Thirsk Under 16 Girls in the Yorkshire Youth Hockey League on Sunday 4th December 2011.
The first game for Thirsk was against Driffield; with most of the play happening in the Driffield half the Thirsk defence was not tested much during the game! Thirsk had some swift passes and were pushing forward fast but Driffield soon closed the likes of Emily Ramsden and Fran Houseman down. Thirsk attacked Driffield from every angle with Daisy Jackson and Emma Frost causing problems for the midfield, pushing the ball up to the front players so they could cause more problems for the Driffield goalie. The first short corner came early on but a near miss denied Emily the chance of scoring. Driffield did manage to put one attack together but was soon thwarted with a solid defence from Thirsk the ball was kept out and was moved swiftly back up the flanks. Thirsk just couldn’t manage to score even though they had all the play ending the game with a 0 – 0 draw.
Next came York who were undoubtedly the hardest team that we would face but all the girls went out and gave it there all. It was very much an even match to start with but a fast break from York saw Thirsk go 1 down to start with but undeterred Thirsk where quick to respond with a smashing hit from Daisy which saw the ball go deep into the York circle, and even past the goalie, to be picked up on the post by Under 14 player Holly Oldham to turn the ball into the goal! Thirsk where on a high after that battling hard throughout and dominated most of the game. When York did penetrate the Thirsk circle the defence held strong on one occasion defender Maisy Bradbury saving a sure goal from off the back line. At the final whistle saw Thirsk draw 1 – 1 to York a good solid game played by all.
Then came Harrogate. After drawing to York, Thirsk wanted to push on and try and get a win under their belt. Thirsk applied fast pressure right from the off and during the first stages of the game were only whiskers away from scoring with Emily again brushing the post, it just wasn’t meant to be for her. Thirsk where awarded a couple of short corners, but seeing the break from Harrogate’s defence they just couldn’t finish them off by scoring that all important goal. Again with most of the play in Harrogate’s half the girls kept their heads up high as they controlled all of the game, when the defence where needed they where brilliant and great keeping by Lucy Watkiss made sure of another clean sheet. The game ending 0 – 0. Finally the game against Hull. Thirsk started well in this game and again their attack was fast and furious getting the ball in Hull’s end and putting pressure on the keeper right from the start. Thirsk where denied a short corner but made an impact from the long corner that they where given, Emily again was close to opening the score lines but the ball came off the keepers pads. With a hit out given to Hull the Thirsk press was superb giving the Hull defence no opportunity to play the ball out, the only option open to them was to hit the ball out unfortunately the ball rose into one of the Thirsk players hitting Fran on the head, (with that in mind we hope she feels better soon). After a pause for the injury to be seen to the game continued, ending with another draw for Thirsk. All the girls should be really proud of themselves today it was brilliant play from the whole team.
Report by James Laking

The U16 girls played really really well on the 6th Feb. Emma’s 12 year old sister vicky played to make up the team to 11 members and she fit in really well with the team.
They travelled to Brigshaw High School with a full squad. Their first opponents were Driffield and Thirsk definitely started with determination keeping most of the possession and playing in the attacking half for most of the game. Some great runs from Mirrander Turner, Emma Frost and Ellie Tempest applied pressure to the Driffield defence but Thirsk were unable to score. The final result was 0-0 which does not reflect how well they played. The second game was against Ben Rhydding and again Thirsk played very strongly as a team with great passing
between each other with Kitty Wilson dodging the defence. Unfortunately Ben Rhydding managed to make a break for it with two minutes to go and despite the best efforts of Thirsk’s defenders, Hope Hagen, Sophie Maude, Maisy Bradbury and goalkeeper Lucy Watkiss, Ben Rhydding managed to score a goal making the final score 1-0. The last game was against Wakefield who had not lost a game and again Thirsk didn’t disappoint with great defending, good passing, and good movement with the ball within the midfield players Daisy Jackson, Rebecca Parkinson and Vicky Frost. However Wakefield took charge and scored 6 goals bringing the final score to 6-0. Thirsk U16′s should be pleased with their play and complimented on their determination and best play of the season.

On a cold crispy morning at Brigshaw HS Castleford, Thirsk U16 girls took to the field for the first time this year after a long break due to the weather and having not played since November last year.
With a delay in play due to frost on the pitch, Thirsk faced for their first game a strong City of York A team and within a few minutes had already conceded 2 goals. Not giving up Thirsk fought back putting the York defence under pressure but were unable to convert any attacks into goals. York continued to press and scored a further 4 goals. Thirsk did manage to score a consolation goal with a great strike from Emily Ramsden from the top of the circle. The final score being 6 -1 to York.
The next game against Leeds saw Thirsk having the majority of possession of the ball and again had many opportunities to score within the first 15 minutes but could not put the ball in the back of the goal. Leeds then found second wind and started to outwit the Thirsk midfield and defence also having numerous chances to score only being thwarted by the Thirsk keeper. Eventually Thirsk broke the stalemate with Emma Linthwaite scoring their only goal. Thirsk then became a little complacent and let Leeds gain the advantage who soon equalised and with only a few minutes remaining Leeds scored the final winning goal. A disappointing 2 – 1 loss for Thirsk.