Nouse.co.uk » BUCS Cup heartbreak for hockey seconds as Sheffield squeeze through

BUCS Cup heartbreak for hockey seconds as Sheffield squeeze through

November 18, 2009
Adam Shergold

Photograph by Peter Iveson

UNIVERSITY OF YORK SECONDS 1
UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD THIRDS 2

Wednesday 18th November – BUCS Cup Second Round

Any hopes the UYHC women’s seconds had of lifting the BUCS Cup will have to be shelved until next year as Sheffield battled from behind to progress into round three. York more than matched their higher league opponents for lengthy periods of this tie and had taken the lead through Sammi Spencer, but defensive hesitancy proved costly in the second-half.

Despite home advantage, York entered the game as underdogs against a Sheffield team who compete one rung further up the BUCS ladder. However, the uninitiated wouldn’t have been able to tell the teams apart as York bossed proceedings for all but the last 20 minutes. Inspired by woman-of-the-match Emily Scott, their enterprise, particularly down the wings, was only let down by some uncertain finishing and when Spencer scored on 45 minutes, an upset genuinely seemed on the cards.

Her goal was a cracker: finding space in the centre of the ‘D,’ she weaved past a couple of markers and finished smartly from close range. However, Sheffield responded with an attacking barrage of their own and, with York looking increasingly desperate, struck twice in quick succession to swing the game in their favour.

Emily Scott, York’s woman-of-the-match, was outstanding on the wing, but couldn’t avert her team’s cup exit. Photograph by Peter Iveson.

This flurry of excitement after the interval stood in stark contrast to the low-key first-half, which was littered with simple mistakes and featured precious little cohesion from either team. Chances were consequently few and far between in the grim November drizzle, the best of them falling to Spencer, who saw an early effort booted away by the goalkeeper after working the ball past three defenders. Sally Warrington excelled in defence for York, although the visitors offered only fleeting examples of their potency.

Thankfully for those assembled on the touchline, the second-half provided greater entertainment, with York’s Sophie Williams signalling early intent by firing across goal from an acute angle. It got better moments later with Spencer’s goal, but that was the limit of York’s attacking.

Roused from their stupor by the indignity of falling behind, Sheffield launched wave after wave of attack to test the tiring York defence. Most of these moves crashed harmlessly against Warrington or Sophie Hossack at the back, but two breached the wall and these proved just enough to progress.

York dominated long periods of this BUCS Cup second round tie, but were unable to find the breakthrough. Photograph by Peter Iveson.

First, a close range shot slipped between the legs of goalkeeper Amy Hazlehurst and then, after a communication breakdown between Hossack and her ‘keeper nearly cost a goal, Sheffield took advantage of an uncleared short corner to fire home the winner on 66 minutes.

The late double was heartbreaking for the seconds, who should be proud of the manner in which they matched higher league opposition. Although they narrowly missed out on advancement in the cup competition, the side can now concentrate on BUCS League 6B, which should present few difficulties on today’s evidence.

York Squad: GK. Amy Hazlehurst, 5. Sophie Hossack, 7. Sally Warrington, 8. Jessica Bonham, 11. Mira Wolf-Bauwens, 17. Kate Dewar (c), 20. Harriet Nicholls, 22. Sammi Spencer, 24. Rachel Knighton, 25. Freya Wigzell, 29. Sophie Williams, 33. Emily Scott, 77. Cat Johnson