What a battle !! We were missing Nikki Callan for the first game and have drafted in Leah Payne for her first league start for the first XI other than that the team remained pretty much as it had been last season.  We knew this would be a tough game, Melrose having been relegated last year still boasted former international players ( i suppose we could shout about Lynne Couper's numerous under 21 caps but that was a wee while back !!!!!!!)

Anyways onto the game..Melrose quickly took the game to Dunfermline, they moved the ball very quickly and we really had to be on our toes to stop them getting any strikes on goal.  Unfortunately the pressure they put on us told and we lost 2 goals to penalty corners in the first half despite some great defensive play from Christine and Gail.  Dunfermline were struggling to cope with the pressure and half time was a welcome break.

Into the 2nd half and things started to turn around, Dunfermline started to play their own game, knocking the ball around the pitch with confidence.  The whole team worked really hard to keep their shape and were rewarded with a goal.  Some good play through the midfield led to Shirley sweeping the ball into the D a slight lift seemed to put Melrose off but not Lesley Couper who promptly batted the ball into the goal. Melrose unfortunately came straight back at us and another penalty corner stopped on the line by Lynne resulted in goal number 3 from the resulting penalty flick.

Not beaten yet Dunfermline continued to play good hockey and made Melrose work really hard to gain possession.  The teams hard work paid off again with around 10 minutes to  go.  The Couper twins magical intuition for once paid off.... Lynne playing a great ball through the middle of the pitch for Lesley to deflect around the keeper..  3 - 2.  Dunfermline kept pushing for the winner and with 4 minutes to go some great play in the left of midfield led to another long pass to Lesley to strike top D into the bottom corner - 3 - 3. Just about home and dry - Melrose tried their luck with a flick from a penalty corner which hit the post before being cleared - the defence did have it covered though - honest !!

Great start to the season and a brilliant comeback from the whole team. Melrose will deffo be looking for promotion this year and we did really well to get this result.

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