LTHC Ladies 3rd XI 5 vs Leicester Ladies 5th XI 1
LRHA Ladies – Division 1
Sunday 28th October 2018
Loughborough Town Ladies 3rd XI took the field of play in their 2nd match of the weekend, this time to face Leicester Ladies 5th XI. Thankfully everyone remembered that they had an extra hour in bed and turned up on time, a good start. The sun was shining unlike yesterday’s rain so maybe this would see a turn in fortune after the narrow defeat of yesterday.
The team saw Selena Cox making her debut in goal after 4 years out and a return of some players who were missing yesterday. True to form Sam Dalby lost the toss again making it 4 in a row, perhaps next week the job will be passed to assistant captain Sarah Rose to see if she can do any better. The game started and a quick push by town saw a strong attack and within 5 minutes the ball had been superbly crossed in to the D for an easy push in for Sam Dalby, who looked shocked to see it cross the line. The next 15 minutes saw strong and consistent attacks from all quarters of the pitch, with Alex Penry and Charlotte Temmink dominating midfield. The 2nd goal appeared about 20 minutes from half time, a rocket of a shot from Molly Gransden. Some miscommunication during substitutions saw a confused 10 minutes of play just before half time, but thankfully town held firm till the break.
The 2nd half started similarly to the 1st with Town’s strong attacking play, and thanks to the efforts of Leicester’s goalkeeper the score line was still 2-0. Sam Dalby picked up her 2nd goal of the game as she drove down the line entering the D and managed to sneak the ball behind the keeper to increase the lead to 3-0. It was not long before a fantastic pass in midfield from Julia Symonds found Molly Gransden who slotted home her 2nd of the match.
Strong defensive play by Hattie Bates, Zara Bailey and Rachel Taggart meant that Leicester did not get many opportunities to penetrate the D, and short corners were few and far between on both teams. The 5th goal started with a pin point accurate pass from Rebe Casselden to find Molly Gransden who silkily passed 3 defenders to penetrate the D and a reverse shot slipped past the keeper. With 2 minutes to go it looked like a clean sheet was on the cards but unfortunately this was not to be. After Leicester won a short corner in the last minute, then Hatty Bates unfortunately being sent to the half way line for breaking early, Leicester were able to secure another short. Whilst the rest of the team raced back to assist, Selena Cox made 5 fantastic saves, and the defence saved the ball on the line. Though in the same run of play Leicester were able to break through Town’s defence and score, spoiling the clean sheet.
All in all a well-deserved win by Town who fought hard against a strong defensive line up of Leicester, and moves Town to mid table in the league.
