Womens 1st XI vs Southend & Benfleet 2

On an overcast damp day the Romford Ladies first team headed to Southend with the aim of preserving their undefeated start to the season.

Selection issues meant that help from the Ladies 2s was required to make up the numbers, and resulted in multiple players starting in unfamiliar positions.

Romford started brightly maintaining a good shape and producing some confident link up play. Their efforts were rewarded with lead as captain Katie received a through ball from Greta following her strong run through the middle. The captains strike from the back post left the keeper with no chance.

Romford remained the better team, keeping the pressure on before an unfortunate mishap led to S&B equalising against the run of play as a left ball bounced off the post and their forward was rewarded for keeping her run going with an easy push over the line.

However Romford soon made a comeback and scored their second goal from a short corner, with Loz slipping the ball Ellie on the left, where it was slapped to Katie who was ready at the post to put it past the keeper for her second of the game.

The half time talk was overall positive. The forward line was asked to be more aggressive, and players were asked to put in tackles earlier to stop S&B from reaching the top of the D. Some changes to the line up were made to preserve some energy levels.

The start of the second half saw S&B put lots of pressure on, pinning Romford back into their own half, however Romford's defensive line, Lorraine, Natalie & Paula stayed composed, not letting anything get through them

However the tactical changes had resulted in Romford's shape being compressed and they were struggling to stretch the pitch and move forward in attack so the changes were reversed, giving a more balanced feel to the team. With the clock ticking down, Romford were able to finish the game off with a 3rd goal again scored by the captain assisted by Lorraine, who played the ball into the D, where it was received by Katie at the back post who scored her hattrick goal and earning her a well deserved mom.

With the win Romford move to the top of the table and now look towards Chelmsford as their next opponents.

MoM - Katie Williams