Swans beat ...... and draw with 100% AFT

In the grip of storm Hannah the mighty Swans arrived at the Academy Sports ground to no goals, no pitch markings and a sparse looking team for AFT Crystals the league leaders and 1 - 0 Victor’s at Clayfield Copse earlier in the season. They were extremely lucky that day and we were hopeful that history would not repeat itself. After a long discussion with the referee the AFT coach offered to concede the game because of the state of the pitch and we accepted a 1-0 victory to Caversham and agreed to play a 30 minute each way friendly - the result we had come for. This was very gracious of him given how tight the league is with Caversham now just 2 points behind. With the very strong wind making it almost impossible to get the ball on the ground and under control combined with AFT’s main threat of long throws the first half was a battle and the girls stood up and fought really well with Niamh, Anna, Olivia and Izzy rock solid at the back. We literally weathered the storm in the first half and managed to get to half time at nil nil following a fairly even first 30 minutes with Lally, Lucy and Ruby all troubling their defence. Surely with the wind behind us and playing well we could win the second half and end their unbeaten run ........ To AFT’s credit they started the second half very strongly and in appreciation of this, Niamh decided to curl a brilliant shot past Serena and into OUR goal !!!! The defence found it very amusing ...... unlike the coaches !!!! Time for a re-shuffle and we pushed Lucy, Lally and Leonie up front with Abby and Lianna both threatening from the wing. Grace and Maud for once we’re struggling to contain their very good central midfield duo but battled really well. We needed a goal and Leonie’s persistence to a lost cause managed to get the ball to Grace by the touchline with squared it to a Lally who smashed it into the net. With only 5 minutes left the Swans had a deserved equaliser !!!!! There were not many chances for either side after this and the game ended in a draw ....... the first time AFT had dropped points all season. An excellent performance from the girls and a great warm up for the cup final where we can absolutely gain our deserved victory. Roll on May 11th !!!!