COLWALL and Malvern beat Gloucester thirds 3-2 at home in their last West Clubs Women’s League Severn Division One game before the Christmas break.

But the visitors started the brighter and only fine defending by Nicki Harvey and Sarah Richardson prevented them taking an early lead.

Colwall and Malvern then started to put some passes together with Erica Abbey and India Vance combining well down the right-hand side.

A penalty corner was awarded and Jackie Styles put home the rebound after Georgia Sammon’s flick hit the post.

The home side continued to look dangerous on the counter-attack but conceded an equaliser from a well-struck penalty corner.

Katie Smith put Colwall and Malvern 2-1 up at half-time, sweeping home following another pacy run from player of the match Vance.

Gloucester began the second half strongly, pushing the Colwall and Malvern defence back.

They scored their equaliser with a well-judged deflection.

Colwall and Malvern pressed hard to find a winner and Nicky Glover secured all three points by firing home from close range.

They go into the Christmas break sitting comfortably in mid-table.

The youthful seconds team drew 3-3 with their Blockley counterparts in Division Three.

Strong crosswinds did not hamper a fast-paced, end-to-end game. Young defenders Pippa Harris, Natalie Ford, Chloe Williamson and Bliss Lam worked hard as a unit to limit the chances for the more experienced Blockley forwards.

The midfield of Neddy Pritchard, Ellie Carolan, Millie Cooke and Naomi Heywood worked hard to support the defence and make attacking moves up the pitch, feeding forwards Poppy Isserlis and Chloe Hawkins.

Sustained pressure saw Blockley make the first breakthrough. The game then went end-to-end as goals were scored by both sides.

Player of the match Pritchard scored twice for Colwall and Malvern followed by Hawkins scoring her first goal for the club.

Blockley tried hard to find a winning goal at the end with three penalty corners successfully defended, resulting in a well-deserved draw.

Training will resume on Wednesday, January 6, for over 13s of any standard or experience. For more details, email cmhockey@hotmail.co.uk.