Kettering nearly tame catz

KETTERING LADIES 3RD TEAM v WILDCATZ
Saturday 1st December 2018

Kettering were on fire at the start of their final league fixture before the Christmas break as they took on Wildcatz who were only one point ahead of Kettering at the start of the game.

Ola and Natalia Bednarczyk worked tirelessly down the wings and used their speed and skill to bypass the defenders and drive into the “D”. They were ably supported by Liz Metcalfe in the centre and they had many useful shots on goal only to be denied by some very good goalkeeping from the Wildcatz keeper.

As the game progressed Wildcatz mounted a number of dangerous looking counter attacks but nothing found its way past Kate Randle who controlled the centre of defence and distributed the ball with great precision. Excellent support from Charlotte Cattell and Evie Wharf ensured a clean sheet for the in-form Kettering side.

Tireless work from Lydia McCarrick and Lucie Freeman in mid-field enabled Kettering to maintain the pressure on their opponents’ goal and following a fine interception from Julia Telford and a powerful run from Lucie Freeman the ball found its way to Ola Bednarczyk. Ola made her trademark run down the left leaving two defenders stranded and after a skilful turn (recently practiced during our training sessions!) slotted the ball into the “D”. Some clever interchanges in the “D” saw the ball slipped back to Ola who brilliantly lifted the ball over the prone keeper who had gone down following a previous shot on goal.

Wildcatz upped their game and despite some stout defending managed to get some shots on goal but Kate Metcalfe was more than a match for their efforts and pulled off a number of excellent saves. Evie Wharf, well placed to receive passes out of the “D”, made some great runs down the right to feed her midfield. Her passes to Lydia McCarrick and onto Simran Kaur (who had moved up to the forward line) helped to set up the attack yet again for Kettering. Simran’s pass into the “D” found Liz Metcalfe who made no mistake as she fired home a second goal for the team.

Kettering began the second half with great determination and Stacy Hall made some useful interceptions to keep the team in contention. Ellie Mulligan playing on the forward line showed skill as she collected the ball and attempted to thread her way into the “D” and also made a good contribution as she stepped into cover for Charlotte Cattell at LD following injury.

Unfortunately, despite the very best efforts of the team Wildcatz managed the score two goals in the second period and although Kettering pushed really hard for the winner had to settle for what they felt, at the end of the game, was a disappointing draw.

The whole team can be proud of the effort and determination they demonstrated throughout the game however and two goals scored ups our total for the year – Well done Ola and Bibby. All looks good for the new year and as captain Kate says “Second half of the season will be wins galore!!!”

TEAM
Kate Metcalfe Ellie Mulligan Kate Randle Charlotte Cattell Julia Telford Evie Wharf Liz Metcalfe Ola Bednarczyk Natalia Bednarczyk Simran Kaur Lucie Freeman Lydia McCarrick Stacy Hall