Southend and Benfleet – 2
Waltham Forest 2s – 1

Southend and Benfleet 1s hosted Waltham Forest 2s for the return match this week on a bright but unbelievably windy day. The game began and S&B attacks were somewhat slowed as they battled against the gusts of wind for the first half whilst Forest sought to make the most of their advantage and pressure S&B with fast paced and prolonged assaults. Jodie Linge and Bex Utton fended off the relentless Forest attacks with their constant hassling and diligent defending, until cool communication from S&B goalie Lisa Hawkins saw the ball sailing safely off the back line every time with not a Forest stick in sight. It was a long time coming but after a quick breakaway S&B ended up deep in the Forest defensive D hammering shot after shot at the goal and just when you thought that there was no way passed the Forest goalie Hayley Middleton slammed home the first goal of the game. Forest fought back hard and were communicating well to switch the play from one wing to the other quickly but S&B were ready for them and with the superb sibling defensive duo of Nina Dabbs and Nicola Coleman working hand in hand S&B fended off all Forest attacks holding on to the tenuous 1-0 lead at half time.

After swapping ends S&B were ready to pounce on the visitors and utilise the strong wind at their backs and whilst their attacks were quick and plentiful S&B weren’t able to find the back of the goal as all attempts slipped passed the posts. It wasn’t long before Forest drew level though as they were awarded a short corner and the ball somehow slipped over the goal line passed stunned S&B players. S&B weren’t going to give up though and whilst the ball got caught up in the corners of S&Bs defensive half some savvy stick skills from Rachel Jeffery on the left wing and some neat dribbling skills from Caitlin Meredith on the right, saw S&B power through the visitors defence. Captain Nicola Bryant stood strong this week displaying the perfect mix of defensive skills and attacking confidence as she worked tirelessly throughout the game to keep S&B pushing forward. And it seemed S&B attacking star Claire King couldn’t be tackled this week as she fought to be the first to every pass and slipped by every defender, passing it off just in time to a waiting Naomi Barker who’d glide through the final defender to have many a strike at goal; but it was Kirsty Edmunds who took on the goalie and managed to sneak it into the back of the goal to give S&B that all important second goal. The last minutes of the game were frantic as Forest fought to draw level again but S&B proved just how strong their defence is as perfect communication between all players saw that all the away shirts were marked and the final whistle blew with the score held firmly at 2-1 to S&B.

Votes for player of the match were scattered this week as everyone managed to claim one or two for themselves, but in the end Rachel Jeffery stood out on top and bagged herself the well deserved title. As Phoenix drew with Old Loughtonians 4s last week S&B extended their lead at the top of the table to six points; and with four games left, next week, S&B travel to face Brentwood 3s who sit second from bottom in the table.