This weekend saw the Hunters travel away to Long Sutton, a fixture we had quietly circled on the calendar. Earlier in the season we’d drawn 1–1 with Long Sutton, and with them sitting just above us in the table, second from bottom, this felt like our best opportunity yet to secure a long-awaited win.

We arrived in high spirits, fuelled by long journeys soundtracked by Helen’s legendary Hockey Roadtrip playlist, and ready to give it everything. With 12 players available but missing our usual defensive centre backs, stand-in coach Jimmy helped us roll out a new formation. This saw our captain and usual forward drop back into centre defence, joined by Esme and Chloe — a bold move that would take a little time to settle.

It’s fair to say the first half was all about finding our feet. An early penalty flick in the 4th minute gave Long Sutton the lead, and despite growing into the game, we went into half time 1–0 down.

The second half, however, was a completely different story.

Around 10–15 minutes into the half, play was briefly halted after Stacey took a fall, landing awkwardly on her wrist. Sadly, this has since been confirmed as a chip to her wrist bone, meaning she is likely to be sidelined for the next 4–6 weeks. This will be a huge loss for the Hunters, and we’re wishing Stacey a smooth and speedy recovery.

The equaliser came from a brilliant run by Holly straight from the halfway line. She drove the ball into the D and found Jenny, who calmly swept it across to the left post where Emily D was perfectly positioned to tap it in. Cue huge celebrations for Emily’s first goal of the season.

Long Sutton responded quickly, regaining the lead just five minutes later, but the Hunters refused to let heads drop. A well-worked short corner followed, beautifully injected by Hannah to Emily S, who returned the ball perfectly for Hannah to sweep home with power and precision.

And then… the moment.

Another short corner, again injected by Hannah to Emily S, was slipped back to Hannah who swept the ball across goal to Jenny, waiting in textbook right-post position. Jenny tapped it in, celebrations erupted, and for a brief glorious moment, we believed we’d completed the comeback.

Unfortunately, the umpires disagreed, ruling that the ball had never left the D — despite the small detail that Emily S had slightly fluffed it at the top, sending it between her legs and requiring her to track back to recover it. Evidently, this was not convincing enough (even though they were, quite clearly, wrong).

So while GMS may officially record the game as a 2–2 draw, everyone in a Hunters shirt knows the truth: a hard-fought, well-earned moral 3–2 victory.

Holly’s tireless running and attacking drive earned her joint Player of the Match, an honour she shared with Hannah, who made run after run all game and delivered a standout performance across the pitch.

The Lemon of the Match was also a tie — this time between Hannah and Helen. Following Hannah’s goal, celebrations got a little too enthusiastic, resulting in the end of Hannah’s stick making contact with Helen’s forehead. Whether this was Hannah’s fault, or whether Helen simply ran into the stick, remains hotly contested… so a draw felt like the fairest outcome.

Plenty of positives to take, huge teamwork on display, and proof that this squad is more than capable of getting results — even when the scoreboard doesn’t quite agree.