To say Slazenger had a ‘bad day at the office’ was an understatement this week. Following last week’s defeat at Hull Slaz were hopeful that they could gain a result, indeed Halifax were going into this game on the back of two defeats. However Halifax had clearly resolved any issues they might have had and the young team came out well planned and fighting fit. Slaz were under pressure from the beginning and defended well to keep the Halifax forwards at bay with joint player of the match Zoe Smeaton and Sarah Hobbs both providing key tackles in the middle of the park. Although many great saves were made by Slazenger keeper Eleanor Townend, the Halifax forwards eventually managed to break away and score three times in a short period, sending Slaz into the break a miserable three goals down which was felt to be undeserved.
As the umpires commented after the game – the half time break saw a renewed Slaz hit Halifax hard gaining many short corners and were extremely unlucky not to score with several chances being wasted. Sensing a comeback from Slaz, Halifax regrouped and piled the pressure on, resulting in another 3 goals in close succession putting the game beyond the reach of the home team. The Halifax organisation and overall fitness were key in the second half and basically Slaz had no reply, not helped by being down to 10 men for a while when striker Jessica Rudge was dismissed. A very disappointing result for Slaz but credit should not be taken away from Halifax who played extremely well and were much improved to the side which Slaz beat both home and away last year by a four goal margin. Next week Slaz go to Lockwood Park to play local rivals Dragons expecting a challenging game as always.
