Consolidation!

November 20, 2016
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After a  spectacular 2015 with Ladies teams being promoted 2016 was always going to be tougher. Match report from Lucy Sheffield ; The ladies 1s travelled to a dark and rainy Sevenoaks for a 5pm game. Despite playing one of our best games, we were beaten 2-0 by a well-drilled top of the table Sevenoaks team who had the majority of the possession. Alice SG made 5 or 6 crucial saves (including a penalty flick) and Emma Fairhead, stepping into centre back for a brief spell, earned herself MOM for her unbelievable tackling and all round excellent play. Although we came away with a loss, the squad were positive due to a really high intensity and team performance. Milly BC made some phenomenal runs up the line, Amy kokkinos again demonstrated an ability to be everywhere on the pitch at once, and the whole team put in a really hard working performance. Having played the top two teams in the league these past 2 weeks the ladies look forward to their final game before Xmas next week against Cambridge.

Ladies 2s summary from Drew ;  – We played really well. Dominated possession and defended very well. A breakaway goal caught us out in the last 5 minutes as we were throwing the kitchen sink at wycombe and still couldn’t get the ball over the line. Against the run of play Wycombe won 1-0.

Ladies 3s report from Ros – The threes had a disappointing game against Harrow. Despite having the majority of play, as was the case last week the conversions just didn’t come. 0-1 at half time due to a fluke short corner goal from harrow, and an end score of 0-3 despite Harrow entering the D on fewer than 5 occasions in the second half. To top it off we suffered some hard hitting injuries today, including a wasp sting to the eye lid (the only allergic person on the pitch), and a broken collar bone. Get well soon Cob.

Better news from the 4s – Report from Kathy – Southgate L4s are clearly getting the hang of the winning thing and 4’s the lucky number! Following a 4-0 win last week, there were 4 more smacking the backboard this week. After going 2-0 to Ham&West 5s they came back from a 3-1 deficit at half time to win the game 4-3. A pair of goals a piece for young Hannah Kilpatrick and birthday girl (well, on Monday) Gill Broderick with one of her goals beautifully set up by daughter Alice. Small wonder that Gill and Hannah shared the honours as our Women of the Week. Huge credit again to coach Jake; superb insight to change the formation in the 2nd half and seal the win.

5s report from Pauline –

The 5s secured nice 3-1 win which pushes them up to 8th place in the league, with only goal difference separating them from Imperial Medics at 7th.
Though the game had a inexplicably subdued start, Southgate were the first to score from a solo run and a scoop past the goalie by Pippa Woodrow. It wasn’t long before we were on level par again after Staines benefited from a lucky deflection off a Southgate foot in the D which sent the ball into a Fibonacci spiral and through GK Izzy’s legs. Time to come back with a counter attack and Southgate’s efforts were rewarded with a hallmark Lynn Bryden sweep across the goalie, far into the left corner. Three one up in the first half was completed from a set piece PC and Pippa striking from top D.
At half time it was a chance to pick apart why our game wasn’t flowing. We need to up the pace and stretch the play to find the advantage spaces from where we could attack.
The second half was much better, and though not full of goals it was full of incident, including a P flick for a foot on the line, rules queries, and penalties for breaking early on a PC and a 5yd rule misunderstanding. Each time we adjusted, dropped, pushed up and changed formation to plug any gaps (we are learning how to defend a lead). The rigor of the press was solid and the pre-match whiteboard session transferred on to the pitch to show how that forces patterns of play in our favour.
Beth, Mach, Sum Sze, Julie, Pippa, and Annette all picked up votes for MOM which shows that in the 5s it’s always a team effort, but it was Emma who bagged this week’s gold medal for effort and great decision-making in defence.
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