Bay ladies progress to the Semi Final of the Kent Plate

Aylesford Ladies 1st vs. Herne Bay Ladies KCFA County Plate Quarter Final
3rd February 2013

Result: Aylesford Ladies 5 – 9 Herne Bay Ladies

With no disrespect to the teams we play in our league this year, today was an opportunity to see how far we have come as a team by playing opposition in a higher division in a competitive match. We have played Aylesford 1st team in a pre season friendly and came out 6 – 3 second best. It was set up for a very good match indeed, as Aylesford currently sit at the top of Division one East with a record of played 9, won 7, drawn one and lost one, and only conceding 16 goals in their league. Although in a lower league, we are also top with only one loss in 13 games and only conceding 14.

The game itself started off slowly for the Herne Bay Ladies as they worked out who and how the Aylesford team played, but as the match went on the pressure the Herne Bay ladies put on to the players of the other team started to show how much we wanted to win this game. We waited until the 17th minute before we scored the first goal of the game, it was from a corner, Lauren Wiltshire delivered the ball, Aylesford only half cleared it and as the ball came down, Lesley Kay continued her scoring feat by volleying into the goal. We didn’t hold the lead for too long as Aylesford equalised.

This did not deter us and on numerous occasions we pushed on and caused all sorts of problems for the Aylesford defence and was rewarded with a through ball for Kiya Mills to smash past the out coming goalkeeper, it didn’t take too long before we extended our lead with another goal from Vicky Holness, a rare goal indeed as it was with her left foot! Before we added anymore goals, Emily Johnson produced a fine tip save around the post. A forth was added by Vicky Holness before Aylesford got their second of the game. Our fifth goal was a strange goal indeed, Natalie Lewis was bought down just outside the box, a free kick was awarded and Lauren Wiltshire stepped up.

For some reason the goalkeeper did not want a wall, and was then left with egg on her face as Lauren hit the ball straight at her and the ball crept in under the goalkeepers body. 12 minutes added was added on to the first half for stoppages which some people was a little confused for the reason why!!! In these 12 minutes, Aylesford scored their third of the game! Finally the halftime whistle blew after almost an hour played.

The half time team talk was basically to continue the football we have been playing and we will win the game and be in the semi final. We continued to press forward and pressure players so they had to play backwards as often as possible. This caused Aylesford to start forcing the ball forward to which the defence dealt with everything comfortably and played out quickly for the counter attack, for which we were rewarded when Rachel Tracy put a ball into the run of Vicky Holness for her to score her hat trick, it didn’t take too long before Vicky scored her fourth of the game to make the score 7 -3.

Fair play to Aylesford for not giving up, and were rewarded a goal with a spectacular 30 yard strike for which Emily Johnson in goal tried her best only for the ball to go just over her hand, from the restart Aylesford claimed the ball back quickly and rushed forward to score their fifth of the game. With the tails up Aylesford started to push players forward and this gave us the opportunity to get more balls forward to Kiya and Vicky. The next goal for either team was crucial and thankfully it was us, Vicky Holness scored her fifth of the game with a delightful chipped header over the goalkeeper. This took the wind from Aylesford sails and more often than not we found ourselves with numerous chances to put the game to bed with an emphatic victory, however with about ten minutes to go Natalie Lewis finished the scoring from a corner, Lauren Wiltshire once again delivered a ball across the goalkeeper only to see the ball rebound to Natalie who calmly struck the ball into the net.

Another 6 minutes added time was played at the end of the second half! But we stayed strong and saw the game out as victors in a very professional performance.

This is one of, if not the best display of football we have played this year against a team who are top of their league respectively. It is difficult to pick a player of the match because everyone did their job and did it well. Although the ladies are a little disappointed in conceding five goals, scoring nine goals against a team that has only conceded 16 in their league had increased confidence ahead of next week’s big league game against Long Lane Reserves.

Some say we are a dirty side, but we are just a physical team that wants to win every ball against any opposition. The back four of Charlie Hayes, Enya Lynch, Rachel Tracy and Chantelle Bleau all put in very strong tackles stopping players going forward and shooting, making Aylesford play sideways and backwards, Lauren Wiltshire and Lesley Kay both pulled the strings in the middle of the park with some great through balls for the front two of Vicky Holness and Kiya Mills, both which didn’t stop working throughout the game, chasing lost causes and creating many chances. Emma Brown, Natalie Lewis and Shona Clark made great over lap runs wide and finally Emily Johnson who is gaining more confidence with each game that she plays pulled off some good saves and her decision making is getting better.

Speaking with a couple of players on the way home, everyone enjoyed today’s match as it was a true test on how far this team has come so far this season. We now face Long Lane 1st team in the Semi Final of the KCFA Plate.

Next up is Long Lane Reserves away in the league next Sunday which is a massive game for both teams! The girls will be up for this game but they all know it will be another difficult one!

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