After a few weeks off due to bad weather the Thirsk ladies first team were ready for their home game on the 18 February against Dewsbury firsts. The game got off to a good start with Thirsk taking possession and applying pressure on the Dewsbury goalie. There was great play from Daisy Jackson to Emily Ramsden running into the D and with Anna Hunter ready for the deflection Thirsk got their first goal to lead 1-0. Dewsbury retaliated quickly and much to the efforts of the Thirsk defence the score was a 1-1 for half time.

In the second half Thirsk managed to pick up their pace and there was some great play between Hayley Maxwell, Lynne Mckoewn and Hannah Rodgers moving the ball up the pitch and applying pressure eventually rewarding Thirsk with a short corner. With great skills from Lynne Mckoewn and a pass to Hannah Rodgers Thirsk took a 2-1 lead. Dewsbury kept applying pressure but Thirsk’s defenders Maisy Bradbury, Stacey Lewis and Sarah Goacher didn’t allow them through with great interception of passes and passing the ball forward to Anna Morris who ran into attack. Thirsk were awarded another short corner and with Clare Goacher ready for a rebound the ball hit the back of the goal making the score 3-1. Again Dewsbury tried to fight back but with Val Grainger in goal for Thirsk their attempts failed and with a strong run from Clare Goacher she shot from the top of the D scoring the final goal of the match. The final score was 4-1 to Thirsk and player of the match was awarded to Clare Goacher.

On the 28th Jan 2012 Thirsk travelled to Leeds to play the top of the league Leeds UNI 3. Thirsk started the game off well with great movement of the ball around the pitch holding most of the possession. There was great passing from Anna Morris to Lynne Mckoewn moving the ball through the middle of the field with Daisy Jackson, Chrissy Stapley-Hinton and Steph Wilkinson moving the ball up the pitch. Leeds defenders were having to work hard to keep Thirsk out of the D but with a pass from Emily Ramsden and a good break from Clare Goacher the ball was ran fast into the D and with a shot the ball was nicely placed in the back of the goal by Anna Hunter. At half time the score was 1-0 to Thirsk.
Thirsk came on with determination to defend their score in the second half and there were some strong saves by the Thirsk Goalie Harriet Bagley. Thirsk defenders tackled hard with some great interceptions from Sarah Goacher, Beth Bradbury and Stacey Lewis with Hayley Maxwell moving the ball into the safety of the Thirsk attackers. Unfortunately Leeds were not going to let Thirsk have an easy game and managed to bring the score to a 1-1 draw early in the second half. Without letting their heads go down Thirsk fought back and with a strong hit into the D by Anna Hunter and a good deflection by Clare Goacher Thirsk saw themselves back in the lead at 2-1. With only minutes left to go Thirsk were giving their everything to keep the ball in the safety of their attacking half but Leeds managed to equalise with minutes go bringing the final score to a 2-2 draw. Great play from Thirsk against the top of the League. Sarah Goacher got player of the match.

Thirsk played Colne Valley 3 at home on the 21st of January. Having won the last 4 games Thirsk were keen to keep their winning streak up and started the first half off with great pace and passing. With great skill from Lynne Mckoewn getting around Colne Valley defenders in the D and passing to Clare Goacher to score, Thirsk were quickly in the lead. Colne Valley were quick to retaliate though bringing the score to 1-1 and soon after taking the lead from a short corner. Colne Vally nearly managed to gain a 2 goal lead shortly after but Hayley Maxwell had an amazing save right on the goal line. Thirsk then picked up their pace and did not give up and with good running from Daisy Jackson and Emily Ramsden to Lynne Mckoewn, a replica goal to the first was scored by Clare Goacher making the score a 2-2 draw at half time.
The second half was a test for Thirsk with Colne Vally applying the pressure and even though Thirsk had most of the possession they struggled to add to the score. There was great passing and intercepting between Stacey Lewis and Chrissy Stapley-Hinton moving the ball up the left hand side but Colne Vally managed to make a break and got rewarded with a goal from a short corner putting them in a 3-2 lead. Thirsk didn’t let their heads go down and with only 10minutes left they gave all they had. Val Grainger made some great saves and Beth Bradbury and Sarah Goacher made some great interceptions stopping Colne Vally getting into the D and moving the ball up the pitch to attack. Again Lynne Mckoewn ran the ball into the D and with lots of shouting and a strong shot from a free Steph Wilkinson a goal was scored giving Thirsk a 3-3 draw. Thirsk battled on and with a great run up the left hand side into the D the winning goal was scored by Anna Hunter with 2 minutes to go. The end score was a deserved 4-3 to Thirsk. Anna Hunter, Steph Wilkinson and Lynne Mckoewn got joint player of the match.

