Report

The heavens opened this afternoon, but the sun was evidently shining down on Hednesford United Girls as they claimed a resounding 12-0 victory over Brownhills Colts.

During the first half, the rain and sleet seemed to be coming from all directions including upwards and for the first few minutes of the game, it seemed likely that there would not be many goals scored:  Hednesford had nearly all the possession, but the Brownhills keeper was on her toes and made some excellent saves to stop both Kate Clinton’s and Lois Brindley’s shots.  Abigail Malcolm, who was certainly making her presence felt in mid-field, caught the keeper off guard and took an early shot, but it was deflected by a defender.  Lana Titley also made some courageous runs, but the combination of mud, an enthusiastic linesman and the Brownhills keeper seemed to be squashing any hope of a goal.    Indeed, the spectators had to wait until the ninth minute for a goal, which was claimed by Lois with a well-placed shot from the right hand side of the goal.  This was all it took; the flood gates now opened for Hednesford and there was nothing that Brownhills could do about it.  Lana attacked first and almost got a goal, but somehow, the keeper managed to grasp at the ball to stop it crossing the goal line.  Not satisfied with this, Lana came back again and hit a screamer of a shot with her left foot on the thirteenth minute.  Kate, showing her usual grit and determination, battled with the goal keeper and scored three consecutive goals within a five minute time-frame!  Amy Newman, fresh off the bench, made a nuisance of herself in mid-field intercepting the ball and passing it forward on several occasions.  In defence, Taylor Gillis swiftly dealt with any ball that came her way and Samantha Fawdon, keeping the defence tight, calmly handled any attack from the opposition, despite being ‘rugby-tackled’ in a desperate attempt by a Brownhills player. Two minutes before half time, Lois managed to slip another goal past the keeper to bring the score to 6-0.

In the first minute of the second half, Lana took a corner, which Lois met at the near post and put away without any difficulty.  Seconds later, Lana made an excellent run and scored the eighth goal of the game.  Katie Smith was playing strongly in defence and made a couple of bold surges forward, demonstrating her ability to beat the Brownhills players.  Paige Smith-Kirkham, with endless energy, battled hard in mid-field, delivering many of the balls that lead to goals.  Now playing in defence, Abigail made some good clearances, enabling Hednesford to attack again.  On the seventh minute, Lois, who had been running the Brownhills defence ragged, scored another goal and, less than two minutes after this, our nifty prolific goal-scorer put home her fifth goal of the game (taking her to a whopping 34 goals so far this season).  One minute later, Sam managed to beat two players in the boggy conditions in the box and scored a composed goal.  Tiffany Whelan, who had been getting colder and wetter by the minute, was quick off her line when the ball came her way and sent it straight back to the other end of the field.  With ten minutes left of the game, Paige looked sure to score, but the ball stopped dead in the mud; Kate seized the opportunity and, with feet as quick as greased lightning, beat the keeper to the ball and put it into the back of the net to take the score to a final 12-0.

Manager, Dave Fawdon, was proud of the girls’ efforts today and awarded Lana Titley with player of the match for her amazing determination and her left-footed goal.  Opposition’s player of the match was Kate Clinton for her strong sense of purpose in the box.  Next week, the girls are looking forward to playing Lichfield at home in a top-of-the-table clinch.