RACHEL Croxton-Broome reckons Tenbury Ladies can keep punching above their weight in the Worcestershire Women’s Hockey League – provided they keep nurturing talent.

Tenbury took a sizeable step towards the sanctuary of mid-table in Division One with a 5-3 victory over Bromsgrove on Saturday.

Goals from Lisa Stokes and Vicky Jones arrived in a rip-roaring start but the visitors reduced the arrears before the half-time.

Slight tweaks to the home side’s play prompted Naomi Burgoyne, Abbie Davis and Stokes to net after the interval, leaving the gap too big for Bromsgrove to bridge despite a late rally.

It was Tenbury’s sixth win of the campaign and moved them up to fifth in the table despite having limited numbers to call upon.

“This season has been a mixed bag, mainly due to the availability of players,” said spokesperson and development lead Croxton-Broome.

“If all 15 were available every week, we could be right up there but with other commitments such as work, we can rarely name the same XI.

“Most weeks, we are lucky to have a substitute. Fortunately, this week was one of our better turnouts and the win took us away from the bottom end. We should finish mid-table now and would be happy with that.

“It has been hard work but we do have some real talent which makes it worthwhile. On our day, we can beat anyone in this league.”

On the match, she added: “We were really dominant in the first 15 minutes but they came back at us and got a goal.

“I gave a bit of a team talk at half-time because we were not using the width or marking a couple of their key players. We were not moving the ball like we know we can so we got back on top of that.

“The start of the second half was dream hockey. The girls played really well and scored three quick goals.

“We don’t really have a coach as such. Normally, we just have a talk at half-time rather than doing anything formal.

“It was quite easy to put right, the wide players said they were not getting the ball so we fixed it and played some really good stuff.”

The second team lost 3-2 at home to Harborne V at the weekend but has made steady progress since reforming with four wins and two draws from nine Division Three outings to date.

“Our seconds folded about four years ago and this is our first season back,” said Croxton-Broome.

“They are nearly all youngsters, aged 13 to 16, and it is their first experience of playing competitive league hockey.

“We tend to field two adults to give them that knowhow but the team is doing really well all things considered. We are happy for the team to be competitive at that level and help to feed the first team.”

The club is looking to recruit with players of all abilities aged 13 and above. Email Croxton-Broome.R@lacon-childe.org.uk to register your interest.