In a fast paced, end to end thriller, it was the hosts Slazenger who came away with the win.
The whistle blew and Slazenger’s were on the offensive from the off. The ball was distributed out wide by Katie Brown to a waiting Jess Holland passing it to Gemma Whittam who took it into the D and had a shot on goal. A defensive mistake from the visitors gave Slaz the short corner. After a strong push out from Holland, the ball fell to Lisa Minchella who’s strike was unfortunate to miss.
However, the strong start gave Slaz the spirit they needed, leading to the first goal. A Pickering attack was halted through the work of Captain Julie Finch and Mandy Field at the back, feeding the ball through to winger Alex Gilbert. A cutting run set up Chelsea Armitage for the cross, allowing Holland sweep it into the back of the net.
Pickering stuck back almost immediately, but a great save from keeper Chloe Bates kept them at bay. However on their second attempt, Pickering were successful and secured the equaliser.
Slaz took the lead again through another well worked short corner. This time, Lisa Minchella burried the ball in the back of the net, to make up for the earlier mss; 2:1. However, this was cancelled out by an equaliser by Pickering minutes before half time.
The home side started the second half as they had the first, with some hard work by Hannah Field and Chelsea Armitage forcing a defensive mistake and winning another short corner. A slick routine layed the ball off to Armitage who fired the ball home, putting Slaz ahead again.
Their fourth was created from a single handed effort by Julie Bacon, setting up Gemma Whittam to pop it into the bottom right corner: 4-2.
Slaz thought they had put the game beyond doubt after Whittam securing the 5th. Field and Gilbert put in some superb tacking to win the ball and set up the waiting striker. Slazenger’s created more chances which came to no avail with Julie Bacon, Chelsea Armitage, Hannah Field and Becky Gummerson all narrowly missing the goal.
However, the game was far from over, with Pickering scoring two more within minutes. The clock was with Slaz, as the game ended, giving the home team the win. Player of the match was Alex Gilbert for playing superb on her debut for the Horbury side.
