Ladies 4s in heart breaking last gasp defeat - 28.02.15

PHC Chiswick Ladies 4s v Staines Ladies 3s

With only four games left in the season, Chiswick were looking for a win to cement their promotion plans.  Staines came out firing right from the first push back, with an early turn over they then capitalised with a quick play down their left wing and a drive into the D.  Chiswick were not expecting such pressure so early on and within minutes found themselves on the back foot, 0-1 down.  Despite the early goal, Chiswick did their best to remain calm and worked on moving the ball back up the pitch.  With plenty of side line support from Stacey Nevin as well as parents and team boyfriends, Chiswick began to get back into the swing of things.  Staines were still attacking strongly, however the defensive tea of Yssie Richards, Jen Holman, Renee De Lepper, Clare Ormerod and Sinead McGeever worked tirelessly to minimalise the amount of playe GK Alice Taylor-Bennett faced.  The defensive tea worked well to keep the play out of the D and any that did get through were then dealt with calmly and smoothly by Taylor-Bennett who made some stellar saves.  The midfield combination of Emma Milton, Chloe Hole and Sophie Green played brilliantly to both track back and help out the defence and to move the ball up the pitch in attacking phases.  It was because of the midfield that Chiswick's forward line were able to get in the game.  The forwards had a couple of near misses and a penalty corner that went narrowly wide, but eventually they managed to level the score.  From a foul just outside the D, Gemma McIntosh dribbled the ball into the D and took a shot from the top of the circle.  Just passing the keeper's pads, she found the bottom right corner and Chiswick went to 1-1 at half time.

At half time Chiswick made a tactical change.  With Sophie Green out injured and the midfielders being over loaded it was decided that we play four across the mid line with either a forward stepping back or a defender pushing up. At the restart this new formation seemed to have had a positive effect with Staines being held slightly more at bay. Despite this Chiswick did still find themselves defending several short corners early on. Jenni Holman running out on the defending corners however proved too much for Staines and she managed to stop the striker at the top of the circle on multiple occasions. After several close calls, Chiswick finally got some play in their attacking end. A lovely ball down the line from Madeleine Walsh to Laura Bryant gave Chiswick the breakaway they wanted. Laura Bryant with the support of Fay Pullin then went 2 on 1 with the keeper, a nifty reverse stick shot from Laura found the back of the goal and Chiswick went 2-1 up. Trying to maintain the lead the Ladies 4s played their socks off, but the attack of Staines was simply overpowering. Staines quickly equalised and with two minutes left to play delivered a devastating blow that saw them go 3-2 up. Chiswick had played well and had thrown everything at this match, but unfortunately had to walk away without the points. They are now looking to regroup and will be after those valuable 3 points next week as they face second in the league...BRING IT ON!

Goal scorers: Laura Bryant, Gemma McIntosh
MoM: Alice Taylor-Bennett for some super human saves
DoD: Clare Ormerod