Maidstone ladies 1s travelled to Harleston Magpies on this wet and blustery Saturday aiming to get another 3 points on the table. Maidstone began the first half with a half-court press and an early steal of possession and counter attack led to a short corner, but it unfortunately came to no avail. Magpies pressed extremely high, leaving the Maidstone defence struggling to outlet and an interception and ensuing counter attack was finished with a reverse hit goal for the home side. Towards the end of the first half as Maidstone continued to try and outlet, Harleston capitalised on another slip in possession with a second goal, leaving the half time score at 2-0.

The second half started well for Maidstone who opted to go to a full press to put pressure on the opposition’s defence. This allowed the creative midfield line to outlet through the width of the pitch, using their 3D skills to get over the flat sticks of the opposition. Maidstone found the most success on the right hand side of the pitch, where player of the match Katie Swaffer worked tirelessly up the line to bring the forwards into the match as well as tracking back to help defend. This meant that Maidstone were able to have more attacking chances through both open play and set pieces, slowly gaining more control of the ball than in the first half. However, the Maidstone high press meant that when the opposition did manage to intercept the ball or tackle, they were able to get numbers on the attack and even though the Maidstone goalie Becky Ward made some excellent saves, the opposition managed to score a further 3 goals before the full time whistle. The 5-0 result was not a realistic reflection on what took place during the match with Maidstone having many promising sequences of play and fighting until the end. Maidstone look to be more clinical in next week’s home match against a similarly positioned Dereham side.