Kingsbridge and Salcombe hosted their first Prem 2b league game of the season against newly promoted Exe 2s who finished top of the South Division by a clear 6 points, being an unknown quantity the Cougars were unsure what to expect.
A strong pre match team talk by coach Gary Blythe set the focus nicely - “Don’t count the days, make the days count” (Mohammed Ali) and the Cougars wanted to make this game count and come away with their first win.

From the start Kingsbridge and Salcombe dominated the play and improved their possession game after learning from their friendlies in previous weeks. Good connections and communication made moving the ball easier with great one-twos down the left side of the pitch from Bex Darke and Chloe Harvey, applying pressure to the shell shocked Exe team.
Laura Kerly gave the away side a headache with her fast pace and strength on the ball, they didn’t know how to handle her, which resulted in them giving away several short corners, the Cougars came close to converting but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.
Captain Fi Wadey played some solid hockey and oozed confidence on the ball in defence with clear calling and marking which meant that Exe didn’t get a shot away at goal.
More great defending by Rachael Roberts, Emily Read and Gemma Harvey continually denied the away side opportunities allowing the defence to be composed and confident to move the ball back and around allowing the Cougars to move up the pitch as a unit.
Lou Read had a forced break after receiving a shoulder to the face resulting in a black eye but being the warrior that she is she wasn’t off for too long and returned to her position holding the midfield strong.
30 minutes into the half Kingsbridge and Salcombe were rewarded for their persistence when a ball bounced to Lou Read making a great turn on the spot to feed through to Kerly who was waiting to slot the ball past the keeper.
Exe showed great character and began to build their own possession which meant Cougars keeper Claire Guard had to react quickly after a long period of not touching the ball. After an initial save was made by Guard, fast reflexes meant a double save with her helmet putting the ball just outside the post to deny the equaliser.
Exe continued to press and were awarded a few short corners but fast running by Roberts and Emily Read dampened any shots at goal.

Half time saw the Cougars 1-0 up and slightly frustrated that the score line wasn’t more. Blythe encouraged the girls to keep working hard and power forward.
The Cougars started the 2nd half strong and were eager to increase the score and with 5 minutes played Gemma Harvey blocked and broke down the Exe attack in the middle of the pitch to then play a fantastically placed ball to cousin Chloe Harvey who ran with strength to slip to Kerly who once again wrong footed the keeper to slot home another goal.
Momentum was on the Cougars side, strength from Abi Bell and Fern Tucker on the right gave Kingsbridge and Salcombe the width they needed.
Continuing her strong game Gemma Harvey wanted to get involved even more and assisted Kerly in her hat-trick making it 3-0 with just over 40 minutes played.
The Cougars were looking good but heat was making both sides lose focus which allowed Exe to gain more ground on the leaders, this resulted in a short corner which the defence were unlucky not to keep out after facing several similar chances before.
Tess Baker gave a solid spell in defence and her logical thinking and movement got the ball away from immediate danger.
The home side worked hard to pressure a determined Exe team and Darke played the ball into space for Chloe Harvey to pick up and with some lovely stick on ball action forced the keeper to commit and then calmly rounded her to make it 4-1.
Exe weren’t finished yet and kept battling till the end and converted a scrappy goal after the Cougars were unable to clear the ball away.
The game ended 4-2 with a well earned win and 3 points from a new look Cougar side. Captain Wadey commented at the end of the game saying “I’m pleased with how we hit the ground running, with a high tempo game, working the ball well in all areas of the pitch, we have built on our performances and hopefully we will continue to improve as the season progresses – a fantastic win for the club”.
Player of the match was awarded to Gemma Harvey by a land slide vote from the team.

Big thank you to Devon umpires Neil Foster and Mark Sims who expertly officiated the match.

Thank you to Natalie Elliott from Quay Dental (Kingsbridge) for being the first match ball sponsor of the season and also a big thank you to Scrum v Catering for some amazing match teas at KRFC.
This weekend the Cougars travel to play Shepton Mallet push back @2.30pm. For more information please visit our website kscougars.co.uk or like our facebook page @kscougars to keep up to date.