Penalty flicks play a part in 3 match results
At a glance
L1s 3-1
L2s 0-5
L3s 1-0
L4s 1-6
L5s 1-1
L6s 3-0
L7s 2-2
L8s 5-0
L9s 5-0
Ladies 1’s v Broxbourne 1’s (East Premier)
3-1
Stortford’s young guns were fast out of the traps scoring in the very first minute when Gracie Cowan flew down the left wing setting up Malli Came with an accurate pass for a close range finish. Stortford’s youthful side went further ahead from their second short corner won by teenager Lucia Catley, with good work at the top of the D from Liz Egan-Evans and Lexi Guthrie creating the opportunity for Kate Robinson to score.
Broxbourne were restricted by a well organised defence in which ‘keeper Charlie Nash was only called on to make a solitary save in the first half dominated by Stortford.
However, the second half was a different story, and Broxbourne pulled a goal back and then applied a great deal of pressure and Player of the Day, Nash was called on to make several impressive saves to retain a precarious lead . With 10 minutes remaining, however, Liv Smerdon put the game to bed with a penalty flick after a good right wing attack from Pilar Montu saw Stortfords shot hit a defender on the line.
Ladies 2’s v Bedford 2’s (1S)
0-5
Stortford were outclassed by one of the top league sides in a fast paced match. Going behind early from a corner, Stortford’s best chance in the first half fell to Fiona Mulder whose strike rattled the crossbar. Bedford doubled their lead just before the break.
The second half saw the visitors assert their dominance with three further goals from well drilled corner routines and a penalty flick. Stortford had their chances at the other end but couldn’t quite hit the mark. The score not really a reflection of the match. They look to pick themselves up again on Saturday away to Southend.
Ladies 3’s v Broxbourne 2’s (2SW)
1-0
Goal Scorer Grace Grindrod
PoM Alice Lowe
A must win game for Stortford L3s who had dropped to the bottom half of the table following their defeat last week at the hands of Bedford. Stortford started brightly and were awarded with a short corner within the first 15 minutes. Katy Motson pushed the ball out hard to Grace Grindrod who drilled it in to the left hand corner to give the visitors the lead. End to end action followed and the last 10 minutes of the half saw Stortford on the back foot but they managed to retain their composure and go in at half time 1-0 up.
The second half was another end to end game with player of the match Alice Lowe working hard to move the ball forward. Jen Pearce had a blinding shot denied by the Broxbourne keeper and Ali Martyn also denied the home side minutes before the final whistle. A great 3 points on the scoreboard and a much needed win.
Ladies 4’s v Blueharts 2’s (2SW)
1-6
A lovely last minute goal from Zoe Bovaird was the consolation prize for the ladies 4s after a very disappointing game against Blueharts 2s who won 6-1.
Ladies 5’s v Blueharts 4s (4SW)
1-1
PoM Liv Brierley
We had a mild day for our match against Blue Harts. We warmed up and began our match with first push back for Blueharts.
Blueharts started hard with a run along the right. We fought back and forth in our last quarter with Catherine Clune and Meg Maybanks working hard. A save from Hannah Reynolds gave Blueharts a long corner and they attacked up our left. An unfortunate mix up gave Blueharts their goal early on in the game. Stort didn’t give up with their first strong attack up into Blueharts D, Yolande Notley and Jess Ashford Green got some good shots off but due to a strong CB the ball was cleared into our mids and well picked up by Liv Brierley. Liv and Rachel Moore worked together in the middle and earned us more long corners and created a chance for Eva Sanderson with an excellent tomahawk that just missed the goal. More work from forwards gave us our first short corner after Eva hit it on a foot. A missed injection in the short caused Eva to adapt and succeeded in earning us another short. An excellent injection for our second short gave the ball to Charlotte Turner who had a great straight strike that was well saved by Blueharts keeper. Blueharts didn’t let off the pressure with two more shorts against us in the end of the first half. But keeper Hannah and Maddie Lucas worked well to keep it out of the goal and the first half finished at 1-0 to Blueharts.
Beginning of the second half it was clear Blueharts were not going to relent their aggression. Stortford began to match their attitude with great intent shown from Liv B earning her a greatly deserved player of that match. Stortford became trapped in their own D without a way out. Constant clearing out prevented a goal but Stort conceded another defensive short which was well cleared by Liv Figg and Eva. Stort pushed the ball up to the half way and a series of ping pong play followed until Megs broke the stalemate with a run from the Stort D to our attacking D and made an excellent cross. Our goal eventually came after a great tackle from Liv who ran the ball all the way up to score 1-1 with the goalie. More aggressive play from Blueharts was well coped with by all. Still great play around the back three of Blueharts and Stortford finished the game looking like the stronger side all in all.
A 1-1 draw was well fought by all and an excellent goal by Liv saved us the loss. Well done to everyone who played in a very tough match. Congratulations to Liv on her PoM.
