This Saturday saw the development team (25% of which was made up from Ali's!) play a difficult away game against Cambridge city. The team are fortunate enough to have a wide pool of players willing to play and this week saw debuts for Ali H and Maya.

A quick start to the game meant there was no time for the team to do any pre-match stick and ball warm ups, so with another new line up the team were thrown in at the deep end which caused some confusion with positioning that Cambridge were able to capitalise on with 2 quick goals.
However, Hunters kept their determination and towards the end of the first half had settled into their roles, made good passes and played well down the wings. Another goal from City made it 3-0 at half time.

The second half started off strong, with Hunters finding their feet and doing well to keep City at bay.

Ali H was determined to get the ball into Cambridge's defensive half with some big hits up the pitch to try and open up play and give herself a break from defending against the relentless Cambridge attack!

Huntington and Northstowe defended so many short corners it began to feel like training exercise so were overjoyed to finally get an attacking short but despite a good set up and first touch we were unable to score.

As Hunters had come out in the second half stronger, Cambridge upped their game and had a barrage of shots on goal and despite Lois' brilliant work at clearing, City were able to convert another 4 in the half.

The scoreline does not reflect all the positives that we are able to take from the game, our defensive backline was strong despite the continuous bombardments from Cambridge, Eleanor and Esme linked up well down the line on the left and Maria and Maya made some great runs towards goal along with many more moments we can take from the game to continue to build on.

Hunters showed great spirit, did not give up and never let their heads drop, they showed determination and resilience against a team who were better on the day and all enjoyed playing the match.

Player of the match went to Lois who has a better save rate than Mary Earps this season and on another day would have easily kept a clean sheet for Hunters.