14th January Match Reports

Stockport Team Match Report

EDGELEY HALT REDDISH WINNING STREAK

In order to keep the pressure on top of the table Heaton, Reddish were looking to continue their impressive winning streak which stretches back to way before Christmas. This time it was Edgeley who were looking to stop them in their tracks and they made Reddish work a lot harder than their previous games, although both teams were outgoing in their attacks. The game started at a frantic pace and both goalkeepers had to make sure they were on top form to keep out shots from both defences. Early attacks though couldn’t prevail despite runs down the wings from Reddish and heavy hitting from Edgeley which seemed to carve up the Reddish midfield.

The deadlock was finally broken by Edgeley who took the lead midway through the first half thanks to a strike from Lisa Hornbury. The frenzied pace of the game was evident when Reddish equalised immediately after Edgeley had scored thanks to Sam Piggin, who with her second attempt scrambled the ball over the line past a diving Edgeley keeper. With the game all square again the tempo died down but it wasn’t long before Edgeley regained their advantage from a penalty corner. Despite desperate defending from Reddish trying to get the ball away, it eventually found its way into the back of the net and Edgeley went into half time two-one up.

Reddish came out of the half time team talk with lots of ideas of how they could take the game to Edegely and keep the pressure on the league leaders, Heaton. It was a very encouraging team talk with everyone piling in to boost the team spirit. If the first half was anything to go by, the second was going to be even better and both teams didn’t disappoint the crowd of spectators. It was end to end stuff at the start of the half with Edgeley looking to use the sides of the pitch more than they had done in the first and Reddish going for it right down the middle, with runs that more often than not ending up in the Edgeley circle. The runs from Reddish earned a penalty corner which was converted thanks to a fiercely struck drive into the bottom right hand corner from Charlie. The keeper had no chance of stopping that shot and with the game poised at two-all, both teams were looking for the win.

At times during the second half Reddish were chasing the game after strong and accurate hits from Edgeley caught the Reddish midfield unaware and shots which would flash across the face of the goal. Yet the score remained at two all and if wasn’t for the reddish keeper, Andrea, Edgeley may well have taken the lead a number of times during the second half. Reddish came back strong though and had a number of shots at goal but would trouble the Edgeley keeper little as they just seemed to be missing the target by inches.

The action was well spread during the second half which was not without incident as goal scorer Sam was on the receiving end of a wildly swung Edgeley stick, leaving a nasty bruise on her leg and the resulting free hit nearly saw reddish take the lead. Yet it was Edgeley who were to make the match have a nail biting finish as a first time shot from just inside the D edged them in front and take the score to 3-2. Reddish pulled out all the stops and continued to attack the Edgeley circle during the last ten minutes but the Edgeley defence held strong and Reddish’s winning streak final came to an end in a well fought match.

Rachel Dunley