Maidstone Ladies 1s VS Eastbourne 1s

On Saturday the Ladies 1s faced Eastbourne on home turf. Morale was high due to a healthy handful of Maidstone spectators cheering the girls on.

Maidstone started favourable - within the first 5 minutes, a short corner was won. Conversion rate presented poor with two more corners being secured however there was no impact on the score sheet. Never the less, it was looking up for the girls and they continued to dominate play.

There was good movement from Emma, Alicia and Charlotte B in the mid field, which allowed for out-letting opportunities for the back four. From this productive and consistent play, Maidstone obtained most of the games possession.

Eastbourne had a few chances to attain a goal however these opportunities were quickly broken down and controlled by the Maidstone centre backs Grace and Rehannah. Yet, due to a sudden awakening of the Eastbourne side, the opposition managed to play the ball into the D and with a reverse shot, the ball flew into the net. The score laid 1-0 and stayed this way going into the second half.

There was considerable improvements of Maidstones’ play from the previous weeks, now attacking with pace up the right and securing passes, the girls looked sharper and stronger. All that was missing was the sound of the back board. The Ladies 1s went into the second half optimistic about the remaining 35 minutes.

Play continued, remaining the same - Maidstone endlessly controlled the game. However around 10 minutes into the second half, a short corner was won by Eastbourne. Emma denied the first shot on the goal line however the opposition had a second go and with a firm hit from the top of the D, Eastbourne managed to place the ball into the goal.

The Ladies 1s continued to tease the crowd with chances on goal from Frankie, Gabs, Charlotte N and Gibbo. But regretfully, no goals was put away.

Much to Maidstones’ despair, a defensive foot was found on the goal line, a flick was given to the very lucky Eastbourne side. The nimble Eastbourne captain stepped up to take the flick, however, this did not faze Freya and she dived to the right and the flick was gracefully set aside. Once again, the play remained very much the same and Maidstone continued to defend strong. Unfortunately, the Ladies 1s could not roll the ball into the goal and the score was left 2-0 to Eastbourne.

The score line did not reflect the game nor the effort put in from all the Maidstone First XI. The girls look to dot the Is and cross the Ts at next weeks training session and strive to continue to improve their game play. Player of the match was Rehannah, closely followed by her fellow centre back Grace.

Next Saturday they facing Aldershot & Farnham away - who are comfortably placed in middle of the league table.