With only a couple of weeks of competition left, league positions are being finalised and the last places are being fought for. Catch up on how the teams got on below…
Ladies 1st’s (0) vs. (7) Sheffield Uni. Bankers 1st’s
Slaz turned up to play a high flying Sheff Uni Bankers with some trepidation, given that their key player and Captain Ailish Hendry was missing from the lineup.
Despite this Slaz started buoyantly with a few chances coming their way. However Sheff grabbed all the opportunities presented to them at the other end and before Slaz knew what was going on they were down by 3 goals.
After a strategic half time team talk and some encouraging comments by stand in vice captain (and player of the match) Jessica Rudge, Slaz hoped they could get back into the game. Unfortunately this wasn’t to happen as Sheffield breached their defence time and time again. Despite sterling efforts at the back by Donna Slack, Alice Gascoigne and Charlotte Gunn, four further goals were scored and a bad day at the Slaz office ended with a scoreline which didn’t totally reflect the game 0-7. Slazenger also would like to wish umpire Morag Wilkonson a happy retirement as this was her last game as a neutral umpire.
Next week sees Slaz make the trip to Hull for their final game of the season. Hopefully 3 points and 8th place in the league will be the happy result, the highest placing for a few seasons.
Ladies 2nd’s (8) vs. (0) Pudsey 1st’s
Well the aim for the last game of the season was score goals and keep a clean sheet and the ladies really delivered! The first half belonged to Claire Dunstan, after scoring her first goal within the first 2 minutes she scored another 3 in the first half! Slazengers dominated the game completely and came away with an 8-0 victory to finish a really strong season from the 2s. Goals scored by Katie Minchella, Lily Miles, Naomi Frith, Abigail Collins on her first run out with the 2s and of course 4 goals for Claire Dunstan. Man of the match went to Claire Dunstan. Well done ladies.
Ladies 3rd’s (4) vs. (2) Rotherham 2nd’s
In the penultimate game of the season Ladies 3s took a well deserved and much needed 3 points from visitors Rotherham. Slaz dominated from the whistle and were 1-0 up after 30 seconds after some well worked passes from push back out wide right to Lou, down the line to Karen who crossed in to the D. The ball was lifted and player of the match Lucy Howarth reacted quickly to direct it into the back of the net.. The second goal came in quick succession from a long corner played from Hannah to Beth, back to Hannah who struck a fine hit into the D finding second joint player of the match Caro Schofield.
Rotherham’s midfield moved the ball well but the opposition were only dangerous when the ball reached their high forward who had snuck in behind the defence, her first well taken strike from the edge of the D going wide. Their hard work paid off however when defender Ritchey was caught out high up the field and the Rotherham forward outpaced second defender Nicole getting a carbon copy of the first attempt this time to the right side of the far post beating keeper Gemma.
Slaz continued to dominate the first half with midfields Hannah, Beth, Caro and Lou working hard to maintain possession, and linking up well with forwards Lucy, Karen and Mollie who broke through and put pressure on the Rotherham defence. Slaz’s hard work in the Rotherham half was rewarded when Caro bagged her second of the game and the 3rd for the team.
Rotherham came out fighting the second half and were lucky to score a second after defender Ritchey’s interception deflected the ball up and over straight into the path of Rotherham’s forward who got another perfect hit off to beat keeper Gemma again on the far post.
The home side stood their ground making some well timed tackles denying the visitors ample opportunity. Slaz also had further opportunities from short corners and open play with strong performances by forwards Natasha and Gabby. An intense finish to the game with Slaz having most of the goal scoring opportunity but were unable to find the backboard due to being denied by a quality Rotherham keeper.
Mens 2nd’s (2) vs. (2) Ben Rhydding 4th’s
Slazengers 2nd team entertained Ben Rhydding 4’s knowing a win would be enough to avoid relegation and despite being 2-0 up, only came away with a point following a disappointing 2-2 draw. Slazengers started well and controlled the early exchanges without threatening the Ben Rhydding goal too much only for Rhydding to create a couple of good chances themselves, Daz Buttery in the Slazengers goal pulling off a couple of good saves to deny Rhydding.
Slazengers picked up their work rate and got the breakthrough when excellent work from Matt Chilton ended with Simon Randall finishing well to give Slazengers the lead. Despite leading at half time, Slazengers display was poor and harsh words were spoken during the half time break. This immediately paid dividends as Slazengers doubled their lead when Ben Grahams miss hit strike was turned in by Randall to grab his 2nd.
To credit Ben Rhydding, they didn’t let their heads go down and got back in the game soon after and following a defensive mix up, the scoreline was level. Slazengers kicked on and pressed for a winner but in the end had to settle for the draw. The point should be enough to avoid relegation as going into the last game of the season, Slazengers are 3 points clear of the relegation zone with a superior goal difference.
Mens 4ths (1) vs. (5) Doncaster 7th’s
Slazenger 4s went to Doncaster on an early Saturday morning to try and continue their unbeaten run in 2016. Things started poorly for the greens at they were 2-0 down after 5 minutes. Slazenger scored before the break through a great passing move finished off by Sam Haigh but Doncaster scored again to make it 3-1 at half time. Slaz had another tough second half as Doncaster scored another two to deliver a final score of 5-1 to the home side. Next week Slaz 4s entertain promotion chasers Hull at home at 3pm.
Girls U14’s
The girls u14’s played their last tournament of the season this weekend, and ended on a high winning all three of their games they finished top of their group and gained promotion for the 2016/17 season.
They had a slow start in the first game against Leeds, but having found the back of the net courteous of goal from Jess Stones, a second from Holly Langdale followed soon after leaving the final score 2:0.
When playing Adel, there were many chances in open play to take the lead that it began to feel that it might not be our day. There was some excellent defensive play from the back 3 of Alice Cass, Mollie Gilbert and Sophie Fallas keeping the team well in the game. A new short corner routine fell short of a goal initially, but on a second attempt was converted giving a 1:0 lead. A second goal came from a shot from Emily Hunter which was chipped over the keeper. A final goal came from another short corner which was a strike from the top of the D from Mollie Gilbert. Final score 3:0
The final game against Bradford was a must win to secure top spot. The girls commanded the game from the start, but despite a number of chances and a superb performance from the Bradford Goal Keeper the score line remained at 0:0 for most of the game. The deadlock was finally broken when a shot from Katie Minchella rebounded from the Keeper to Abigail Collins who calmly put the ball into the goal. Final Score 1:0
Georgia Field, Ashleigh Jones and Leah Pearman all contributed to a great all round performance and a clean sheet for Goal Keeper Emily Crossley leaves next years u14 team with a good starting position for the start of the coming season.
Special thanks go to John Toon, for umpiring and support throughout the tournament.
