Sussex Ladies Vets Tournament

On Sunday 13 April East Grinstead Ladies’ Vets team (over 35s) participated in the Sussex tournament at Lewes.

The team was a great cross-section of the club from regular 1^st XI players to those in semi-retirement. Spirits were high, home-made tiffin was nibbled in the changing-room and the warm-up passed without incident.

With Burgess Hill having beaten Southwick 3-0, East Grinstead took the field against the latter with optimism. The team gelled well and everyone played brilliantly with great defence and strong attacking play from Louise Keith and Ali Creelman in the centre.  Goals were scored and saves made, with the final result being 4-1 to East Grinstead.

Luckily the matches were only 20 minutes each way and East Grinstead had a welcome 12th player, so after a short breather the team was ready to take on Burgess Hill in an exciting decider. This match was tougher and some good attacking hockey was played with both sides quite evenly matched. Burgess Hill had possibly benefited from a longer rest before the match but EG rose to the challenge and the final score was 1-1.

This meant that EG won the tournament overall on goal difference and Captain Shirley Cremin proudly stepped up to receive the trophy.

East Grinstead now go forward to represent Sussex in the South Vets’ Tournament on 27 April in Woking.

A big thank you must go to spring chicken Helen Prinsloo who came along to umpire.