THERE were scenes of joy for Bretforton Ladies over 45s after they reached the Investec Women’s Knockout Plate national final thanks to a dramatic penalty flicks victory over visitors St Albans.
The Pink Ladies will now await confirmation of their opposition in the final, which will be played at Lee Valley Hockey Centre in London’s Olympic Park on Sunday, April 29 (11am).
The Hertfordshire side arrived as favourites but Bretforton were in no mood to waste this opportunity and took the lead when Julie Hall surged along the right and crossed to Danielle Cox whose first shot was blocked by the keeper, but the stopper was powerless to prevent Cox from knocking home the rebound.
The visitors drew level from a smart short corner routine but Bretforton responded and regained the lead when Hall again found space again on the right and took the ball to the byline before pulling it back to Andrea Cole who produced a clinical finish.
St Albans thought they had equalised for a second time before the break from another short corner but the effort was ruled out for an infringement.
The hosts attempted to build on their reprieve in the second half and captain Lisa Workman made some fine runs which created chances for Ness Dufty and Tessa Lewinton up front.
The third goal did not arrive for Bretforton though and, despite impressive defensive work from Blanche Surman and a number of saves from keeper Vicky Watkins, St Albans made it 2-2 ten minutes from time.
Cox almost bagged a winner for Bretforton but it was not to be and the match went to penalty flicks, which proved hard to score as the pressure mounted.
Only Lucy Wilkes was successful for Bretforton in the first five flicks but, thanks to the heroics of Watkins, this proved enough to take the shoot-out into sudden death in which Wilkes put the Pink Ladies’ second effort away to spark wild scenes of celebration.
For more details about supporting Bretforton in the final, visit the club’s Facebook page, search @BretHockey on Twitter or go to www.bretfortonladieshockey.com.