Last minute winner seals victory

Redbridge & Ilford 3s v Southend & Benfleet 2s

Goal scorers:- Claire King, Lesley Tonking, Anna Winfield

A third tough game in as many weeks saw S&B face a strong Redbridge & Ilford side, & despite a very even game, the 2s were able to make it 3 wins out of 3 in 2014, edging a hard fought game 3.2. With S&B missing some key players this week, Claire King very kindly offered to help out, which was a huge bonus (thank you so much Kingy). After winning 3.0 in the home fixture last year, & on the back of a fantastic win last week, the 2s came into the game confident of taking maximum points.

Like last week, S&B started the first half slowly, & with the newly laid pitch resembling a trampoline, Redbridge set about using it to their advantage, making it as difficult as possible for the visitors to get a hold on the game. Anne Johnson was moved into midfield along-side Liz Fry, Jo Chesters & Isabelle Williams to keep things tight in the middle, while Michelle Arnold, Lisa Hockley & Fiona Regan made up the defence. And they were definitely the busiest S&B players early on, with Redbridge piling on the pressure, forcing keeper Carly Winfield into some good saves. When S&B did create some attacks of their own, they looked dangerous, & should have taken the lead when Anna Winfield shot straight at the keeper, then put the rebound wide. And the miss proved costly, as Redbridge took the lead from a short corner that was drag flicked into the top corner!! Undeterred, the 2s set about doing what they did last week & turning the game around quickly, & they did just that, Claire King, as always, in the right place at the right time to bring S&B level. And it didn’t take long for the second goal to come, Chesters driving down the right, sliding the ball past the defender to Winfield, who found Lesley Tonking perfectly placed to slot the ball past the keeper. Winfield had the ball in the goal from a short corner, but it was rightfully disallowed for being too high. Redbridge clearly weren’t about to roll over, battling hard to get themselves back in the game, and they got their equaliser from a long corner, which was bundled over the line after a goal mouth scramble. The first half whistle sounded soon after, a welcome breather!

Knowing they were really in a game, S&B regrouped at half time, & went out determined to win the match. Just like the first, it was a very closely contested half, with some great attacking play & quality defending from both teams. Johnson & Fry worked tirelessly in midfield to break down the Redbridge attacks through the middle, while Williams & Cole both linked up brilliantly with King down the left. As the second half wore on, both teams went all out to try & grab what would almost certainly be a winning goal, & just as it looked like the game would end in a draw, S&B pulled off yet another last minute victory! A lovely ball from King found Tonking on the edge of the D, who expertly held the ball up, before playing it into the path of Winfield. She sidestepped the on-rushing keeper, & slipped it past the defender who had done really well to get back on the line. Redbridge went straight on the attack again, & got themselves a short corner, but S&B held firm, and got the 3 points they’d battled so hard for. A lot of praise must go to Redbridge though, who were fantastic, & gave S&B a really stern test of their promotion credentials.

Player of the match was a close one this week, but in the end it went to Anne Johnson, who showed every ounce of her vast experience to keep a very determined opposing midfield at bay, with some great tackling & forward play. Congratulations to Kerry who announced she is 3 months pregnant, & also to Jo Hall, who passed her umpiring assessment (don’t think you can skive off playing now Jo)!!