Ladies 1st XI secure their first win to kick off the new season with a bang

In 26-degree heat with no subs and what felt like 100% humidity, the girls battled valiantly in a new formation to put together a fantastic performance in our first friendly of the season.

The girls had a strong start to the game which saw them encroaching Chiltern's circle within seconds of the starting whistle, however despite several shots on goal the ball remained stubbornly out of the net until the 12th minute, when las year's top goalscorer Suz opened the scoring for the 1s with a cheeky left-post tap-in.

The ball remained in Chiltern's defensive end for most of the remainder of the first half, with several Chiltern counter-attacks being blocked by a fantastic defensive trio of Ayse, Sharky and Zoe. Chiltern did manage to win themselves a number of short corners, however Ashley did a great job in her first time ever running 1 to prevent any shots from being taken and even kick-starting a counter-attack with a 70-yard sprint to the opposite end of the pitch!

As we were beginning to tire by the end of the half, Chiltern did have a couple of circle entries and a strike at goal, however Tammy made some cracking saves to keep the ball safely out of our net and maintain our clean sheet.

After refuelling on water and Percy Pigs during the break, the girls kept the pressure on in the second half and it wasn't long until Suz added to her tally with a cracking strike to the bottom corner.

Sharky then took us to the 3-0 mark with a perfect left-slip penalty corner routine with Suz that sailed over the Chiltern keeper's outstretched leg and into the backboard.

As the game neared the end it became a question of when, not if, the ball would next find its way into the goal. After having her tomahawk strike blown for danger, Ashley was on a mission to get herself on the scoresheet before the time was up, and she finally managed this in the 64th minute.

Overall, it was a fantastic result for the team, and one which we're excited to build on in our next friendly against Bedford in just under two weeks' time!