Maidstone Ladies 1s VS Oxted 1s

This Saturday the Ladies 1s faced the very confident Oxted side at home.

Maidstone had some spring in their step off the bat; Emma Worsfold and Alicia Grassom had space in midfield allowing them to turn and eject the ball up to the forward line. Moments of brilliant play were produced between each line in the first half - passes were nicely strung together and a few nice runs were demonstrated by Katie Swaffer and Gabriella D-S.

After Oxted got over their funny 5 minutes, they managed to unexpectedly secure a short corner and proceeded to smashed the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal. This conversion was a bit of a slap in the face for the girls however, there had definitely been worse at sea for the Maidstone side and after a few minutes Maidstone came back with vengeance. The ball was swiftly maneuvered from Maidstones' defending half to Hannah Shibli who beautifully looped the ball to Sophie Killick. From there, some how the ball managed to teleport to Katie Swaffer, who nicely swept the ball into the goal. Some of the touches prior the goal may have been accidental, nonetheless the end product was perfect and just what Maidstone needed. The score laid 1-1.

For the remaining 20 minutes or so of the first half, Oxted seemed to tense and their frustrations were transparent. Emma Worsfold, the Ladies 1s captain of two challenging seasons, had some outstanding saves on the line which kept the score line at bay. This play, along with a lot of multiple other moments of greatness, secured Miss Worsfold her well deserved Player of the Match (shock!!). Moments such as just mentioned, in addition to a few solid saves from Tabitha Wimble and crucial tackles from Grace Mansfield and Rehannah H-J, morale was kept high for the Maidstone girls. There were some smiles from the Ladies 1s at half time, with the score comfortably sat at 1-1.

Following some of Graces’ famous oranges in the interval, Maidstone step back onto the pitch excited to see what outcome they could produce.

Upon reflection, little was discussed around how Maidstone could take one more step up to secure a successful result against the away team. It was apparent that Oxted changed their press and mid field were therefore unable to amble free in the middle of the pitch; resulting in them being quickly closed down with little breathing space. Maidstone seemed to have some lag time, with little to no reaction to these changes at all, goals began to fly past the Maidstone side.

Heads significantly dropped and the girls found it hard to get out of the hole they dug themselves. A miserable long story short, Maidstone regrettably lost 6-1 to Oxted. Once again, the ladies continue to learn and take on board every game as they come. Objectives for the Ladies 1s next game have been considered; reaction and adaption to changes of opponents play has been noted high on the long list for the girls to work.

Nevertheless, the loyal Maidstone Ladies 1s will continue to show up and play week in and week out with a smile on their face for the majority of the time. This coming Saturday, they play away at the not so sunny seaside location of Eastbourne; who are placed just above Maidstone in the competitive league (second to bottom). Will this be the ignition to spark the Ladies 1s late comeback?