MATCH REPORT-10th OCTOBER 2004
Clapton Orient WFC v Dagenham and Redbridge
Played:
Rachel-GK,
Helen P-LB, Katy-CD,Sarah-CD, Mandy-RB,
Anita-LM, Latasha-CM, Sabrina-CM, Krystal-RM
Jema-ST, Karen-ST
Clapton played well against a strong and well organised Dagenham and Redbridge side on a very windy day, scoring late in the game to give Dagenham anxious few last moments. Clapton had a good chance very early on, but Dagenham had a lot of possession in the first half hour. Clapton's defence looked strong and weathered early pressure, but Dagenham went ahead after Katy brought down a Dagenham striker who was through one-on-one with the keeper. Dagenham scored from a very well taken penalty. But Clapton persisted and continued to pressure, with Anita, Sabrina, Jema and Karen all coming close before the break.
Dagenham had a player yellow carded after she deliberately handled the ball to prevent Jema running through on goal from a well-timed pass. Clapton changed formation at half time, adopting a 4-3-3 stance with Anita, Latasha and Sabrina playing across the middle and Krystal pushing up to partner Jema and Karen. However, Dagenham started strongly in the second half and linked up very well down the right hand side, scoring from the resulting cross.
Clapton had fewer chances in the second half,
but the defence continued to deal well with Dagenham pressure and
Rachel
made a couple of crucial saves. In the final ten minutes, Clapton again
began to threaten on the break. Two minutes from the end, Karen
received
the ball on the edge of the area, fooled a Dagenham defender and fired
home into the left hand corner. A well deserved goal for a
hard-working team performance!
Player of the match: Latasha
MATCH REPORT-10th OCTOBER 2004
Clapton Orient Reserves v Carshalton Athletic Reserves
Douglas Eyre, Attendance: 3
"Oh crap". That just about sums up the team's feelings after this game. It was depressing because we actually played very well for large periods of the match, and still ended up on the wrong end of a 5-1 score line. Reader, how did this happen?
A quite evenly balanced first half saw the Baby COWs down 1-0 at the interval. Carshalton Athletic ('Est. 2000') had the majority of the possession but Clapton created proportionally many more goal-scoring opportunities. I would describe their goal but apparently it was forgettable.
We went into the second period in good spirits but were soon dealt a few cruel blows. The strong wind was now in Carshalton's favour and was surely a factor as one of their corners was touched in at the near post soon after the restart. From then on the game assumed the aspect of a pear. How we laughed! - As another excellent corner sailed into the Clapton net without so much as a helping touch. How we chuckled! - At their goalie's hilarious 'I'm going to make you come right up to me before I pick the ball up' routine. How we commiserated! - With Cap'n Buckie as excellent defensive positioning resulted in a freak own-goal. Carshalton's fifth was a well-taken shot from outside the area, which left Gel with no chance. Grumpy not only managed to keep a hold on her temper though, but also on a fair few more shots.
The last twenty minutes was all Clapton. If those twenty minutes had been the whole game, we'd have murdered them. The front two were linking well and pushing through strongly up front, supported by Clare as an attacking midfielder and creating lots of chances. Jen Byrne and Jo provided excellent support on the flanks. In defensive midfield for the first time, Anja put in the COW of the match performance; tackling and being tackled hard, distributing well and protecting the back four. My comrades in defence, Buckie, Niki and Maggsy, tackled solidly and restricted the chances Carshalton were able to eke out.
Some satisfaction came from a goal from Clare. I'm sure it was excellent, but I was a long way away at the time and can't really remember. I thought at least Clare would remember, but apparently not. Probably she was 'in the zone'.
Oh well, onwards and upwards Baby COWs. Carshalton seemed like a nice enough bunch and didn't have any substitutes either, so we'll look forward to playing them again. Hopefully the return fixture will reflect the 70 per cent of this match in which we played the good stuff.
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