Ladies 6’s v Southend and Benfleet (4SE)
3-0
PoM Eliza Andrews
The 6s started out strong as a team, quickly achieving their first goal within 2 minutes, scored by Jo Newman. The 6s then continued to play brilliantly, with Claire Smith and Charlotte Petitt consistently fighting for the ball in midfield. The next goal came soon after at 11 minutes when Mary Sanders converted a cross at the left post. Throughout this half we saw some great passes from and between the defence: Eliza Andrews, Gemma Leach, Claire Holmes, and Vicky Randazzo. The 6s then reached 3-0 at 18 minutes by Amelia Leach after an amazing run up the pitch. The 6s went into the second half with lots of energy and were faced with a strong defensive side. The forwards worked well to push through their hard working defence, we saw some lovely skills from Lois Wright, Mary Sanders, and Izzy Lawrence as they did this. Unfortunately no goals were scored in this half but they continued to play as a team and hold a firm press, with some great stops from Grace McKelvey and Lea Gillespie in the mid. Although she didn’t get a lot of play we had a lot of encouragement from GK Emma Yanakieva.
The overall result came to a 3-0 win with Eliza winning player of the match for some superb defensive play.
Ladies 7’s v Blueharts 5s (5SW)
2-2
PoM Martha Trist
A pleasant start in mild weather with a strong starting team talk ensuring high pressure and team work from the starting whistle stood us in good spirits and ready to play as we meant to go on. It was all to play for.
The whistle blew with a strong start from Emily Wood to Lisa Woodrow out on the right to Laura Batchelor and a great drive up the right of the pitch by Charlie Woodrow.
The ball was then back down the middle of the pitch by Blueharts with tackling and clearances by Lexi Baird. The defence staying strong with more clearances from Kaitlin Range and Denise Clark.
A short was given at 8 minutes to Blueharts to no avail with a quick clear out of the D by Lexi.
Martha Trist fought with determination clearing and intercepting many oncoming Blueharts players.
Lis Foote made a great save on the line followed by the whistle and the umpires decision to give Blueharts their first penalty flick of the game putting the first goal on the score sheet to the opposition. This did not stop our high team morale getting back into Blueharts D with great hassle and a shot on goal , unfortunately with no success.
A game of two ends with Lis under pressure keeping the goal covered and Kaitlin clearing the ball. Martha found Blueharts feet gaining possession of the ball up to Emily with a great run up the left hand side finding more feet . A short corner was finally given to Stortford, with no celebrations just yet. Half time saw Stortford 1-0 down.
Back in for more the second half started with pressure from Blueharts bringing the ball straight up to Stortford’s end with a short corner awarded at 3 minutes to Blueharts. This was converted but the Blueharts celebrations were short lived as the goal was disallowed for height. Keeping the score at 1-0. But not for long as at 14 minutes in another penalty flick was awarded to Blueharts! Which was converted bringing the score to 2-0.
Not to be beaten just yet we were back in Blueharts D with Lisa upgrading to a short corner. Slipped by Emily to Savannah on left post, flicked at goal but saved.
Midfield in their element with a great pass from Naomi Holloway with Sarah Tough , Grace Glade and Martha Trist fighting hard with great determination to keep possession of the ball.
Blueharts were lucky with the referees decision at 14 minutes for another short corner, Stortford’s defence holding strong with the ball kept away from the goal line once again. Blueharts gained possession just outside Stortford’s D with Lexi pressuring and finding a foot, whilst making the team smile !
18 minutes into the second half our first goal of the match was scored by Savannah Taylor, the pressure and team work was paying off.
Stortford were not losing any of their determination with only 2 minutes left the ball was in Stortford’s favour and with great vigour Grace passed to Savannah in Blueharts D scoring her second goal of the match and bring the score line to 2-2!
The energy on the pitch for the last 2 minutes was high from both teams , with the final whistle blown the score was 2-2.
Player of the match was Martha Trist who kept going with great speed and determination throughout the match. A fantastic match with all team players putting in their all not letting Blueharts settle and giving them a good run for their money.
Ladies 8’s v Broxbourne 5s (6SW)
5-0
PoM Gemma Jarmain
A late game this week for Ladies 8s away, at Broxbourne. With no keeper forthcoming again for the team, it fell on the shoulders of last weeks PoM Amy Duffy, who rose to the challenge and donned the GKs kit.
Broxbourne came out with a fighting spirit and with the defence still finding its feet, the home team were awarded a short corner in the first minute. But a fantastic save from Amy Duffy, with clearance from Alison Tiney meant the home team were placed on the immediate defence. The game was fast paced and ladies 8s battled through the home teams defence, with a cracking goal coming in the 6th minute from Megan Laws.
Despite a number of goal attempts from Hannah Witchalls and Esme Wood, seemingly on target, it proved difficult from get past the home teams keeper, who made some incredible saves. But with a continued attack and some strong defending Ladies 8s were awarded 2 further goals in the first half, both coming from Hannah Witchalls.
A team debrief seemed to fuel the home team into action and they came out in the second half pushing high. Despite repeated attempts on goal, the Stortford defence held strong with a couple of fantastic stops from our keeper and defence team. With some great communication on the pitch the game was pushed back quickly from defender Amy Stiles and Vice Captain Sally Lowe, passing high to Gemma Jarmain. Some selfless play from Esme Woods saw her pass to Jemima Osmond, who brought the score to 4-0 with a great high goal.
Ladies 8s continued to play a strong confident game, continuing with the press, and were eventually awarded with another strong goal from Jemima O.
Despite the best efforts of the home team, and a number of short corners awarded to them, the ladies 8s defence team held strong and the whistle blew with the final score being 5-0 to Stortford.
Player of the match was awarded to Gemma Jarmain.
Ladies 9’s (development side) v Luton Town 2’s (7SW)
5-0
