2017 Season; 20th January Review

The ladies traveled to the seaside this weekend. With buckets and spades packed – the beach beckoned. However the commitment to maintain their position high in the league overtook as the seagulls got louder and they stopped short of the beach hoping that rather than a stick of rock it would be the points in the bag they brought home.

It didn’t take long for Slaz to prove dominant and had quickly taken the lead after a the ball was passed around the Bridlington midfield and a slightly sea sick Gilbert the elder tapped a stunning cross home.  After working her magic and threatening a second the umpire clearly felt that a rest would do her the world of good!!

Slaz, undeterred, continued to pressurise the Bridlington defence but sadly a second goal in the 1st half eluded them.  At the other end of the pitch the defence maintained their composure and even with a couple of breaks for Bridlington they never looked like pulling one back.

Half time score 1:0

The second half started initially with Bridlington trying to claim at least 1 point from the fixture.  With some stunning work from keeper Wilson and goal line saves from the defence, the plethora of short corners awarded them came to nothing.  Captain Tyrrell eventually found the back of the net after some fantastic shots were kept out be the Bridlington keeper.  At 2:0 Slaz knew the 3 points were on the way to them.  They completely dominated the field making some fantastic passes which sent the opposition spinning like a waltzer on the sea front.  Wallace was like the cliff face – letting nothing past and frustrating the Bridlington forwards.  Captain Tyrrell chose to seas the moment and make her goal tally 2 when a back line chip swerved and found the roof of the net.

Final score 3:0 – Slaz ladies really do like to be beside the seaside beside the sea. Special thanks to Mr Bates for travelling east with whistle in hand and for Grandma Bates for providing a wonderful dessert to finish off a great day out. City of York come to Slazenger’s next week with a 12 o clock push back.

This weekend saw a 2 game weekend for Slazenger’s Ladies 2nd team, first hosting to 5th place Colne Valley.  Slaz started strong and showed great confidence, with some great possessional play in the first 10 minutes.  Colne Valley maintained a high energy and continued to pressure Slaz, but Slaz reacted with the same and didn’t give in.  Their persistence paid off and resulted in Slaz gaining a short corner.  With a quick short corner straight to the left slip, Claire Dunstan had a first time strike, taking a lucky deflection off the Colne Valley defender into the back of the net!  After a high energy 10 minutes the work rate continued with quick strong one two passes up the wings, allowing Slaz to dominate the Colne Valley defence gaining another short corner.  Slaz adapted tactics and went for a straight strike from the top of the D from Stacey Drake, with a lovely deflection from Claire Dunstan getting her 2nd goal of the game.  Slaz began to tire and Colne Valley came back strong and brought the score board back to 2-1 as a strike from their player took an unlucky deflection off the stick of defender Gaby Giggal.  Slaz did not give in but as half time came closer, energy levels began to deplete with Colne Valley clawing it back to go into the second half at 2-2.

The second half started strong again from both teams, with Slaz showing composure and accuracy of passes and distribution of the ball across the pitch to open the play, allowing some great runs up the line and crosses into the Colne Valley D.  A mistake from Colne Valley resulted in another Slaz short corner, with a great right slip from Stacey Drake, Amy Brereton had a first time shot scoring her first goal of the season!  Slaz didn’t give up and continued the great team effort and composure, seeing Claire Dunstan get her hattrick from a great open play performance.  The game ended 4-2 with a well deserved win for Slaz!

Slaz 2’s travelled away to Tadcaster with a positive attitude from the previous days win. Slaz looked to continue their assertive play against the strong Tadcaster side. Despite Tadcaster trying to dominate play, Slaz made some strong quick breaks attacking the oppositions goal. Tadcaster put constant  pressure on slaz defence who held strong preventing the home team from scoring. Both teams were evenly matched with a 0-0 score at half time. The second half started strong from both sides however Slazengers scored the only goal starting with a solid run down the wing from player of the match Gabby Giggal  releasing the ball to Tuscany Mellor who beat the keeper and scored from an acute angle. Tadcaster never gave up but slazengers grit and determination prevailed.

