Harlow – 0
Southend and Benfleet 1s – 5 (Naomi Barker 1, Ashlie Colman 1, Caitlin Meredith 1, Kirsty Edmunds 1,
Sarah Conway 1)

Southend and Benfleet 1s travelled away this week to face off against Harlow. S&B pounced on the sleepy Harlow side as soon as the whistle began and were awarded a short within seconds as Ashlie Colman and Naomi Barker threaded their way between the unsuspecting home side defenders. Whilst the short corner was seen off it wasn’t long before quick one-two passing between the pair handed Barker the first goal of the game as she nudged it passed the Harlow goalie. A Harlow break caught S&B off guard after they’d held the majority of the possession throughout the first half but a diving save from S&B goalie Lisa Hawkins prevented Harlow sneaking onto the scoreboard. Kirsty Edmunds would make one of her patented runs up the right wing, drawing the goalie to the right post, only to slide the ball back to Colman who slotted the ball in to an open goal.

It was a sluggish beginning to the second half after the restart, still despite this S&B managed to keep on top of their opponents,
and Edmunds would soon find herself drawing the goalie to the right post again for Caitlin Meredith to finish the play off this time as they outwitted the goalie once more to take the score to 3-0. Nicola Bryant was on tip top form this week as placed precise tackles against the Harlow players cutting off many of their assaults before they even reached the S&B defensive D whilst also pushing the ball
up through midfield for the S&B forwards to launch their own attacks. One such attack was switched across the S&B midfield and up to Edmunds once more who beat several defenders and out foxed the Harlow goalie once more, this time earning her own goal and S&Bs 4th of the match. There was some fraught defending on S&Bs part when Harlow managed to slip through the ranks but a diving clearance from sweeper Jodie Linge cleared the ball from the D and the ever resilient defending from Nicola Coleman and Adele Cole kept the Harlow from entering the D again. The Harlow defence were tricked for a final time by Edmunds who’d claim a third assist, this time with Sarah Conway claiming the goal to take the score to 5-0 before full time. Player of the match was tough this week as everyone had shining moments; in the end it was shared between Kirsty Edmunds, Lisa Hawkins and Nicola Bryant.