LATEST MATCH REPORT: LADIES 6TH XI
Saturday 6th December 2008
Wanderers ladies 6s vs Eds Ladies 3s
Wanderers 3
London Eds 0
---------------------------------------
Going into the last league match before Christmas at the top of the table Wanderers Ladies 6’s were keen for a win
The last game was a late away match against London Edwardians so a bit of a local Derby. Eds had also had a bit of a mixed bag of results so far this season (with a win against the team currently hot on our heels in second place in the league table but a recent loss against one of the lower placed teams) so Wanderers weren’t going in to the game complacent – especially as we’d made quite hard work of our win against bottom placed Kenley the week before.
The late start became even later when the flood lights failed to come on as daylight began to fade so we had an extended warm-up as we kept moving to try and keep warm. We’d started to wonder whether the game was actually going to happen, or whether frustratingly we’d have to postpone, just as the caretaker arrived to save the day. Lights, camera, action…..
The game got off to a pretty average start and it took a while for both teams to find their flow after having had to wait around for such a long time. Before long though Wanderers started to take control and had the majority of the possession putting a lot of pressure on the Ed’s defence. We put the whole of pitch to good use as our central players switched the ball from left to right and back again helping to move the ball forwards and there was some great passing between the mids Sally, Dee and Gilo and centre back Moggy. Just before the first set of substitutions Ladz took a free hit at the top of the D and made a textbook pass to the right post where birthday girl Sexy Lexy made a perfect touch and directed the ball right past the GK into the bottom right hand corner of the D.
After some very girly celebrations (I’m sure the whoops of delight could have been heard back on our home turf of Battersea!) play resumed and Wanderers continued to pile on the pressure making Ed’s defence work hard to keep clearing the ball. About ten minutes before half time an Ed’s foot in the D gave Wanderers a short and an opportunity to show that all their penalty corner practice at that weeks training had been worthwhile – and show it they did as a perfect push from the backline by Sal, followed by a superb strike from Liz, was finished by a tremendous touch (a reverse stick one no less!!) once again by the birthday girl Lex. Again the piercing shrieks of joy could have deafened you and certainly scared Gilo’s Mums (who, bless her, had come to support despite the arctic conditions and late pushback) dog who went a bit crazy on the sideline!
The remainder of the first half wasn’t quite so eventful and possession was quite evenly matched as Eds stepped up their game obviously realising that if they didn’t they could face a shoo-ing. There were a couple of breaks and some runs at goal but the Wanderers defence stayed determined and didn’t let them though – so determined in fact that sweeper Larisa got a green card in the final minutes of the first half. For what exactly I’m not really sure – think the oppo’s umpire must have been confused and thought we were playing in the South League rather than the Surrey League Div 6!!!
After a rousing half time chat and a bit of confusion when Ladz thought Moggy had said ‘we’re playing badly’ and was quick to defend us before realising Moggy had actually said ‘we’re not playing badly’ (!) it was time to return to the pitch for the second half of the match and hopefully a few more goals to cement a win and increase our goal difference.
The start of the second half was a bit scrappy with some inaccurate passing and sloppy marking but Wanderers soon woke up after a break by Ed’s whilst the majority of the Wanderers defence were in the wrong half of the pitch was luckily thwarted by Ellie before it posed too much of a risk.
After this Wanderers upped their game and returned to their pre-half time form tirelessly making the 50:50’s theirs and challenging the Ed’s defence. Attacks on their D were coming from all directions with Jenny Long Legs and Sally working well together on the right, Gilo, Coops and Lex attacking from the left and even centre back Moggy making a shot on goal from the top of the D following a free hit from Sally.
Wanderers couldn’t quite convert any of these attempts into goals though and the scoreline remained at 2-0 until a short corner opportunity about half way through the second half. Once again our practice paid off and another accurate pass from Sal to Gilo on the left of the D was finished with a flourish as Gilo smashed it in to the back of the net - there was a resounding ‘thud’ as the ball hit the backboard (glad I wasn’t in the way of that one!).
The remainder of the second half was quite uneventful in comparison and despite Ed’s attempting to get at least one goal, making a number of runs on our goal, Wanderers L6’s stayed strong determined to keep a clean sheet to up their position in the Big Guns table.
The whistle blew to a final score of 3-0 to Wanderers, cementing a much deserved place at the top of the table for Xmas and setting the L6’s up nicely for a strong start to the second half of the season.
---------------------------------------
POM: Moggy
Goals:
Lex: 2
Gilo: 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------