Arriving in Dawlish, the energy continued with some comments of concern that the team had forgotten this was still a league match and we had 30 more goals to score to reach the goal of 100 in a season! It was decided that we would start with 5 clean passes, a tactic the KS have employed all season when they need a reminder to settle down and play their own hockey.

From the whistle, the tactics were employed impeccably with 8 linked passes that meant cougars were in Dawlish D with their first touch being a foot, giving the Cougars their first and second opportunity at a short corner. These were defended well but it wasn’t long until Emma Howell got into her flow and scored Cougars first goal at 5 minutes. A nice pattern started forming and KS decided to make Fi happy and make a pattern of the goals also scoring at 10 and 15 minutes. The umpire jinxed the pattern. Unfortunately, it took until minute 24 for Gen McBride to slip on past the keeper and 34 minutes for Lisa to put herself on the score sheet (and continue her campaign to be a forward). Half time: 5 - 0 to KS.

It isn’t quite certain when the time warp happened but at some point, during the game, a Time Machine took us back to 1980s where the rules were different. It took a few corners to work this out but once it was understood that it was necessary to stop the ball dead at the top of the circle, KS were well switched on and made sure their actions were very deliberate. Some of the other rules were not as clear and Captain Gen got a stern talking to by the Umpire warning that the next comment would be rewarded with a yellow card. Mouths zipped up and words converted into red faces, KS continued to dominate the game. Laura Kerly managed to break the force field around the goal that was preventing her scoring in the first half and smashed two goals passed the keeper in quick succession. Not quite happy with the 3 goals in the first half, Emma decided to keep her composure in a one on one with the keeper recording her 4th goal of the game. Full time 8-0 KS and a big celebration that we kept 11 on the pitch for the whole game. Roll on the celebrations.

Player of the game votes well deserved for Lou, Charlotte and Budge. Tess and Lisa both picked up 2 votes but winning the day with 4 votes for her 4 goals was Emma H.

Massive thanks to Izzy for helping the team out this week and Budge for the Budge bus. A few other thank yous for the season - Coach Nikki, you have been amazing at simplifying the game and deciding a strategy to allow the team to focus on key development points and always encouraging us to be relentless everywhere on the pitch. Thank you to all the umpires and Creeks for delicious teas. Huge thanks to everyone who has been part of the squad this year, it’s been a really positive, enjoyable season where some fantastic hockey has been played. Let go Cougars!