Maidstone Ladies 1s VS Oxted 1s

The ladies 1s faced Oxted 1s away this Saturday. Maidstone started with the aspirations to protect the ball and to put pressure on the opposition when off the ball.

Maidstone mainly succeeded in the set goals throughout the first half. The back four consisting of Lou, Grace, Rehannah and Izzie - transferred well and patiently around the back; moving the opposition, producing channels to pass the ball forward and break the well manufactured Oxted press. Oxted often benefited from overloads when the ball was broken down in the Maidstone Mid field. Freya consistently was placed on her toes and secured some outstanding saves. Never the less, Oxted managed to put away 2 goals in the first half.

Going into the second half 2-0, the Ladies 1s felt there was a light at the end of the tunnel and focused on communication as well as adapting defensively when the ball was turned over. Frankie, Gibbo and Emma often controlled the mid field and created many chances going forward. Unfortunately, 2 more goals were put away by Oxted.

Despite this, Maidstone continued to push on and applied pressure. Frankie, placed at the front of the press, brilliantly managed to turn over the ball and rapidly sprinted towards goal. After some back and forth on the goal line, Gabs pushed the ball into the backboard, scoring her first goal for the Ladies 1s.

The score laid 4-1 - regrettably, the come back was out of reach and with 10 minutes left, the future seemed bleak for Maidstone. During these final moments, legs began to tire and with Lou wearing a ball to the head, another goal slipped passed the First XI. The final score was left at 5-1 to Oxted.

Maidstone reflected on the 70 minutes; pointing out that there were multiple positive pieces of movement and there has been an obvious improvement from the previous two weeks. In the coming weeks, the Ladies 1s endeavour to continue to improve their play. Player of the match was Rehannah, closely followed by Frankie.

Next week the Ladies 1s face Eastbourne at home, PB at 11:30. As always, any support will be much appreciated.