Top of the table clash ends in stalemate

The 1’s took a road trip up the A12 for their top of the table clash against Harwich and Dovercourt. Despite winning their previous encounter convincingly, S&B knew it would be a tough game and were prepared to fight for the 3 points. The first half saw fantastic team play, with some superb passing and brilliant attacking moves from the midfield and forwards. S&B were piling the pressure on the Harwich defence, who played brilliantly, but the deadlock was eventually broken by Caitlin Meredith, picking up the ball on the right side and pushing it into the bottom corner. Half time came and S&B were 1-0 up and confident that more goals could come.

Harwich came out fighting in the second half, and a change of formation temporarily confused S&B, leaving players free up front. The second half saw much more end to end play, with the defence having to work hard to keep the ball out of the D and prevent Harwich getting shots away. Unfortunately, after 15 minutes, Harwich managed to beat the defence and equalise. This gave Harwich a new confidence and burst of energy, and not long after, they won their only short corner of the game, which was converted. S&B were down 2-1, and knew they needed to get their first half dominance back. Heads did not go down, and we continued to press the Harwich defence, gaining a short corner not too long after. Rachel Jeffrey injected the ball into Naomi Barker, who struck from the top of the D into the bottom corner, levelling the score once again. Both teams continued to fight in the last 10 minutes for the full 3 points, however the score ended level at 2-2 and no change at the top of the table. A hard fought match by both teams.

Player of the Match: Adele Cole