Ladies 3rds WIN against Burton 3rds 06/12/08 Home

YIPPEE OUR SECOND WIN OF THE SEASON!!! A 3-2 Victory!

Starting with a full squad and subs Asterdale Ladies Thirds turned out in fine form (well most of us, you know who you are....Laura!)!
The sun was low in the sky making it difficult to see the ball let alone distinguishing team mates! Still Burton opted for first push back to kick the game off and Asterdale were off from the start! Intercepting the ball early on we dribbled and passed our way up to their D. Five minutes in and we were taking our first attacking short corner. With Jo M. pushing out and Jen waiting at the top of the D tension was high. A strong and accurate push out by Jo gave Jen a quick and clean strike at the goal, the ball slipped through the legs of a Burton defender and was just out of reach from the goalie making that beautiful thud as the ball hit the backboard! Jen strode off like a proud peacock while the rest of us fluttered about with the excitement of flock of hungry pigoens!

It wasn't long before we were on the attack again and a foul by feet in the D gave us our second attacking short! Can Jen do it again......Yes she can! We were two nil up and dizzy with the thrill of being in the lead! Until.....it went to our heads, we started to relax and Burton snook into our D and created a short corner opportunity. They scored! A free hit in Burtons favour saw a lifted ball and jumping Jenny attempting get out of the firing line! Unfortunately for Jen she was clipped by the ball then landed awarkwardly on her ankle. Man down, time stopped! As Jen hobbled off the pitch a quick re-shuffle in postions allowed us to play on with a full team, well done Nat for coping with the positional changes.

Play resumed and we were on the attack, we all worked the ball well into the D and through the muddle of sticks and feet the ball found itself near the left post and a blindingly clear touch into the goal was all that was needed, unfortunately I was the man on the post and well missed, yes I hung my head in shame! Sorry guys! Before we knew they were in our D again! They scored goal from another short corner, they had a player with a really strong strike! They had drawn level, the pressure was on and we wanted a win! Then Terri stopped the ball with the only bit of her ankle not covered by her shin-pads. Play stopped, we thought we'd lose our Terr-ier!! Thankfully she's made of tough stuff and bravely ran it off to the half tiime whistle!

A few fine words by Dan and the team saw us prepared to work hard in the second half, victory was but a goal away! With Jen back on the pitch strengthening the forward line hopes were high! We created some good opportunities, passing round them and using the space. A cracking strike by Jo M over to Jen who was in the vicinity of the right post was just shy of perfect had it resulted in a goal. It was a valiant effort!

On the attack again with Heather making a breakaway run up the rightside, bless her she was pretty much on her own as tired legs from both teams tried to catch up, dodging left and striking on target gave us that third goal we were working so hard for. Top running and strinking Heather, lets have some more! On the attack again I swerved round a Burton player and headed for the goal, defended and cleared well by the Burton defence and resulting in a whistle blow. Burton had a player down, she appeared to have done my usual trick of falling over her own feet, she had twisted her ankle. Play once again resumed.

During another attack on the left and a nifty bit of passing between myself on Jo M tension was building to another potential goal......until the whistle blew, Burton had another man down, although she was nowhere near the ball and left us scratching our heads as to what happened. Even post match discussions only concluded some sort of whiplash injury, all clapped as the Burton player was assisted off the pitch to recieved treatment. A spray of deep heat later and she was back on side flying the Burton flag as it were!

With minutes to go and another Asterdale attack, a strike at the goal could of been Jens hat-trick. The ball hit the back board just after the whistle was blown for feet. The goal was disallowed but we were given a short corner just in time for the final whistle. Could Jen do it again for her third goal.....Burton defended it well and cleared the ball out of the D to see the final score 3 - 2 to Derby!

Man of the Match: Jenny D for her contribution to the scoreline, for being a top centre forward and for coming back on after injury

Derby Donkey Award: Laura for turning up late with a hangover and probably still a bit tipsy then forgetting where she'd put her jogging bottoms after the match!

Thanks to Dan and Annie for Coaching and Captin'ing and thanks to Chris P for Umpiring.

Okay Okay I should really come clean, I have neglected to mention that Burton 3rds were a few players short of a full squad, they made a courageous effort with an 8 man team. Well done Burton!

Well done all. Nice one Heather on moving to the CF position when Jen was off & a great run & goal while in play.

& hey we've really got these shorts sussed out. Nice one team, nice one Jen, 2 goals from shorts and Jen with hat-trick avoidance. Think that's double rounds at the bar.

As mentioned in the bar later there was also some ace play from Sara, Angie & Terri. Though obviously we were all excellent.

Another ace report Angie. Keep it up while I'm away, I feel like I'm in the match when I read these.

xxx