This match was always guaranteed to be a tough, physical encounter. Doncaster Independent attacked from the onset and put Slazengers immediately on the defensive, battling hard to clear the ball from their defensive 25 yard area. Jess Lloyd working fantastically at left defence and Lizzie Tunstall made some excellent saves in net.
Sue Hope, Stacey Binns and Daisy Gee-Sanders worked hard in midfield, producing some brilliant runs, creating space in the centre of the park, and feeding the ball to Millie Crowther and Zoe Bacon on the
wings. Donna Wood continued to press the defence hard with several shots on goal and winning numerous short corners.
With minutes before the end of the match and the score still tied at 0-0, a deflection into the circle off a Doncaster players foot (missed by the home umpire) created a scoring opportunity for Doncaster, leaving the half time score at 1 – 0.
Slazengers started the second half determined to dominate play with Karen Bates at the back soaking up the pressure. Lisa Minchella made some excellent runs from defence into mid field allowing the strikers room to cause trouble for the Doncaster defence.
The best opportunity for an equalizer came 2 minutes from the end when Slazengers were awarded a short corner for a rather nasty elbowing incident in the circle. The ball was passed to left slip Sue Hope who’s strike went just wide of the right post with Millie Crowther narrowly missing the deflection. Leaving the full time score at 1 – 0 to Doncaster.
Player of the match was awarded to three players; Daisy Gee-Sanders for her excellent effort at left mid, Jess Lloyd for her fantastic defending and Zoe Bacon for some brilliant runs and positioning on the left wing.
