The weather was wet and blustery for the Six’s home game against Southend at Beldam’s lane. Early pressure from the Blues led to a D entry from Beth. This was followed by some good defence from Claire H and Gemma to frustrate the opposition. Léa then intercepted and passed to Vicky who had an excellent 1:2 with Sully with the shot sliding just wide. Not long after Vicky won a short but that move broke down. Southend broke away but Gemma and Claire ably defended. A further Southend move was thwarted when Millie shepherded the ball out. Soon after Stortford had a strong attack moving the ball from Vicky to Jo to Lisa. Just after that Lisa placed the ball well into the D but Jo’s shot was wide. The next attack from the Oppo led to a short which was well defended and Léa came back to recover bringing the ball to Vicky, whose shot was thwarted. Soon after Vicky had another shot which was well saved. Again, Southend managed to conjure an attack leading to a short corner. Lori marshalled the defence well and the resulting shot was well left by Millie as it drifted wide. Claire then won the ball in the middle with Sully making some good passing moves. Lois then had a shot and forced a short corner. Although this didn’t result in a goal, the follow up move involved Sully passing from the baseline, Jo shooting and a well-positioned Lois took the rebound to create a vital 1-0 lead. There was another shot from Jo, another short corner with Léa just missing the rebound. A dominant first half performance resulted in only that slenderest of leads.
The second half started with some good defence from Gemma. Vicky then forced a long corner and Lisa played another great ball into the D without success. In a short space of time the blues won short corners through Vicky, Izzy and Lois. No scores were forthcoming though. Stortford began to dominate, getting a lot of space down the right which allowed Claire H and Léa to link up with Sully, deserved PoM, and Vicky in some useful moves. Unfortunately, scores proved elusive. As the game progressed, Lisa found Lois who had a shot stopped. Then Vicky passed to Lois in the D who forced a short corner. Another great move occurred between Jo, Izzy and Vicky. As the game entered the final five minutes, Southend, buoyed by their success in defence, mounted a series of attacks. There were successive frees close to the D and the defence was significantly tested. However, the Blues stood firm and Millie relieved the pressure with the final score remaining 1-0.
POM Jo Sullivan
