Kettering Ladies Over 45s 1 - 3 Cambridge City Over 45s

Kettering Ladies hosted Cambridge City in the quarter final of the Ladies Over 45s England Hockey Cup competition. This was the third time the teams had met with Cambridge winning 2-1 in the final the first time and then on penalties in the same stage of the competition last year. Cambridge started strongly as Kettering had expected and drove forward creating a number of chances, however Kettering stood firm and rode their luck at times in the early exchanges. Kettering then had a break when Sue Russell was released down the left wing by Cath Irvin and crossed into the D. Cambridge failed the clear the ball and Helen Keyworth found herself in possession at the top the circle and fired home to give Kettering the lead. Cambridge were stunned and took a while to react but react they did and scored an excellent equaliser before half time. 1-1 at the break. The second half saw Cambridge continue to dominate although Kettering never gave up. A bobbly shot from Cambridge eventually gave them the lead and left Kettering disapppointed after defending much more difficult situations and chances for this to be the goal that they conceded. Cambridge capitalised on Kettering’s heads being down and score quickly afterwards when a Cambridge player drove by a number of Kettering defenders before finding the back of the net. Ketteting continued to try and get a goal back but Cambridge were happy with the score and now progress into the semi-final. A fair result as Cambridge were stronger than Kettering and out played them for a large amount of the match.