Swans winning run continues ....... just !!

Caversham arrived at Clayfield after the Xmas break and fresh from their Futsal tournament win. Marlow looked organised and determined from the first minute and gave us by far the hardest game of the season so far.

The early exchanges were very tight, but Marlow were struggling to handle Lally and Lucy’s pace up front and a couple of chances came and went with Marlow’s defence holding firm. Marlow’s right and left wingers were constantly threatening and Izzy, Lianna and Olivia were made to work very hard to track them back and avoid the crosses coming in, which they did brilliantly. Ruby broke away down the right and played a perfect ball through but the defender got a last ditch tackle in. Abby was also giving them problems on the left and battling well.

Slightly against the run of play Marlow broke through the middle, almost the first time they had got past Anna and Martha made an excellent shoulder to shoulder challenge .... but the ref must have been watching a different game and pointed to the penalty spot !!! Serena gave the centre forward “the eyes” and justice was done as she skied it over the bar.

This let off focussed Caversham minds and the deadlock was finally broken 10 minutes into the second half with another swift move through the middle with some great battling in the box by Leah and a ball by Grace setting up Lally who made no mistake slotting the ball past the on coming keeper. Marlow pushed forward after falling behind and Maud continued to dominate the centre of midfield and Leonie gave some welcome fresh legs on the left. A couple of chances for Marlow came and went and with time ticking down the ref gave another questionable decision as the ball popped up in the box and Serena faced another penalty. Having saved 2 spot kicks to win the Futsal she was in no mood to give Marlow anything easy and made another brilliant save here to effectively win this match.

The entire team had run themselves into the ground with cramp and some strong challenges towards the end of the game, but Caversham held on for another good win.