Super 2s draw against old rivals

S&B 2s travelled to the Mile End Stadium to face East London 4s, the team they pipped to the Division 5 title last season. With S&B very unlucky to be on the end of a 2.1 defeat last time the teams met in London, everyone was understandably keen to come away with a result this time out. With only 10 players it was always going to be tough, but a fantastic show of grit and determination saw the girls come away with a massively hard fought 1.1 draw.

East London got into the game a bit quicker than S&B, with the new look defence of Michelle Arnold, Anne Johnson, and making her debut for the 2s, Alison absorbing a lot of pressure superbly, and anything that did sneak through was dealt with easily by keeper Carly Winfield. It took a while for S&B’s attack to break through a well organised EL defence, but some great through balls and crosses from Amy Copping & Jo Chesters allowed the forward pairing of Lesley Tonking and Anna Winfield to give E London’s keeper some work to do. However it was EL that took the lead half way through the 1st half, with a good shot taken 1st time, keeper Carly nearly managing to keep out. The goal did nothing to dampen S&B’s spirit, and they turned the tables, creating wave after wave of attacks, which deservedly led to the equaliser. A lovely ball into the D by Anne Johnson caused a goal mouth scramble, which eventually saw the ball fall to Winfield, her shot across the goal hitting the inside of the post, leaving a tap in for the well placed Amy Copping, her 4th of the season. S&B were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty flick, after a shot hit an EL defenders foot on the line, but unfortunately the umpire only gave a short corner.

The 2nd half started in familiar fashion, with S&B piling on the pressure, creating so many chances, but the EL defence stood firm, & when they were breached, the keeper was on hand to clear any danger. Katie Adcock worked tirelessly in midfield, and captain Kerry Payton broke up numerous EL breaks, & along with the defence, restricted EL to very few opportunities. They did bring out the best in S&B’s defence however, with a fantastic goal line clearance the only real trouble EL created all 2nd half.

S&B will consider themselves unlucky not to take all 3 points from the game, but in the end a draw against a strong, well organised team with 1 more player & 3 subs was well deserved. Player of the match went to debutant Alison, who considering she hasn’t played for a year & a half, put in an excellent display with some superb tackling & strong driving runs forward.