WBFC 0 – 0 Civil Service

(GLWFL: Division 2 South)

Player of the match: Natasha Jarvis

The mood going into this game was positive, after a victory on the road last week against a strong South London side, there was a lot for the Borough ladies to be confident about. Starting in the same formation as last week, 4-3-3. We had a squad of 15, so plenty of options and strength in depth.

The first half started off cagey, Borough started well and dominated possession the first 10 – 15 minutes. The Borough midfield were looking after the ball well and working the play through to Maureen McAllister and Becky Michaelson up top, but unfortunately we couldn’t take advantage of our dominance.

Civil Service were struggling to contain us, they made two changes half way through the first half, this strengthened them and saw them start to dominate possession, this meant Meg Ward had to drop back a few times, but some strong tackles from her in the middle saw us win the ball back quickly. They continued to press, playing some pacey balls through to their striker, but some strong last ditch tackles from the back four, Mahnoor Rauf, Rachel Marshall, Lisa Manley and Sophie Kelly kept them at bay. The first half continued to be end to end with strong displays from both sides, but finished stalemate.

Half-time was an opportunity to regroup. The instruction was to keep going, keep working hard. Borough were playing well just lacking the gilt-edge chance. The break saw Borough make a change, Natasha Jarvis came on for her debut, replacing Sophie Kelly who was unfortunately suffering with an injury.

The first chance of the second half came to Civil Service. Another pacey through ball played for their striker to run onto, it looked like she was through 1 v 1 against the keeper, until out of nowhere Natasha Jarvis giving us all her best Usain Bolt impression came sprinting across to cover the centre backs, making two strong tackles to win the ball back. Brilliant!

The second half continued much like the first, pockets of possession for both teams, a few chances a piece, but neither able to get the ball over the line. Borough made some changes, bringing Leah Wilkinson into the mix with Maureen McAllister making way, and Wicktoria Garbowska coming on for Hannah Lees. Borough started to dominate again, looking the more likely to snatch the win, a few long range efforts from Gemma Manley and Meg Ward just sailed over the crossbar. The best chance of the game came in the last 10 minutes, a cross from the right flank from Gemma Manley landed in the path of Becky Michaelson, who was unfortunate not to beat the keeper and find the back of the net.

The teams were equally matched with some great individual battles across the pitch. Another good display from the Borough ladies, a point on the board and a clean sheet. Another day we take all 3 points. We learn and go again next week.

Another home game next week against South East Parakeets, they sit bottom of the table, losing 3 from 3 so far this season.