Ladies 1st XI remain top of the league

Swindon put in a below average performance away at Newent and were held to a 2-2 draw.

Swindon's flowing game was regularly thwarted by a focussed Newent team who put Swindon under pressure in the first half. The home team were rewarded early as they converted a penalty corner to go 1-0 up.

Swindon did rally with Gemma Scrase combining with captain Vicky Stokes but she failed to convert two clear opportunities. These misses became even more costly when Newent converted another penalty corner with a straight shot that gave Swindon keeper Sarah Newman no chance to make a save.

With the interval approaching, Swindon upped their game and forced a penalty corner. A well worked routine gave Linda Brouwers the chance to place a perfect shot past the Newent keeper to make the score 2-1 at the interval.

The second half started well for Swindon and it took only 2 minutes for Swindon to draw level. A strong run by Gemma Scrase opened up the defence and her pass found Vicky Stokes in the circle. She made no mistake this time and smashed a first time shot into the net to level the score.

Both sides had chances to win the match with Sarah Newman making saves to keep Swindon level, but the game ended 2-2.

After the game, Swindon's coach Craig Sage reflected on the first half of the season "remaining unbeaten has been a great achievement, but today's match was a wake up call. The team needs to improve consistency and have more focus if they want to win this league."