Maidenhead Ladies 5s 0 - 4 Amersham and Chalfont 4s

The 5s this week did not have such a great match and the score line of 4-0 reflected this.

We seemed to start strong with a great hit out from Lydia to TJ which she then drove in to the D and got a short corner. Sophie then got a shot in from the corner and it just missed. But then it shot up the other end of the pitch and Amersham and Chalfont got a defensive short and converted it into s goal. It was at this point we seemed to loose heart and let AC intimidate us. We unfortunately left players loose in the D and they made the most of it scoring 2 more goals. There was a lot of jostling, shoving, stick tackling and questionable calls from the opposition & their umpires!

At half time it was obvious the frustration everyone was feeling. But everyone took the opportunity to vent, winge and commiserate and refocus on the team.

This half time strategy seemed to work as in the second half we were much more focussed. Everyone started marking much tighter and we started making the most of our opportunities with a great run from Holly, in her first Ladies match. We were more determined to keep the ball and I saw some great tackles by Tori, Sam and Pippa. Sophie seemed to be everywhere, so much so they opposition eventually took her out & didn't even stop plays to let her recover.
We really kept the pressure on. Whenever AC put a press on we just cleared it, time and time again, Ali and Hayley consistently hitting out to the wings. The only time we gave them any gap was on a long corner from which they scored to bring the total to 4-0. With a minute to go however, it looked like the score line would change with a fantastic run from Emily from the halfway line all he way to the D, trailed by me and Sophie but Emily was unable to finish cleanly and the ball drifted off. So near yet so far!

Everyone worked hard, especially the defenders but special mention must go to Lydia for her consistency and cool head and Helen for her sheet determination to stop every ball! In my sideline notebook this week I had a lot of comments saying "great save by Emily", "brilliant clear by Emily". And this os because Emily Taylor-West was brilliant and kept us in the game. No one would have been able to tell this was her First Ladies match! For this she got joint Man of the Match.
Our other Man of the Match was another newbie, Hattie Price. In the fist minute of the game she got a big shove by the opposition and I was slightly worried about her. But she dug deep, worked hard and showed everyone she was not going to be intimidated. Well done to both our MOMs, it's great to have you on the team.