Great team performance reaps the reward of 3 points

It’s been a long, and sometimes painful road, but the Ladies XI finally got their win this weekend!!
Finding themselves in an all too familiar position of fighting to avoid relegation, Kettering knew they needed to dig deep to find the winning performance, and that they did!

Despite excessively windy conditions and the previous game running late, Kettering started the stronger of the two teams. The ball barely left the opposition half as the home side pressed forwards. They were unfortunate not to take an early lead as balls whisked across the circle either just behind or just in front of the running players. But persistence won out as Mandy Starsmore-Young intercepted a pass due to the high press and drove to the baseline. With the ball on her reverse Starsmore-Young continued to creep towards the goal before deftly reverse pushing it into the back of the net. A much deserved goal for the side, and now the challenge was to not let the lead slip away.

A series of opportunities presented themselves to double their lead but the final pass or touch wasn’t quite there.

At half time spirits were high and Kettering knew this was their game. The first 10 minutes of the second half saw Shrewsbury step up their game and Kettering have to do a bit of defensive work, but solid tackling from Charlie Fowle and Laura Beacon kept these attacks at bay. Emma Storey also put in a performance in her defensive role but it was her attacking runs down the right that won her today’s player of the match vote!

Kettering soon settled in to the second half and started to slow the game and allow Shrewsbury to keep the ball at the back while the home side conserved their energy. This made life difficult for the away side with lots of hit and hope balls being attempted and resulting in loss of possession for them. Even as the game was drawing to a close, Kettering kept their discipline and created a number of slick passing movements across the pitch to get the ball in to attack. Sophie Reynolds finally got her goal but unfortunately the whistle had been blown due to a stick tackle moments before.

A much better team performance this week and moving the side off the bottom of the table. This should give Kettering the confidence they need to get results from the last 2 games and retain their place in the league.