Leek Town U16 Girls Win Hard Fought Game to Move Clear at Top of Staffordshire County League
With several players recovering from illness and no games over the Christmas period Leek Town performed well to beat a very good Chasetown team.
Leek attacked from the start with the Chasetown goalkeeper having to make two good saves firstly from Lucy Kelsall and then from Alice Naden.
Amber Stanway was winning the ball in midfield and supplying Elise Skelding down the right and Becky Rothwell down the left and both players were having good runs at the Chasetown defence who were struggling to control both wingers.
Chasetown then went onto the attack through the middle with a good tackle being made by Charlotte Bromley and clearance by Isabel Wretham.
The next Chasetown attack produced a good shot which was saved by Leek keeper Hannah Austin.
Katie Maya then went past two Chasetown defenders and shot just wide of the target.
Chasetown then won a corner which was headed clear by Emma Smith, the ball then fell to Elise Skelding who ran half the length of the pitch and found Lucy kelsall, and she went past a defender and struck a shot on target which was saved by the keeper.
On 30 minutes Alice Naden broke clear down the right hand side and her shot beat the Chasetown keeper to make it 1-0 to Leek.
From the restart Chasetown attacked down the left but could not get past left back Mollie Shaw who showed great pace to win the ball and then pass to Rosie atkinson who set Leek on the attack again.
Half time Leek Town 1-0 Chasetown.
Five minutes into the second half a Chasetown shot looped over the keeper and into the Leek net to level things up at 1-1. From this point forward Leek went up a gear and with the introduction of Kirsty Ryder up front in the second half they started to take control.
Amber Stanway who had a very good first half was now winning most of the ball in midfield and along with Katie Maya just in front of her took control of the middle third. Any Chasetown attacks which did get beyond midfield were stopped by the excellent Leek defence.
Midway through the second half Katie Maya weaved her way past a couple of defenders and released a good shot which hit the cross bar, Kirsty Ryder following in controlled the ball and fired into the net to put Leek in the lead again.
Chasetown were now struggling to contain Leek and their goalkeeper played particularly well to prevent Leek scoring more goals.
The game was played out mainly in the Chasetown half with good running by Lucy Kelsall and Becky Rothwell down the flanks. Alice Naden, Lucy Kelsall and Katie Maya all had shots saved by the Chasetown keeper in the last 10 minutes.
Full Time
Leek Town 2-1 Chasetown
Player of match Amber Stanway
Leek Team. Hannah Austin, Emma Smith, Charlotte Bromley, Isabel Wretham, Mollie Shaw, Elise Skelding, Amber Stanway, Katie Maya, Becky Rothwell, Lucy Kelsall, Alice Naden, Kirsty Ryder, Rosie Atkinson, Chloe Gerrity.