Brief summary by Terry with added content by Dave

After negotiating the badly planned roads of Oxford, City arrived at Abingdon a mere 30 minutes late for a couple of friendly games which were supposed to be for first and seconds, but turned out to be for those intrepid 7 that made the journey. Our 8th player being Will's better half Angela.

Starting with a pair of strong and settling divisions, Cardiff were expecting a close game from the more experienced Abingdon team, and it seemed that way early on. An early penalty for the hosts was calmly dispatched, and they were on their way. It took City a while before Dave's end started to fire, and when Susan Van Nistelrooy earned our only penalty, Dave confidently put it away for his 1st in a haul of 5. A quick goal each put everyone back to square one, before City gained their first lead of the game just before half time.

It was a lead they would then not lose. An excellent spell early in the second half where City netted four unanswered goals effectively won the game, with Terry and Rob both netting from good range on the big court, and Dave proving lethal around the post. (probably due to my end being on fire eh Terry?) Abingdon fought back, but City remained calm and weathered the storm before finishing strongly to win the game comfortably 5-10.

Swapping the divisions around for some experimentation City looked more disjointed in the second game but still managed to produce the victory (5-6). Strong around the post and clever in the feed, it was our girls that orchestrated the victory. Susan and Elaine both used their experience to make the most of the boys' energy out front, while Angela and Rachel secured the post. It was especially pleasing to see so much effort going into the rebounding after all the practice Terry's made us do! Josh used his last reserves of energy to score a hatrick in this game, before comically losing the ability to run as the ball bounced tamely past his feet.

All round this was a very pleasing result. The girls didn't score many, but were vital in the attacking play and looked strong all round in defence, while the chaps will be pleased with their ability to convert the chances. A big "thank you" to Angela who made up the girls and was denied a good goal. Also, top marks for Will and Abingdon for letting us come and play. Ta muchly.

Finally, thanks the bloke from Oxford who reffed the entire thing so splendidly.

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