Bay ladies ease in to the Quarter Final of the Kent Plate

Match report by Anthony Deer

Today we were back in cup action and welcomed Teynham Gunners to Bell Meadow in the second round of the Kent FA County Plate. This was the first meeting of the two clubs this season and the eventual winners would meet either Aylesford 1st or Thanet Colts away in the quarter final. This competition will show how far we have come as a team as it involves both teams from our division and the division above.

The ladies are playing with flare and confidence with each game that they play, understanding and trusting each other more. For the first time in the last few weeks we had a full team to pick from with players ready on the bench when the call for them was needed. It didn’t take long for the first goal was scored, some great work all round by everyone with a little chip cross from Vicky Holness for Kiya Mills to head home the first. From this point, it was one way traffic, apart from a couple of balls through from Teynham; they didn’t really threaten our goal. We spurned a few chances before scoring the second, Vicky Holness this time. We continued to create chance after chance and it would have been a lot more for not for the Teynham’s goalkeeper who pulled off some great saves throughout the match. Before half time Kiya Mills managed to score a first half hat trick, one which was a delightful lob. Vicky then was the only player to act from a Rachel Tracy free kick and headed over the goalkeeper to make the half time score 5 – 0.

From the restart, a passing movement of no fewer than seven passes and without the Teynham team touching the ball, we continued where we left off and scored with the first move of the game. From here, we continued to move and press forward and were rewarded with two more goals, Kiya Mills (5) and Vicky Holness (3). We continued to create chances but once again the Teynham goalkeeper thwarted the many chances we had. Knowing that the result was in no danger, the ladies took the foot off the pedal, but still created chances. No more goals were added, but a solid performance from the defence saw us keep another clean sheet this season. Kiya Mills was the player of the match today, another top work rate causing problems for the defensive line of Teynham and was influential in most of the goals either scoring or helping set them up. Another all round professional performance from everyone and we now meet Aylesford 1sts away in the quarter finals.

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

Player of Match: Kiya Mills