South Notts and Boots share the points in a clos

A tough-fought draw was the outcome for South Nottingham Hockey Club Ladies after a 2-2 outcome meant they shared the points with a strong Boots side.

In the opening minutes, a powerful Boots team erupted their attacking prowess onto the South Nottingham goal.

Liz Foster and Freya Beaumont stepped up to deal with the attacks backed by the reliable sweeper Eleanor Wallace.

Between them, they managed to deal with and shut down most of the assaults on goal.

Whatever they couldn't deal with was handled by in-form keeper

Elizabeth Turner in goals.

There was a good crowd at the match and the nervousness of the atmosphere increased as the game progressed.

With Wallace cleaning up capably at the back and getting the ball forward, Boots' attacks were kept on the back foot for a while.

Sophie Atkinson then took control of midfield.

Her creative energy was contagious and spread across the whole team.

Outside of her efforts, fellow players Emma Roberts and Rose Cartwright went flat-out inspiring South’s defenders and then helping their forwards who were trying to push past the Boots’ solid defence.

Up front, South Nottingham had Evie Bates in the centre, plus Rachael Grupping, and Becky Humfris floating dangerously in attack.

All roamed widely and opened up unmarked spaces to receive cunning passes.

The tactic started to pay off and enabled them to strike repeated shots at the Boots’ goal.

Humfris, in particular, caused the opposition problems, but Evie Bates and Rachael Grupping were not outshone as they also pressured the Boots' defence.

The match ebbed and flowed, between two fairly evenly matched teams.

Humfris opened the scoring with a nice piece of skill, steering the ball on a tight angle around the Boots’ keeper.

Boots soon changed tactics and promptly equalised to take the score to 1-1.

The game was tight and neither side could definitively pull away.

Ten minutes from full time, Boots struck a potentially game-changing brilliant goal.

Up 2-1, the visitors tried to park the bus and capitalise on their lead.

South Nottingham exploded into action.

Grupping swung in a beautiful cross, Bates fired it at the Boots’ keeper, who just managed to fend it off.

However, Sophie Runciman was alert and collected the rebound before steering it silkily into their net.

The game was tied 2-2 and not long after the final whistle sounded.