Pembroke Ladies Hockey Club travelled to North Wales to face Bangor in the first round of the Welsh Plate competition on Sunday, November 5. Pembroke immediately attacked the Bangor goal, but good defending by the home defence kept them at bay. Pembroke started to pull the strings and excellent attacking play down the right side from Jackie Cadogan and Laura Scott resulted in Sarah Lunn opening the scoring with an excellent sweep shot. This galvanised Bangor and they produced their best period of the game, forcing two excellent saves from Pembroke 'keeper Victoria Scourfield. Pembroke's midfield of Jenny Cadogan, Kirsty Smith and Sarah Lunn started to get good ball through to forwards Jane Wheeler and Carys Jones. The defence of Julia Griffiths and Brenda Scourfield were untroubled and Pembroke went on to totally dominate this match and increased their lead through goals from Jenny Cadogan, Jackie Cadogan, Carys Jones, Jane Wheeler and a second for Sarah Lunn. This was an excellent team performance, with the final result being Bangor 0 Pembroke 6, and a place in the quarter-finals at Ruthin in January. Pembroke Ladies returned to league action on Sunday and played host to Tenby Ladies. This fixture is always an even affair, with both teams playing excellent, attacking hockey. Pembroke started the brighter, attacking down the flanks through wingbacks Sarah Silcox and Laura Scott, fully supported by the midfield of Jackie Cadogan, Jenny Cadogan, Katherine Hunter, Kirsty Smith, Nadia Lawrence and the ever-improving Sarah Lunn. Pembroke's forwards Jane Wheeler and Carys Jones created several scoring opportunities early on, but good defending from Tenby kept the score at 0-0. A break down the right saw Jackie Cadogan play the ball into the circle where Carys Jones unleashed a 'thunderbolt' into the back of the goal, giving the Tenby 'keeper no chance. This was a very open game, with both teams attacking strongly and creating several scoring opportunities, but good work by Pembroke's 'keeper Victoria Scourfield and sweeper Brenda Scourfield kept their lead at half-time. Tenby started the second half strongly, but failed to convert this pressure into goals. Pembroke steadied themselves and started to get a grip of the game and eventually increased their lead through Sarah Lunn and then secured all three points when Nadia Lawrence finished off a fine performance with a third goal.
Team: Victoria Scourfield, Laura Scott, Brenda Scourfield, Sarah Silcox, Katherine Hunter, Jackie Cadogan, Jenny Cadogan, Sarah Lunn, Kirsty Smith, Nadia Lawrence, Carys Jones and Jane Wheeler.
Pembroke Under 15s
After opening this year's league with a win against Fishguard, Pembroke's Under 15s went into their next league fixture against Tenby full of confidence. It is nice to see this group of players developing both individually and as a team, which resulted in some excellent attacking play that resulted in Pembroke eventually running out winners by two goals to nil. Saturday saw Pembroke travelling to Haverfordwest to play their next league fixture, knowing that this would be their toughest test yet. The first 15 minutes were very even, with both teams creating scoring opportunities, but failing to get that 'round thing' into the back of the net. Haverfordwest's more experienced players started to take control and from this domination went into the break two goals to the good. The second half saw Pembroke's defence and midfield under severe pressure, which resulted in Haverfordwest increasing their lead and running out winners by five goals to nil. Despite losing the game by five goals, this does not reflect the hard work and commitment shown by all players. A special mention must go to Sasha Erasmus, playing in goal for only the second time, who is showing great promise and will improve with every game. Team: Sasha Erasmus, Catrin Cox, Kirstyn Rodgers, Jessica Lawrence, Emily Morris, Hayley Ferrier, birthday girls -Libby and Kate Roberts, Harriet Newman, Saskia Boissevain and Dannieala Griffiths.