Kettering 0-1 Wellingborough

KETTERING LADIES 3RD TEAM v WELLINGBOROUGH (18th November 2017)

Wellingborough fielded a strong team against Kettering 3rd’s in what was to be a very important game as far as the league tables were concerned. With seven games played Wellingborough were 4 points behind Kettering but a win would enable them to close the gap to just one point. The Kettering side were determined this would not happen…………

Wellingborough opened strongly but the defence held firm with tight marking from defenders Sophie Guyett, Jan Randle and Laura Newlyn. Sweeper Beth Hardy was always on hand to clear up any balls which managed to find their way through and Kate Metcalfe in goal covered her goal area with great composure. Unfortunately with just five minutes of the game gone a foot considered to be well outside the “D” by the Kettering defence resulted in a corner being awarded by the umpire furthest away from the action. A well taken strike by Wellingborough resulted in the ball being slipped to the far post for the attacker to slot home. Keeper Metcalfe covered the initial shot well but had little or no chance to get to the cross.

Kettering rallied and pushed forward through the very hard working Natalie Irons driving down the right and through Caitlin Curran down the left. With Julia Telford controlling the mid field Kettering were back in the game. Elana Freedman looked dangerous up front when she received the ball from her mid field players but unfortunately was forced to leave the field through injury. As a result of Elena’s withdrawal from the field of play youngster Megan Newlyn was called into action to play in her very first game for the 3rd’s. She made an outstanding debut making numerous weaving runs down the left and tracked back when needed forcing numerous mistakes by the opposition. She linked well with Sam Bedford who also worked tirelessly throughout the game and they made a number of inroads into the Wellingborough “D”.

Half time and 1 – 0 down and Kettering were not pleased.

A good half time team talk and a slight change in tactics saw Kettering enter the second half energised and ready to give it a go. Telford in midfield made many outstanding tackles to thwart the Wellingborough attack and followed these by distributing the ball with great accuracy. Sandra Mandziuk also collected and distributed the ball well and it seemed that Kettering would get a scoring chance sooner or later. Megan Newlyn and Sam Bedford continued to pressure the Wellingborough defence and forced a number of penalty corners. Kettering went very close on a number of occasions but simply couldn’t find the back of the net.

Wellingborough continued to attack the Kettering goal and as players tired marking was not as tight as it should have been but Kate Metcalfe in goal pulled off a number of excellent saves to keep Kettering in the game. The final ten minutes saw the game swing from end to end with Kettering going really close on a number of occasions. Sam Bedford’s effort in particular went very close to ending the deadlock but unfortunately the ball was eventually scrambled off the line by the Wellingborough defence.

Kettering’s final push for the equaliser saw Julia Telford weave her way passed numerous defenders
and into the “D” but her shot, agonizingly close, ended up just to the wrong side of the post.

Team

Kate Metcalfe, Beth Hardy, Jan Randle, Laura Newlyn (captain), Sophie Guyett, Julia Telford, Natalie Irons, Sandra Mandziuk, Sam Bedford, Caitlin Curran, Elana Freedman and Megan Newlyn