that she started on the halfway line. She passed the out to the left, received it back, then played it into the middle and then ran into the D where Bury squared the ball for a simple finish.

As Penzance tired, Bude easily passed the ball round them and were rewarded with lots of efforts on goal and it was fitting that they scored their fifth before the end as Mathews went past two defenders and squeezed the ball between the post and keeper to add the gloss to a brilliant afternoon’s work.