Bromley & Beckenham Girls U18s 5 -2 Maidenhead

Bromley & Beckenham Girls U18s 5 -2 Maidenhead
Home Counties League
Sunday 8 March 2020.
It was all going so well when we were leading 2-1 mid-way through the second half, despite us getting soaked yet again in another hail-storm, writes Jim Taylor.
In a game that continually ebbed and flowed, we were well on top at that stage and pushing for a third goal to give us a bit of breathing space.
It nearly came when one attack ended with Maisie rattling the crossbar and then again, minutes later, when Lucy T’s penalty corner shot slid past the far post.
But Bromley hung on and weathered the storm. By the time we saw the rainbow they had equalised by reacting quickly and scoring from a tight angle after Varnie had first saved high to her right.
Then it all went horribly wrong with Bromley getting three goals in the last nine minutes to give them the win… and a very flattering score-line.
After all the excitement of our recent EH cup run, we were back to Home Counties League action with our trip to Bromley with Amelia’s younger sister Holly T making an excellent debut.
Captain Lucy T alongside Lucy DB made a strong pairing in central midfield and the pair combined from a penalty corner after 10 minutes to give us the lead with Lucy DB drilling the ball home.
In attack, Stella and Erin continually harried the Bromley back-line, forcing their defenders into mistakes. Behind them, Maisie’s skills and Tori’s drive kept us pushing forward.
Bromley had some good players of their own and Varnie needed to be on top form with a couple of early saves, while Jess D and Amber had to stay strong in defence.
Their equaliser, in the 24th minutes, also came from a penalty corner with the shot beating both goalie and defender into the far corner.
Before the break there was still time for a good run by Stella down the right who fed Maisie whose falling shot on the turn was cleared.
After the break, we carried on where we had left off with first Erin showing off new skills in beating her defender and then Lucy T coming up with another super reverse-hit trademark goal.
It came only four minutes into the second half after some good team pressing won us back the ball. But, from the moment it was fed into Lucy’s path, it was all her own work as she drove across the D and then reverse smashed it high past the ‘keeper’s outstretched hand.
We had the chances to push on for a good away win and there was plenty of effort with Annabel, Holly B and Lizzie all putting in a shift… but we paid for a bit of tiredness in the final minutes.
Bromley got their third from a straight-forward run down the middle and their fourth – and killer goal – came when their attacker neatly swerved round an advancing Varnie to slot home.
Their final goa,l from a well-worked penalty corner move, gave their score-line an added gloss and a few of the umpiring decisions added to our final frustration. The team had worked hard but had little to show from their long trip round the M25.
We still have our final Home Counties League game to go – it’s at home, in two weeks time on Mother’s Day, against Hampstead & Westminister, with an early pushback at 10.30am.
And, of course, there is still the big Easter Tour to come with us hosting the Dutch team with more details being revealed at training at Altwood tomorrow night at 6.30pm.