Ladies 1st XI Vs Redhill 2

Keen local Derby,  South Notts at Home v Redhill . Familiar faces to run out against and as usual Redhill were a formidable team from the opening minutes.

Because of rolling subs, not everyone below, was on the pitch at the same time, nor in the same position. This made it very hard for Redhill to deal effectively with player-to-player marking.

In the absence of Elizabeth (They shall not pass) Turner, Freya Beaumont volunteered to step up to don the pads. Freya was still showed Meteor movement in goal and also provided a spectacular “This Barn Door is Closed” performance, as she courageously kicked away powerful Redhill attacks.

In the absence of Eleanor (Rock of Gibraltar) Wallace, Sophie Atkinson stepped back from our forward line to Pounce Swiftly as a capable Sweeper-Away/ Sweeper-Up of those almost over-powering Redhill attacks, that seemed to come at her from all angles. Valiant beyond measure. A towering performance.

All our Team kept moving into space, making ourselves available (despite Redhill commendably getting “in the way”, most of the time), everyone was dead keen to take responsibility and determined to contribute. From the technical excellence of midfield to the splendid finishing of our forwards, this aspect captured everything good about our Ladies Team individually and collectively.

And these were backed up by South Notts’ steady and resolute defence. Jo (Barrier of the Pyrenees) Shaw and Gemma (the Jet-Propelled) Robinson, revolving with Fiona (Greyhound) Sweetman and Louise (Poacher) Price, all showed lung-busting creative flair and imagination. With Jo’s ‘Barrier’ and Gemma’s speed, Redhill faced an uphill struggle. Made increasingly difficult by Louise specialising in Poaching balls off the opposition (whether by stern tackles or just getting herself faster to any loose ball) and Fiona ,who must have run miles and miles at high speed in cleverly covering defence and supporting our attacks.

In midfield Caroline (the Incomparable) Brackenbury was supported by a variety of interchanging forwards and defenders. She encountered fierce and solid resistance from Redhill as she sought to create a semblance of dominance over midfield.

Redhill were trying to do the same to us when in our half, and very capably.

Redhill were to a limited extent outclassed by Caroline’s pace and power.  But they certainly raised their game to match, to make it a real contest every minute. All this kept the spectators on their toes!

Our forward line frequently interchanged with each other and with midfield. We were slightly surprised (and impressed)  to see Sophie Atkinson up there from Sweeper (but “only the once”!), weaving and swerving as part of a continuous attacking movement, putting Redhill very much on the back foot

Alex (the Spear) Stevenson and Ruby (Rocket ) Ryan seemed to be on jet after-burners  as they kept accelerating past Redhill players to collect at highest speed, cunning through balls. They then kept slipping across eye -catching passes into the centre, to create assists at Goals for lurking Becky and hovering Evie, both of whom seemed to be double-marked  by the skilled Redhill defence. Leaving Alex and Ruby less marked.

This pressure on Redhill was increased by the athletic Sammy (the Arrow) Markwick,  the tireless Rachael (the Unseen Raider) Grupping , and the majestic Lucy (Strike Force) Lloyd who kept firing bullet-passes through, if not indeed making their own breaks and slipping passes either way for a possible goal scoring opportunity.

But Redhill kept doing the same to us.

Becky (Comet) Humphris broke the deadlock by neatly finding the Redhill defence out of position and making it 1-0. Then we relaxed a bit to regroup to advantage so Redhill promptly equalised inside 5 minutes. 1-1.

Redhill on super-charge redoubled efforts, but in their zeal accidentally let Becky through to create a strike of surgical precision to take the lead 2-1. Then once again Redhill roared back and equalized brilliantly before half time 2-2 and all to play for.

Freya at half time reminded us of the need to play wide and use Ruby and Alex’s speed to advantage. The Redhill defenders marking them,  kept drifting inside to deal with our centre attacks  and this tended to leave Ruby and Alex on our wings less marked.

So we did just that and what an immediate difference. Redhill’s defence was then  spread wide and openings crept in at the centre, for our advantage.

A ringing assist from Alex, saw Evie (Shooting Star) Bates unleash a powerful shot as she found the Redhill keeper slightly out of position. 3-2 up. Then Ruby (Rocket) Ryan from the other side picked up a neat Arrow pass from Sammy Markwick and rifled a shot to rattle the Redhill backboard. 4-2 up.

But Redhill were on the attacking roar with a big mountain to climb. They did everything they could to scrape past Jo and Gemma, but then our defenders Sophie and Freya were defiantly solid in our “barn door” staying firmly closed .

Then Caroline worked space on the edge of their D, after Redhill failed to clear a penalty corner and found the irrepressible Becky unmarked. Becky showed the growing band of spectators just how goals can be scored from such positions. She made it a clinical hat-trick, again. 5-2 up and the final whistle.

Afterwards Redhill  (correctly) considered that this was not a wholly true reflection of such an evenly balanced game and are looking forward to the Return Fixture!

Thanks to Evie’s Dad for the match photos, and to Neil Barrett and Graham Morgan for their capable umpiring. And to the Men’s 3rd XI who came early to cheer us on in the last quarter as both teams were tiring, but we slotted 2 in that period . Great support from families too. Well done everyone.