Southend and Benfleet 1s vs. Havering 2

Southend and Benfleet 1s travelled to face Havering 2s this week. S&B piled on the pressure from the first whistle as the majority of the play stayed deep in the home sides half. S&B had plenty of attempts at goal but were unable to find the backboard until a short corner saw Kirsty Edmunds nutmeg the goalie after a quick slip from Claire King. The few attacks that Havering managed to mount were expertly seen off by Nicola Coleman and Jodie Linge keeping the score 1-0 to S&B at half time.

The second half was much like the first as S&B dominating most of the play. Havering fought back but tight marking from S&B kept the home side out of their D as the ball sailed off the backline time and again. Expert stick skills from Kirsty Edmunds saw her weaving in and out of the Havering defence and drawing the goalie out of position so a beautiful pass to the penalty spot found Caitlin Meredith with plenty of time to line up her short and slip it neatly into the back of the goal to take the score to 2-0. Havering were awarded several short corners which allowed them to make their way onto the scoreboard with only ten minutes to go. Invigorated by their first goal of the game Havering saw the chance for a major upset as S&B had dominated the majority of the game. In the final minutes of the game Havering swarmed S&Bs defensive D desperately trying to find their equaliser, but level headed defending from Nina Dabbs saw the ball cleared safely up the pitch were S&B kept it until full time.

A great team effort this week meant that S&B how sit top of division one and that player of the match was a tough choice. In fact it was another split vote as the honour was once again shared, this time between Nina Dabbs, Caitlin Meredith and the team!