With a voyage over the Pennines resulting in an unfortunate defeat only a fortnight ago, Brooklands Ladies 1s knew they would have their work cut out against a physical Ben Rhydding side.

They say third time’s a charm and for the Brooky girls, magic was very much in the air. Responding to Coach Joe’s request for “tempo”, Brooky led a pacy charge from the first whistle, dominating possession and making short work of Ben Rhydding’s experienced press.

Zipping the ball around the back, into the screens and back out, Brooky switched play to find space on the left hand side of the pitch, where Lottie B was waiting. A quick carry towards the circle and a ball into the P spot where Annie Mills was ready to pounce, with a strike off the back foot that not only put the ladies one goal ahead, but also miraculously cured the hamstring injury that had hampered Millsy all week. Magic indeed.

Small unit play had been the focus of the week’s preparations and the girls were enjoying putting this into practice, with further professional play culminating in an ugly zone scramble and a Brooky penalty stroke. Emboldened by the sudden injury recovery, El Capitano stepped up to the spot, with a top bins rocket that she will no doubt be talking about for years to come.

The start of the second half saw little respite from the ceaseless Brooklands assault and a two goal lead quickly became three, with Lara showing off some slick elimination skills before offloading to Watto, who slipped it past the Ben Rydding keeper with a speedy response to a rebounding ball.

Ben Rhydding narrowed the gap slightly, with a convincing bottom right hit from a short corner and late efforts from the home team to press Brooklands aggressively caused some momentary panic in the final minutes of the game, but it was too little, too late.

In a week of idioms, all good things come in threes: three Brooky goals, three points, three games in. If anyone had their doubts, the Brooklands Ladies have hit their stride - watch the magic continue in next week’s home clash against Gloucester, straight after the Ladies 2s.

Goals - 2x Mills; 1x Watton
Player of Match - Lara
DOD - Watton, yet again another card.