Kettering 3s 1-0 Saints 3s

KETTERING LADIES 3RD TEAM v SAINTS 3rd TEAM
Saturday 20th October 2018

Awesome, incredible, fantastic & what a nerve wracking final 10 minutes as Kettering 3rd’s hung onto to their slender lead to record their first league win of the season. All members of the squad worked incredibly hard and had to dig deep particularly in the dying moments of the game to secure this well-earned victory. Hard work at training and a fierce determination to win every ball eventually paid off and having been so close to winning games during the past few weeks the win this week was just reward for all that effort.

The game was pretty evenly balanced for the first 20 minutes or so as both teams strove to break through fairly solid defences. Ellie Mulligan, Kate Randle and Charlotte Cattell were outstanding at the back for Kettering as they thwarted repeated attempts by the Saints forwards to penetrate the “D”

Lucie Freeman and Julia Telford maintained control in midfield while Megan Newlyn and Evie Wharf worked tirelessly to create chances for their forwards. Both showed incredible determination and great skill to win the ball from the opposition and drive forward down the right- and left-hand sides of the pitch respectively. Both caused huge problems for the opposition and good through balls opened up chances for our forwards.

Liz Metcalfe worked tirelessly up front and demonstrated great composure on the ball making it extremely difficult for the opposition as she weaved her way through the defence to lay off passes for our wide players Claire Jones and Ola Bednarczyk. Claire and Ola continued the drive down the wings and both created good chances for their team mates as they drove into the “D” and slipped the ball to the waiting strikers. Good goal keeping and last ditch de-fending however denied Kettering the opening they sought.

Saints were quick to pick up on any loose passes from the Kettering side and all members of the squad were called into action to defend the breaks. Kate Metcalfe in goal was called into action after momentary lapses in concentration by her defence left players free to take a strike on goal and she pulled off two incredible saves to keep Kettering in the game. The defence re-grouped and despite a couple of scary moments Kettering continued to push forward.
Their determination eventually paid off after a great build up down the left saw Lucie Free-man collect the ball and drive into the D”. Freeman skilfully slipped the ball through to Ola Bednarczyk who made no mistake as she fired home Kettering’s first league goal of the sea-son.

A great first half

Saints probably had greater possession during the second period but Kettering continued to work hard and Natalia Bednarczyk and Keira Cox played a vital role within the squad as they rolled on and off to sub tiring players. Huge congratulations to both as they enabled the team to hold out until the final whistle.
Kate Randle was outstanding at the back cutting out numerous goal bound passes and denied Saints the opening they desired. The whole team defended well when needed and man-aged to hold on until the final whistle, although with three to four minutes to go it would have been less nerve wracking if the ball had been cleared to the other end of the pitch and away from our goal!!

Kate Metcalfe Ellie Mulligan Kate Randle Charlotte Cattell Megan Newlyn Lucie Freeman Julia Telford Evie Wharf Claire Jones Liz Metcalfe Ola Bed-narczyk Keira Cox Natalia Bednarczyk