Shefford & Sandy 1st XI v South Herts 1st XI

01 December 2007

In the final game of the first half of the season South Herts 1sts ran out 1-0 winners over Shefford and Sandy maintaining their unbeaten status at the top of the league and finally achieving a clean sheet in the process.

The game was hampered by blustery conditions and chances were few and far between but Herts were unlucky when Lucy Edwards twice broke free only for the keeper to save her shots.

In defence Herts looked strong with Ruth Spencer sweeping up well behind Claire Moore and Jackie Manning to prevent Shefford from mounting threatening attacks. On the rare occasions they did break through, Mo Gough was in unbeatable form and saved shots at point blank range on more than one occasion.

Herts continued to press forward with Caroline Stanners and Caroline Partridge combining well at a penalty corner, only for the final shot to go wide.

With the score 0-0 at half time Herts looked to raise their game and Sue Richardson fed a number of passes into the circle which just evaded Herts’ sticks. Faye Jowett broke clear of the Shefford defence but her shot lacked power and was cleared by the keeper.

Herts thought they’d scored when Anna Walker picked up the ball on the right and fired it across goal only for Sarah Jowett to beat the keeper but not the defender on the line. Not to be defied, Jowett linked up with Edwards moments later to flick the ball into the corner of the net with the keeper nowhere.

Having taken the lead, Herts dropped deep into defence inviting pressure from their opponents and seemed unable to break free. Cate Jackson blocked an attack and cleared the ball well up the wing but Shefford piled forward and won a last minute corner.

Thankfully for Herts the corner was miss hit and Stanners pinched it in front of the Shefford attacker and cleared the 25 to prompt the final whistle.

Goal : Sarah Jowett