South one

Caradon ladies 1

Tavistock ladies' firsts 0

TAVISTOCK Hockey Club ladies relinquished top spot in the league with a disappointing away defeat at bottom place Caradon. The result sees Tavistock slip to third place in the league, three points behind Plymouth University and Kingsbridge and Salcombe, although the the Reds still have a game in hand over their promotion rivals.

A win tonight (Thursday, March 12) against Okehampton would see Tavistock regain top spot thanks to their superior goal difference.

With Tavistock missing first team regulars Sarah Law, Susannah Boulle and Meg Benton, the Reds were forced to re-shuffle the line-up and it appeared to take them a while to adapt. The intensity from the previous game was missing and it was Tavistock player of the match Zoe Viggers who was the busier of the two goalkeepers early on.  

Neither side was able to create any clear cut chances and both teams failed to retain possession for any great length of time.  Tavistock was able to bring on right back Hannah Colston in the second half which allowed both Elz Mills-Hicks and Laura Armstrong to move into their more accustomed midfield and front line positions respectively.

Both sides were looking more of an attacking threat without really troubling the opposing keepers but the home side got the breakthrough and only goal of the game when a ball crossed in from the right baseline, deflected in off a Reds' defender and into the goal.  

Tavistock fought hard to grab an equaliser but but were unable to do as the home side packed the midfield and defence and denied Tavistock any space to exploit. Tavistock were clearly disappointed with the result but credit must be given to Caradon who looked far better than a team placed bottom of the league.

Bouncing straight back with a win against Okehampton will set up a tense finish for the remaining three games.

The penultimate game of the season will see them travel to promotion rivals Kingsbridge and Salcombe.