On Sunday 6th March the Staveley Miners Welfare
Ladies stop start season got underway again after yet another week without game
and they travelled the short distance to Beighton, to take on the Magpies who
are flying high at the top of division 1.
Things were not exactly stacked in their favour as they
kicked off in orange shirts and black shorts going uphill towards the changing
rooms with just ten players. The thing is though this season Staveley have
saved their best performances for exactly this kind of chips down odds against
situation and today was no exception…
...The ladies were aware of the need to not chase the ball and
remained solid for the opening moments of the game frustrating their opponents
who resorted to long range efforts in the main which didn’t trouble Lorna Wakem
in goal, and when they did try and play they were met by a defensive wall made
of Kirsty Woolley and Carly Charlesworth. But on seventeen minutes the good
work was undone when a corner swung in from the left was headed home by Ellen
Smith.
Beighton Magpies 1 – 0 Staveley MW
The floodgates didn’t open however and Billie Gordon,
Georgia Lowe, Sam Kirk and Laura Poole took over midfield and despite the
advantage in terms of players the home side just could not get out of their
half and the chances started to flow for Staveley.
Billie Gordon beat three players just past halfway and
slipped a neat pass through the defence for Carly Rowlands whose shot low
across the goal was pushed out by the ‘keeper but Gordon couldn’t get her shot
from the rebound on target.
Carly Rowlands beat her marker down the left hand side but
her cut back was cleared and on the stroke of half time Rowlands cut in again
from the left but her shot was saved.
Player numbers threatened to drop even further before the
end of the half when, Laura Poole who had contributed to the good performance
with some tough tackling and defensive covering out wide on the right appeared to faint out on the pitch but after
treatment she deemed herself fit enough to carry on…
HT: Beighton Magpies 1- 0 Staveley MW Ladies
Player number parity was restored at the start of the second
half with the arrival of Cheryl Smith and she almost restored parity in the
score line too when she got on the end of a Carly Rowlands cross from the right
but was distracted slightly by Billie Gordon who also went for the same ball,
and the chance was lost.
Sam Kirk whose never give up attitude to the game of
football was at the heart of everything good for Staveley was unlucky not to
score when she hit a Georgia Lowe throw-in towards goal only to see the ball
hit the ‘keeper then the post and back into the grateful arms of the
aforementioned ‘keeper who knew absolutely nothing about the miraculous saved
she had just made.
The Magpies in an attacking sense were largely kept at bay
by Danielle Taylor who used her pace to great effect snuffing out most of what
they had to throw at Staveley with a covering interception or three but they almost
scored from what looked like a cross from their right but thankfully it just
dropped past the far post.
With twenty minutes remaining Georgia Lowe, Billie Gordon
and Sam Kirk worked the ball out of defence and out to Carly Rowlands who just
managed to get the ball before it went out for a goal kick but couldn’t wrap
her foot around it enough and her cross hit the side netting…
Both sets of players were tiring and gaps were appearing
especially in the centre of midfield where but for a bad bounce as the ball hit
her hand Carly Rowlands would have been through with very little defensive
cover.
Staveley kept plugging away but Beighton are not top of the
league for nothing and as the Trojans dropped deeper and deeper Rachel Charles
got in round the back and smashed the ball high into the roof of the net and
unfortunately Staveley got nothing when they deserved a heck of a lot more.
Full Time: Beighton Magpies 2 – 0 Staveley MW Ladies.
Team: Lorna Wakem, Teresa Oliver, Danielle Taylor, Kirsty
Woolley, Carly Charlesworth, Billie Gordon, Laura Poole, Sam Kirk, Georgia
Lowe, Carly Rowlands….Cheryl Smith (second half)