Slazengers Ladies 3s travelled to face Halifax 5 for a late game on Saturday. Slazenger’s got off to a good start, attacking from the off. And dominating the game. Some close shots on goal and good defending from the Halifax defence. Saw slaz eggs unable to convert. Halifax quickly moved the ball up the pitch towards the Slazenger’s defence. However Halifax were unable to score with great goal keeping from Lizzie Tunstall and defending from Linda Stacey, Emma Eley, Esther Hill and Maisie Fallas. The ball was quickly moved back up the pitch through mid field of Justine Birkett, Lauren Fealey and Cherry Bedford and into the Halifax ‘D’. Some great passing through the forwards Diane Jones, Caro Scofield and Aleks Karpinska and the ball hit the back boards. A few short corners from open play saw the Slazenger score. Half time score 3-0.

Second half saw Halifax attack hard and hungry for a goal. This was not to be due to some good defending from Slazenger. The ball was moved quickly up the pitch and Slazenger scored from open play. Halifax determined to score quickly moved the ball up the pitch and a shot from left side of the ‘D’ hit the right hand post and crossed the line to see Halifax score. Slazenger’s were determined now and attacked with force. Some great work in midfield and from the forwards so Slazenger’s convert another goal. Halifax more determined found the back of the net again after a quick move up the field. Slazenger wanted the last goal of the game and with excellent attacking made this happen.

Final score Slazenger’s 5 – 2 Halifax; Goals from Caro Schofield x1, Aleks Karpinska x2, Lauren Fealey x2.

The ladies 4th Team faced the university of Leeds 7th Team at home this weekend. Slazengers started strongly and immediately went on the attack and it wasn’t long until Mia Davis found the net. Keeping much of the play up front, Slazengers continued to put the University team under pressure and a series of short corners followed. Showing the younger girls how it’s done, Linda Stacey  received the ball and with force and perfect aim, took the Slazenger ladies to 2:0. A further corner followed and again, Linda Stacey hammered another goal home.

3:0 up at half time, on return to the pitch, Leeds University upped their game and proved more of an opponent than the first half. Jo Pitchforth and Emily Craven, in defence, prevented several runs getting through with some solid tackles but finally the University team broke through and scored. However, this was to be their only goal of the game and Slazengers came away with a 3:1 win and Linda Stacey with a well deserved player of the match.

As always, it was a freezing afternoon for the Slazenger boys but a game was to be played nonetheless. The last time these two met ended as a victory in favour of the Sheffield Bankers. It was a 4-2 game that was only lost in the last 10 minutes of the game, so it is needless to say that Slazenger were out for revenge. The 3.00pm push back started a little late but it was not to affect the players in green looking for their payback.

The game had started out strong for us but we struggled to find an early goal despite some good attempts from our attack. For the first section of this half you could easily argue that we were in control. Everything seemed to be in sync but things took a turn for the worse when the Bankers scored a goal from a short corner. We had to find our way back into it. A good point to note is that the heads of us didn’t go down, instead they stayed up and searched for a returning answer.

It was only a small margin of time before the Bankers found a flaw in our defences once again. This time it wasn’t a goal scored from a set piece but rather from a few good passes that managed to quiz our defences. The half time whistle blew and a team talk led by our most experienced players meant that we certainly weren’t out of this game. We knew what had to be done, but we just had to try and perform it in the rest of the match.

The second half was very much an equal affair considering how we started last half. It seems that we took our foot of the pedal as did the opposition as well. It was an equal beginning to a half that was very much in our grasps. But towards the end the travelling team managed to find another goal (and PJ got sent off previously of course). Despite the 3 goal deficit, heads were still up high and there was no complaining at each other at all, signs of a good team in the making. The game ended with no goals conceded for the away team but there were a lot of positives to take away from the game for the green army. Man of the match was awarded to Jack Lee.