Herne Bay Ladies 5 London Corinthian Ladies 2

Report by Anthony Deer

We welcomed London Corinthians to Bell Meadow, our first encounter with them. It was going to be a hard game on paper as London Corinthians Res sit third in the league only losing two games this year. It became even harder with both goalkeepers unavailable due to illness and others unavailable to play because of work commitments. We were down to the bare 11 players for today’s game with Lesley Kay reluctantly taking the gloves again. However this did not deter the ladies as now they have the bite between their teeth and the determination to succeed at every opportunity for the remainder of the season. The teams this year have seen our recent results and are playing very deep and with many players behind the ball and hoping they can get something on the break, causing frustration, both a compliment and a challenge for our ladies. However, in cold conditions the Herne Bay ladies knew from the start what they needed to do.

I’ve mentioned it a few times this year, but patience is crucial in the game of football, today was no difference, the ladies settled early with some neat interplay but the defence of London Corinthians held firm especially as they had nine players behind the ball for most of the half, chances were limited from tight angles and long range efforts but the possession that we had was far greater than London Corinthians had. Finally the breakthrough came when Lauren Wiltshire created space for herself and unleashed a 35 yard strike to which the goalkeeper could only watch it sail over her into the top corner. London Corinthians had their first chance in the game, a free kick from a wide area, the ball was played in, with the first ball dealt with, and confusion for the second ball saw a LC player head past the oncoming Lesley Kay to make it one all. The HB Ladies pushed on but couldn’t add to the score before the break.

Without any subs today making a change was not really an option, a few things were discussed but the final decision was to leave it how it was and this paid off. Once again HB ladies dominated possession throughout the half and it didn’t take long to score our second goal, from Vicky Holness. LC had their second chance of the game, another set piece, this time a corner. It was played in to a packed penalty box and was inadvertently headed into the goal by defender Rachel Tracy. This spurned the HB ladies on and we continued to play some great football once again and was rewarded with a third goal from Shona Clark who struck the ball into the top left hand corner, from here LC seem to lose a bit of enthusiasm, however, their third and final chance once again came from a corner, a mad goal mouth scramble with no one really knowing where the ball really was, however, a very cold looking Lesley Kay managed to jump on the ball. From the resulting kick up the field, Vicky Holness secured the fourth goal after the goalkeeper made two saves before Vicky slotting the ball into the empty net. This took the wind out of LC sails and the final nail in the coffin came from our own corner, Enya Lynch connecting with her head from a Lauren Wiltshire corner.

A good professional performance to a team that was very frustrating at times, with fine finishes by all the goal scorers, some great defending from the back four and the midfield four creating and tracking back when needed. Kiya Mills relentless running today made it extremely difficult for London Corinthians to get out of their own half but it was Rachel Tracy was the player of the match for us, apart from the own goal, defended extremely well, making crucial tackles at the right times, clearing her lines when needed but was more composed on the ball when it was called for to set play up for the forward players. With the great news that Long Lane Res lost today, the girls are more focused than ever to get the job done this season, 10 games left in the league, some tough fixtures home and away but the girls believe they can do it. Our next game is home to Gravesham net Sunday 9th December 2012, with a 2:00pm kick off.

Team: Lesley Kay, Chantelle Bleau, Rachel Tracy, Enya Lynch, Charlie Hayes, Natalie Lewis, Shona Clark, Lauren Wiltshire, Emma Brown, Vicky Holness, Kiya Mills

Player of the match: Rachel Tracy