Premier Division 2B

KS Cougars 3,

Isca thirds 1

Looking to close out the season with a win and tick the stats box, KS took on Isca in their last league game of the season.

With a fifth place finish in the league already achieved, the Cougars started the match with a -1 goal difference, looking to finish the season in the positive.

KS hit the ground running, immediately putting in a solid opening spell in the Isca 25 and creating chances across goal with good movement through the inside channels.

With Isca on the back foot, the opening goal came against the run of play when the visitors broke from defence and scored from a short corner.

Undeterred, KS focused on the danger areas they were creating in the wide channels to stretch the Isca defence. Keeping good structure behind the ball, Laura Kerly broke clear inside the Isca half. Driving in on goal, the super striker leaned into the angle on the right and drove her shot home past the ‘keeper to bring the scores level on the half-hour mark.

Building on the pressure, a lovely quick ball from Helen Symons across the centre found Bex Darke in space. Keeping the ball moving quickly, Darke released Kerly on the angle, where the striker hit the D from the right and smashed into the near corner with a clinical finish for 2-1.

Holding a slim lead at half time, KS were expecting Isca to push hard from the restart and a 10-minute quiet spell from the Kingsbridge side allowed them back into the game. Calling for some committed jumping back from forwards and midfield alike to layer with the KS backs, Fi Wadey and Emily Read put in sterling work to hold and clear around the KS D. A long spell of end-to-end hockey ensued with Isca breaking at pace to pull several key saves from ‘keeper Claire Jones.

Finding their voices again, the Cougars picked up the pace and soon turned the momentum back in their favour, keeping Isca on the back foot even when temporarily down to 10 men as Bex Darke picked up a green card following a previous warning over the tackle.

A rock solid midfield driven by Lou Read gave KS a great platform to build play from across the Isca 25 as the Cougars attacked with switches down the right through Tess Baker. Captain Chloe Harvey nearly extended the Cougars’ lead as she latched on to an epic aerial from Read that was perfectly placed into an empty left D.

Attacking the width again Tess Morris, Gemma Samuel, Fern Tucker and Sarah Budgen put in solid spells to open up the field, allowing the Cougars to make better use of their transitions through the middle. Working full length on the wings, they made some great connections to build play from the back.

With excellent height from the backs Read and Wadey, the Cougars were pressing well to deny Isca opportunities on the counter, allowing the KS midfield to focus on building play into the opposition 25. From a great drive into the inside channels, Symons fed through Harvey to find Kerly near top D. 

Taking the bobbling ball in stride, Kerly dropped the right shoulder to open on the shot and fired home into the corner to complete her hat-trick and take the Cougars into a positive goal difference for the league.

As the final whistle blew on a great win, KS had ticked the second of their league targets for the season, finishing with a +1 goal difference which reflects the hard work put in across team to protect and score in more than equal measure this season.At fantastic post-match teas up at the Churchhouse Inn, Churchstow, Laura Kerly and Lou Read shared the woman-of-the-match award for outstanding performances, with coaches' player going to Helen Symons for a fully committed effort.'

KS have one game remaining, the Devon Cup final, to be played at Marjon College in Plymouth next Saturday – April 16 – 1pm against league rivals Teign. The club would love to see their supporters there to cheer them on!