17th Oct 09 Bank of England 2 Croydon ladies 3

It was a chilly but sunny autumn day, when a Croydon 10 took to the field to face the usually tough Bank of England.’10’ i hear you cry?! ‘shouldn’t there be 11’?!? Yes Indeedy we thought,but with Chloe in her sick bed and Jenna and Karen attempting to book themselves into The Priory next door it was an anxious Croydon who walked onto the pitch! But just as the whistle was about to go, there yonder came Jenna and Karen sprinting to the pitch, well actually Karen sprinted toward the pitch and Jenna to the Ladies…
The game started and a Croydon team with lots of new faces found themselves under the cosh from minute 1! With Lena being overrun on the left, great play between her and Nicky alleviated the pressure for a while but with 15 minutes gone a ball into the D found GK Mrs B leaping in front of the forward and making a fantastic block at the top of the D, however the BOE sneaky forward managed to push the rebounding ball towards goal and Croydon found Netty and Jenna running back towards goal with another BOE playing in hot pursuit…hurrah Netty got to the ball first and performed a text book (as practiced in training – thanks Jill) clearance off her right foot straight out of the D………… alas No, she struck that sweet clearance straight into Jennas stick, leg and whatever else and Croydon were jolly ticked off to see the ball deflect into the goal! 1-0 BOE.

Croydon couldn’t grumble, the oppo had pressured them constantly and they deserved their lead, albeit lucky deflection (i’m not bitter..) BOE went close a few minutes later but with Tarren (i just turned up to watch), Jenna & Karen in midfield making hard tackles, they kept the deficit to 1 at Half Time

The 2nd half started oh so very differently, we appeared to be a different team, Kat (fab in her 1st game for 2s), Kaz (arm waver extraordinaire) and Kirsten (I haven’t played in 10 years) on the right really drove the team forward and with Julie and Claire running hard up front it wasn’t long before a Corner was awarded. From a hard strike by Julie a yelp could be heard from a BOE defender, with a brilliant advantage being played Julie picked the rebound up with glee and smacked it into the goal. GET IN THERE! 1-1. Only 5 minutes later great play from Nicky, Claire and Julie earned Croydon another Corner. This time there was no need for assistance from feet, Ball Out – Julie Stop – Julie Strike – Back Board Bang – Croydon Wahoo!! 2-1 Up. There began the BOE backlash, despite excellent midfield play from Jenna and Kaz the oppo really pushed forward, another through ball found a forward behind the Croydon defence. She drove the ball into the D, Mrs B came sprinting out and dived…., Netty came running back and dived….now from this point forward we’re not sure what happened but as she was falling she backsticked the ball.. tut tut, free hit Croydon!
However, all this was for nowt when a few minutes later BOE levelled the score. 2-2.
5 minutes to go, back and forth, back and forth the game went, but as Croydon have proven never bet against them… another Corner won….no pressure. the ball went fast and straight to Julie, who coolly dummied a defender and earned her Player of the match performance by smashing that little ball into the goal……. 3-2 Croydon!
The last few minutes were a teensy bit panicy, great last ditch tackles from Lena, Kirsten, Kat, Karen and Nicky (there were quite a lot) saved the day and finally the whistle blew. 3-2 Croydon, who now stand joint 2nd in the league.
Thanks to Lisa P for umpiring and Martin for being no 1 supporter and chief subber! Thanks to BOE for a clean match and super teas!! In fact they were so super Nicky had mine as well..
Netty
Apologies everyone… you know once i get started!!