City Belles v Headington Ladies, Thames Valley Counties Football League Division 1, Sunday 30th September 2013, Kick off 2pm Team: Lou, Bronagh, Nicöla, Hazel, Anna, CD, Nimmo, Melinda, Lara, Sarah N, Clara, Kate, Jess and Sarah H. Score: 1-1 (Melinda) Today we travelled away to Milton Keynes to play City Belles who were playing in the Southern Region last year but have dropped down this season. The weather was superb, the sun was shining brightly and it was a perfect autumnal Sunday afternoon for running around! The pitch was a huge improvement on last week’s patchy effort! Kicking off playing into the wind we immediately took control; we were passing the ball around nicely and keeping possession. Attacking down the flanks we were causing all sorts of problems for the City defence. Sarah Newport was running riot on the left and Lara was turning them inside out on the right. The defence was solid and the midfield was battling for everything. The first attempts on goal were all by us as we tested their keeper with several shots which she dealt with comfortably. We pressed forward time and time again; it really was all one-way traffic! City Belles had their moments but didn’t break through our defence to test Lou. We took the lead mid-way through the first half, a late challenge gave us a free-kick 30yards out almost dead centre, CD tried her luck with a shot low to the keeper’s right, the keeper appeared to have gathered the ball so most of us turned around to run back into position……..screams from Melinda alerted us to the fact that the keeper had spilt the ball and she had reacted the quickest as the ball nestled in the back of the net! No one on the pitch could argue that we thoroughly deserved to be in the lead. As we continued to dominate City Belles fell apart, they were clearly rattled and couldn’t assert themselves on the game. The closest they came was when Nic was caught in possession allowing their striker to nip through and hit the post under heavy pressure from Hazel. We survived this scare and continued to frustrate our opponents; they couldn’t get the ball through the midfield with the bulk of the play being in the final third. The Belles had by now turned on each other and bemoaned every single refereeing decision including arguing with the referee over her decision to stop play for a head injury. Try as we might we just couldn’t find that finish which would’ve ended the game as a contest. The second half started in the same way as the first, there was only one team in it as we completely controlled and dominated the game. The Belles couldn’t live with us as we tore them apart time and time again. We just couldn’t find that final touch which would’ve opened up the flood-gates. We had effort after effort go either agonisingly wide or to be saved by their keeper. At the other end only a mistake would allow them to score an equalizer and sadly that’s how they grabbed their goal. The one time where we didn’t close down their midfielder would give them their only shot on goal of the second half. From a throw-in their striker ran unchallenged into the space between defence and midfield outside the penalty area and unleashed a shot which flew over Lou clipping the underside of the bar and flying in. This was a great finish but from our point of view was a poor goal to concede. This didn’t deter us from continuing to dominate the game, we created chances time and time again. This was the most one-sided 1-1 draw that anyone will ever witness! We carved their defence open at will, Jess was playing some great balls in from the right but we just couldn’t find the end product. The game ended 1-1, we were left disappointed that we had totally dominated them and hadn’t got the win that we richly deserved. Lou had practically nothing to do in goal, Anna, Bronagh and Jess were superb down the flanks, Nic and Hazel were rock solid in the middle of the defence, Kate, Nimmo and CD were magnificent in midfield and up-front Melinda, Lara, Sarah H, Clara and Sarah N tore their defence to shreds, we absolutely battered them but sadly couldn’t give Brian a much deserved birthday win!!
Posted on: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 21:08:17 +0000
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