Burton battle back from three down but it’s Repton who have the edge in cup clash

BURTON Hockey Club’s women were edged out 4-3 in a cup match against Repton firsts after battling back from 3-0 down.

Recently-formed Repton play in a lower division than Burton but are not expected to be there for long as they embark on a climb through the Midland divisions and Burton knew they were in for a tough battle.

A strong start from Burton saw Megan Ridley force the Repton keeper into a good save but the opposition’s speed soon told and they took control, forging into a 3-0 lead.

Undeterred, Burton hit back, competing in midfield, breaking up attacks and countering well.

A long corner taken quickly by Amy Palmer allowed her to drive into the D, avoiding Repton sticks and scoring with a reverse stick sweep that just made it through the keeper’s legs and trickled over the line.

Just before half-time, an interception ended a Repton attack and Nicola Taylor found herself alone in the D, lifting the ball over the keeper to make it 3-2. The pattern continued after the break, with Burton frustrating their opponents, and they equalised from a short corner, Palmer scoring with a straight strike that rocketed into the bottom corner.

However, Burton could not go on to get the winner and it was Repton who rallied to score again. Burton’s player of the match was Chloe Logan, who stepped up to play left-back and battled hard. The ladies’ seconds had a 4-0 friendly win over Ashby seconds with goals from Amy Palmer (2), Felicity Norcross and Olivia Dale. The thirds also played Ashby and won 3-2.

Ashby dominated the first 10 minutes but it was Burton who opened the scoring after a move up the left led to Hattie Lester finishing with a shot across goal into the bottom corner. Ashby hit back and scored twice to go into half-time 2-1 up. Within five minutes of the restart, Izzy Ridley netted the equaliser and, before long, Ridley was on target again to put Burton back in front.

They then had to withstand a string of Ashby short corners after that, with Alice Hawkins in good form in goal.