Southend 2s – 2
Southend and Benfleet 1s – 2 (Kirsty Edmunds 1, Claire King 1)

Local adversaries faced off this week as Southend and Benfleet 1s travelled to play Southend 2s. Whilst Southend are struggling at the bottom of the table it was soon clear that they fielded their strongest team this week to face S&B. To begin play bounced from one end of the pitch to the other with both teams eager to score the first goal but great defending from Nina Dabbs and Bex Utton kept Southend out of S&Bs defensive D. Great attacks from Naomi Barker and Claire King pressured Southend and it wasn’t long before S&B found their stride and kept the ball firmly in the home sides half. Hayley Middleton forced a Southend defender to make a mistake that awarded S&B with a penalty flick. Kirsty Edmunds stoically stood up to take the flick and expertly beat the East League goalie giving S&B a tenuous 1-0 lead. Southend attacked well and were awarded a few short corners but were unable to beat the S&B goalie Lisa Hawkins to level for half time.

On the restart S&B seemed to have the upper hand as they kept the majority of the possession for a time with Adele Cole and captain Nicola Bryant working well to push the ball forward whilst Kirsty Edmunds ran circles around the Southend defenders time and time again. It wasn’t long before a clever ball made its way to a waiting Claire King who slotted the ball passed the Southend goalie to make the score 2-0. The home side came back strong and pressured the S&B defence who defended well, but unfortunately for S&B, they were awarded a short corner, which Southend powered into the corner of the goal to hand Southend their first goal of the game. S&B wouldn’t falter though and continued to play their game as the Southend sideline support amassed to drown out the communication of both teams. Player of the match Rachael Jeffery worked tirelessly to keep the S&B defence strong against the newly invigorated Southend attackers but in the final ten minutes of the game, Southend attacked and a rouge ball crossed across the S&B goal, hit an attackers stick to send it curving awkwardly up over the goalie and into the back of the net drawing Southend level. Despite some last minute pressure on the Southend D S&B were unable to find that third goal and the final score finished in a 2-2 draw. Whilst S&B were unhappy with the score they’ll have to wait until the last match of the season before they face Southend in the return match at home.