Tulse Hill and Dulwich 2 v 1 Maidenhead Ladies 1s

Maidenhead travelled away to Tulse Hill and Dulwich (THD) for the second of their league games. The match started positively for Maidenhead despite a depleted squad and captain Eddie Westacott and Chantal Hankin put their defence immediately under pressure. THD struggled to get the ball out of their half for the first ten minutes of the match as Maidenhead hunted in pairs across the pitch, keeping their formation and taking advantage of the THD mistakes.

Once THD overcame their initial confusion around how to deal with the overpowering Maidenhead side, they started to get back into the game and the match became a little more equal. Whilst THD aren’t the most skilful of teams they took advantage of a few gaps that started to appear as Maidenhead flagged a little in the heat and without the substitutions to keep the side fresh. Most attacks were scuppered before entering the final 25, as Bex Miall, Charley Young and new signing Beth Archer, all held the defence firmly. A short corner though allowed THD to take the lead against the run of play.

However a breakaway attack down the right hand side left the defence stranded and while keeper Emma Cross tried to close down the angle on the oncoming forward a simple two versus one meant it wasn’t quite enough to prevent THD taking a 2-0 lead.

Maidenhead then restructured the line-up to strengthen the midfield with two screen players, which again turned the game and began to give Maidenhead various opportunities which they couldn’t quite convert. Some questionable umpiring also led to a few chances going begging as players were unable to get the final shot away.

Maidenhead carried the upper hand into the second half and started to exploit the spaces that the weak THD defence was gifting them. Teona Goodge, Lucy Thornton and Ali Lubbock all having various chances to get Maidenhead back in with a chance of gaining their first league points. With ten minutes left a short corner was won and Lyndsey Harwood slipped the ball back to Ali Lubbock who fired it home to grab Maidenhead’s first goal of this season.

After that Goodge had an open chance at the top of the D where the THD defence was again caught napping but she couldn’t get the shot away and the opportunity disappeared. Further attacking play created by midfielders Lyndsey Harwood and Hankin both continued to pile on the pressure in and around the THD goal but no one could convert. The score remained 1-2 to THD although Maidenhead could have walked away easily with all three points.

Maidenhead coach, Mark Stuart-Thompson, said: “There were a lot of positives that we took from today’s game but unfortunately that poor phase in the middle of the first half punished us. Implementing a second screen improved our defence and we created a lot of opportunity, enough that I felt we could have won that game comfortably. However, it seems that our finishing and securing outcomes in the D is where we need to concentrate. We are still gelling as a new squad and I’m confident this aspect will come in the next couple of weeks.”

Man of the Match: Chantal Hankin