Close Match

Jenny Worth was so keen to get at CoM that she drove into the back of the car in front of her on the way in and missed the first half!  The team didn’t know that until a few minutes into the match and could easily have been unsettled by situation...  instead, we put in an extremely gutsy and determined performance in what proved to be a good, if at times feisty, match.
 
Helen Elcock, who had come as a ‘super-sub’ for a couple of 10 minute bursts to give the midfield a rest without over-doing it on her ‘gooey’ ankle, bravely stepped up to the plate as centre mid (and did a pretty decent job) at the start of the half and was part of a rotating midfield that worked well throughout the match to ‘mix it up’ for CoM.
 
The two Lucys (Cook and Rowbottom) used their heads well, especially in frustrating CoM attacks and turning them into useful counters, Clare Atherton and Leila Owens made their presence known with strong drives forward and immediate harrying to retrieve lost possession, and Jenny Plant, Lisa Horbury and Emma Woodhead used speed and intelligence to put the opposition goal under pressure, and the mid generally did a good job of supporting the defence when needed.
 
The defensive line of Kelly Shore, Louise Preston and Wendy van Tonder put in a great performance throughout - one which was acknowledged by the opposition - and it seemed mighty unfair that CoM finally scored right at the death of the first half from the second (or was it third) short corner taken after the whistle… it was clear from their shouts how hard CoM had had to work for it!
 
Jenny W added her talent to the midfield shortly into the second half, and put in her usual committed and accomplished performance, which was particularly appreciated in the circumstances.  The best plays for Stockport probably came in the second half when the great team work of the first half incorporated Jenny’s play-making… much better than ‘standing-off’ and wait for Jenny to ‘do something’! 
 
Stockport had at least as many chances to score as CoM… some went inches past the wrong side of the post, some flew agonisingly past an ‘empty’ goal as their defence and keeper were beaten but all our effort had gone on getting us there and there was no-one left to stick it in.  And the CoM goalkeeper also unhelpfully made a series of great saves - especially at the times when a score to Stockport could have turned the match in a different direction.
 
Stockport heads stayed up until the very end, and although the final score was 0-4, this doesn’t reflect at all the ‘closeness’ of the match, and therefore tension, which both teams clearly felt to the end.  [Respect to Josie Moore and the CoM umpire for good umpiring of what could have become a very fractious rather than just competitive match!].
 
POM - Angela Fuggle