Ladies 4th XI Vs Matlock 4

It was a surprisingly warmer day than expected for the first match for the ladies 4th team against Matlock 4s. We went into it with a lot of enthusiasm, hoping to finish on a high. Matlock tried to put us on the back foot by making us play into the sun for the first half, coming out strong and charging our defensive half. We fought back well with some solid defending by Heather, Karen and Amy. There were a few opportunities in that first half to get up to Matlock’s defensive circle, which we took. The ball was moved around effectively, making full use of passing back as well as forward. It did have Matlock on their toes for a time, effectively running around in circles. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take full advantage, even unable to claim a goal at one point due to our big feet.

Matlock took the lead moments before half time, taking a very accurate and sharp strike into the corner of the goal during a short corner. But we didn’t back down, and the second half started with us taking control. While Matlock had a few opportunities for another goal, the defence kept it out, and Gill kept a solid stance against the strikes for goal.

Our first goal came from Kerry with a solid hit past the goalkeeper. Not long after, Becky managed to slip the second goal in. With Amy, Shez and Kerry moving the ball about in the middle, they took advantage of the width, which resulted in several more attempts on goal. Mia, Donna and Becky kept on at the goalkeeper, with Keely, Jenny and Hilary making sure it stayed up in Matlock’s circle. Karen, Heather and Katharine faced the attempted onslaught by the Matlock forwards, and they weren’t able to get past us with the teamwork between the back three. Not even when one of the Matlock midfielders let out a loud scream that made everyone jump. Still not sure which team she was trying to distract!

Man of the Match was split pretty evenly, with Karen getting one vote, Becky, Amy and Shez getting two each. But Heather and Keely took the majority of the vote with three votes each.