Womens 1st XI vs Old Loughtonians 3

Today’s match was against the top table chasers Old Loughts so we expected a tough game after their loss last week. The team were poised for a positive press right from the start and worked hard to retain possession but some loose balls gave Old Loughts the advantage to put defence under pressure quite early on, however defence and midfield worked hard to clear out any attempts on goal and GK Lisa made some saves that prevented an early advantage for Old Loughts. There was some great play from the 2 Abbie’s on the left to move the ball up the pitch, using Katie and Loz to move the ball out to the right towards Kim and Kemi, but attempts to attack the oppo goal were halted by Old Loughts defence who quickly turned it into an attack towards our goal. After a goal mouth scramble Old Loughts took the advantage at 24 mins to go 1-0 up. It felt quite disappointing for that goal considering how organised defence had been and the clearances that had been made up until that point.

Old Loughts maintained the pressure for a further 3 minutes and after being awarded a penalty corner they took a quick straight strike to beat defence and went 2-0 up at 27 mins. The rest of the first half Romford dug deep and kept any attempts on goal out and broke through oppo defence to put more pressure on the GK. Romford were awarded a number of penalty corners but were unlucky to convert any. Half time 2-0 to Old Loughts and the team were tasked with damage limitation and prevent any more goals against us.

Second half the team dug deep and there were some gritty performances from everyone. Abbie and Grace played some lovely switching passes to break through the oppo press and the midfield and forward line fought through to put more pressure on the oppo GK and won several penalty corners. Old Loughts were awarded their share of penalty corners but were unable to convert to adjust the score. A final save by GK Lisa on a deflected shot that was heading towards goal ensured that the oppo didn’t go 3-0 up. Game ended 2-0 following a good team effort. Well played everyone, it was at times ‘Gritty not Pretty’ and lots of positive points to take away and build on for the next game. it was a well tempered game by Romford

MoM - Lorraine Curtis