Injury a blow for Harleston

Sevenoaks 1, Harleston Magpies 0

MAGPIES had the worst possible start to the new Women's England Hockey League East Conference season.

They lost Anna Toulson with a head injury after just two minutes, which effectively ruled her out of the match.

Not only did it disrupt the Harleston team plan but they also lost one of their most potent attackers.

This clearly unsettled Magpies for a while and it was during this spell that Sarah Pinkstone gave Sevenoaks the lead after 13 minutes.

Angie Wheelhouse had the ball in the net shortly afterwards but after the umpires had conferred it was correctly disallowed as the ball had initially hit her foot.

Angie also had another chance which she fired over the crossbar.

Magpies' midfield had to work very hard throughout the match in very hot conditions, as they tried to close down the opposition and the work rate of Ellie Bale, Debbie McAllen and Cherry Seaborn was outstanding.

Although Harleston were having to work very hard they had their moments with some quality passing, and their best chances came from the counter attacks but they were not able to complete the final pass.

Halfway through the second half Magpies were unfortunate not to equalise when a free-hit outside the circle was deflected by Gemma Jones and Cherry Seaborn reacted quickly and saw her shot rebound off a post.

Captain Louisa Greenacre marshalled the defence well all afternoon and was well supported by goalkeeper Lucy Hayman throughout the game.

Most of the game was about the midfield battle and in the final 10 minutes Magpies pressed very hard for the equaliser. But Sevenoaks defended well to ensure they secured all three points.

Although Magpies were up against it from early on their battling performance probably deserved a draw.

This week Magpies are at home against Southgate on Saturday, starting at 12.30pm.