Thirsk played Halifax at home on the 7th January. With it being the first game after the Christmas holidays Thirsk were slightly unsure about their fitness and soon realised they were going to get tested. The game started fast paced with Halifax pushing Thirsk straight off the whistle. There were some great runs from Anna Morris, Lynne McKoewn, Chrissy Stapley-Hinton and Daisy Jackson in the middle of the field moving the ball from Halifax to the Thirsk forwards who had some great attempts on goal. Thirsk managed to keep pushing and eventually with a pass from the top of the D Emily Ramsden got a stick on the ball placing it in the back of the goal. Unfortunately for Thirsk Halifax responded with a goal to make the score 1-1 at half time.
Thirsk started the second half with determination and there was great goal keeping from Val Grainger and defending from Sarah Goacher, Beth Bradbury, Stacey Lewis and Hayley Maxwell who saved a ball right off the goal line. Thirsk managed to keep the possession for the majority of the second half with great skills and running from Steph Wilkinson, Anna Hunter and Lynne Mckoewn moving the ball around the pitch. With good team work and perseverance Thirsk lifted the score to 2-1 with a run and a great goal from the top of the D over the goalies head by Clare Goacher. Thirsk then managed to keep themselves working hard until the last whistle to keep their win of 2-1. Great start to the New Year with their 4th win in a row over the season. Player of the match was Clare Goacher.

Thirsk Ladies 1st team played their last match before Christmas at home against Wakefield Wanderers. The game started off with Thirsk taking most of the possession and putting pressure on Wakefield’s defence. There was great passing between midfields and forwards with Lynne Mckoewn and Clare Goacher running the ball into the D, and Chrissy Stapley-Hinton and Daisy Jackson getting the ball down the wings to the forwards. Thirsk were first to hit the back of the net but Wakefield were hot on their heels and at half time the score was 3-2 to Thirsk.
Thirsk started the second half with determination to win however Wakefield were not giving up and brought the score to 3-3 in the first 5minutes. Thirsk’s defenders kept their heads high and there were some great stops from Sarah Goacher, Stacey Lewis and Beth Bradbury and some great kicks out from Wendy Bardon in goal stopping Wakefield from getting any more chances on goal. Thirsk made some great breaks of attack and with some superb skill and team work between Anna Morris, Karen Skippings and Anna Hunter Thirsk got 3 strong consecutive goals giving Thirsk a very pleasing 6-3 win. Anna Hunter was player of the match.

Thirsk Ladies 1st team played at home this week against Selby. The game got off to a fast start with Selby putting pressure on the Thirsk defence and although Stacey Lewis, Maisy and Beth Bradbury were putting up a great fight Selby managed to score the first goal of the game. With time left in the first half Thirsk were not going to give up and there was some lovely passing from Lynne Mckoewn to Daisy Jackson and up to Emily Ramsden in the D. Thirsk were putting great pressure onto Selby’s defence and with a good reverse flick from the top of the D Clare Goacher managed to get the ball over the goalies head into the top right hand corner of the goal. At half time the score was 1-1.
Thirsk started the 2nd half with determination to win. There was great team play, strong passes and great interceptions of the Selby passes by Thirsk. Selby managed to get some good breaks but Goalie Harriet Bagley had some great stops with Sarah Goacher taking the ball and moving it out of danger from Selby. Chrissy Stapley-Hinton made some great runs and with a pass to Anna Hunter who used her skills past the Selby defenders only to be taken out by the goalie, Thirsk were rewarded with a penalty flick. Lynne Mckoewn stepped up and the score was brought to 2-1 to Thirsk to finish the game. Anna Morris was voted player of the match.

Thirsk Ladies 1st team travelled away to play Leeds Adel Carnegie 3’s in this week’s league match. Despite the wet weather Thirsk had high spirits for their game and got off to a great start. There was great set passing on the right between Daisy Jackson and Emily Ramsden driving strong into the D and also from the left by Chrissy Stapley- Hinton to Anna Hunter who managed to get the first goal of the match from a strong strike. At half time Thirsk were 1-0 up.
As the second half got underway Adel were pushing hard and putting pressure on the Thirsk defenders. Sarah Goacher, Beth Bradbury, Hayley Maxwell and Anna Morris kept fighting Adel off but unfortunately Adel succeeded to hit the back board despite Ellie Skipping’s great defending which brought the score to 1-1. Thirsk picked up their game and had most of the possession in their attacking half using the width and passing back to help distribute the ball. Lynne Mckown skilfully played into the D to get Thirsk a short corner and Thirsk got back in front with a goal from Clare Goacher. Thirsk had many more chances in the last minutes of the game with some great shots on goal however Adel’s Goalie made it difficult for Thirsk to hit the backboard again. The final score was a 2-1 win to Thirsk. Player of the match was joint Lynne Mckoewn and Clare Goacher but a big effort and well done to the team.

Thirsk Ladies 1^st team played a home match on the 12^th November against the local team Northallerton.  Thirsk were all psyched up ready for the game and started off extremely strong with a great interception from the Northallerton push back resulting in a goal from Clare Goacher in the first 5minutes. Thirsk continued to push with great running and passing between Daisy Jackson and Emily Ramsden to Lynne Mckoewn taking a shot from the top of the D bringing the score to 2-0 in the first 10 minutes. Thirsk were playing extremely well but unfortunately Northallerton had different ideas and at half time the score was 2-2.

The second half started off well with Thirsk having most of the possession moving the ball from Hayley Maxwell to Chrissy Stapley-Hinton to Anna Hunter who had some great tries on goal however Thirsk’s forwards just couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net! Northallerton managed to make a few breaks and much to the great defending from Stacey Lewis, Karen Skippings , Beth and Maisy Bradbury  and also great goal keeping from Charlotte Maxwell, Northallerton managed to push through with some hard shots on goal. The end result was a 6-2 win to Northallerton

Player of the match was joint to Lyne Mckoewn, Karen Skippings and Chrissy Stapley-Hinton.