We arrived in good time with one noteable exception who thought we were at home! No names but Cally looks a bit red faced!
A lovely afternoon with bright sunshine although the keen wind blowing across the pitch kept the temperature down. Great for football apart from the pitch being rock hard in places making control and a passing game difficult. Good to see that we had a full team and 3 subs, thanks to Reedy and Georgie adding their names late on.
For the first 9 minutes Crick appeared to settle better than Moulton and despite being against the breeze, they seemed in control. Then, Moulton's midfield won the ball and Shannon took the ball and passed to Sarah who hit a great through ball for Steph to run on to. Steph outpaced the defender, and then calmly slotted low past the onrushing Crick keeper, 1-0 Moulton against the run of play.
Five minutes later Georgie won the ball and only half hit a shot at goal, however the bouncing ball on the firm surface gave the keeper a few problems. In the end a sprawling save saw the ball deflected for a corner. The next 10 minutes saw a midfield battle with Moulton slowly taking control of the game, although the Crick team looked up for the challenge and they were doing their best to make a good contest.
After half an hour the ball was on the left and Shannon won possession and fed Wiki, who struck a glorious cross across the pitch into the wind. The pass found Steph with her back to goal, she controlled the ball before swivelling and powering an unstoppable shot past the keeper for 2-0 Moulton. Four minutes later Jess came on to partner Steph with Shannon getting a well earned rest. Jess and Steph then got in each others way when a chance looked possible, however 2 minutes later, Georgie on the right put over a good cross that reached Jess who promptly hit it into the corner of Crick's goal, giving the keeper no chance, 3-0 Moulton at half time.
It only took Moulton 3 minutes into the 2nd half to create another chance. Good interchange between Jess and Steph saw Jess put Steph away. She fought off the defender and beat the keeper with her flicked shot, only to see the ball clip the post. This seemed to stir Crick and they began to put pressure on Moulton's defence in their effort to get back into the match. Jade seemed in control with Cat at the back and Cally was having a really good game as a stand in left sided defender. 17 minutes into the 2nd half Crick were rewarded for their efforts. The referee deemed that the Crick attacker kicking Cat's foot just inside the area was a penalty. After a delay for the attacker to regain their composure, the Crick player calmly put away the penalty to make it 3-1 Moulton. As expected, this gave Crick new heart and an incentive to go for more goals. They were looking dangerous and with only a 2 goal lead Moulton were being stretched.
Fi, normally a left sided defender, had come on at left midfield. For some reason on 68 minutes Fi decided to take matters into her own hands. She started her run from just inside her own half and proceeded to run through two Crick defenders before beating two more for speed and then as the keeper rushed out, she calmly played the ball past her and into the net for 4-1. Great goal Fi. This seemed to deflate the Crick players and Moulton regained control. Only 8 minutes later Moulton broke down the right, the ball found its way to Steph who appeared to have gone too wide when going round the keeper. However she controlled the ball and tapped it in with her left foot to make it 5-1 and secure the 3 points.
To their credit Crick kept trying and a fast break saw Moulton's defence stretched. Crick number 22 controlled the ball and with a super flick hit the ball into Moulton's goal for 5-2. Crick then had a freekick some 25 yards out. Moulton filled the goal line with players and the shot from Crick saw the ball clear the crossbar. Unfortunately a Crick player fell over in Moulton's penalty area soon after and hit her head on the hard surface. She appeared in distress and play was stopped for at least 5 minutes while she received attention. Luckily she was ok but took no further part in the game. The match then fizzled out in the final few minutes and Moulton ran out worthy winners 5-2 and Steph continued her impressive goalscoring season.Her display earned her POM alongside Cally who put in a solid display in defence.
This was a good all round display from Moulton on a difficult playing surface. Well done Ladies, a win is needed next week to guarantee 2nd place in the League as R & D have many games in hand and mathematically could pip us if they won their remaining 9 matches.