Long Eaton stormed to the top of the league in an epic 3-1 win against promotion rivals Hinckley last night.
Hinckley arrived at Grange Park knowing they could not afford to loose this game. Long Eaton knew if they wanted a realistic chance of promotion they had to win.
With a modest supporting crowd the ladies knew they couldn’t disappoint and were quickest out the blocks.
They attacked Hinckley using the channels as the visitors side packed the middle of the park.
However the Leicestershire side proved their credentials as they regained composure to press Long Eaton back.
Then after winning a corner against the run of play, Hinckley played a short ball which the Blues were too slow to close down and as a result the Hinckley striker hit a long ball which found its way through the crowded 18 yard area into the back of the net, putting the visitors one up.
Heads could have gone down but the ladies were in no mood to be beaten and battled their way back into the game.
Long Eaton manipulated Hinckley’s weak areas and Hayley Armstrong managed to get a shot away from the right which could only be palmed away by the visitors stopper, unlucky for her that was into the path of Jodie Hancock who squared the ball for the waiting Lisa Jones who didn’t need asking twice to slot the ball home for the equaliser.
The goal had been coming for the hard working Long Eaton team and they tried to keep the pressure on to take the lead before the break but despite their dominance they couldn’t make it pay.
The second half saw a confident Blues team heap the pressure straight back on Hinckley as the Long Eaton midfield retained possession, forcing Hinckley to chase the game.
Again the Blues utilised their wingers to penetrate the Hinckley defence.
When Hinckley tried to counter attack they came up against a Blues defence who were taking no prisoners and their striker became isolated.
The Blues were playing good football and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before the goal came, and sure enough it did.
A good passage of play found Hancock through on goal and her finish was clinically put just past the fingertips of the Hinckley keeper to put the Blues 2-1 up and in the driving seat.
Now trailing behind Hinckley tried to cut back the defeicit but again they had limited options up front and the Blues defence and keeper Cairo Hopewell cut out any threat posed.
Determined to put the game beyond the visitors Long Eaton didn’t sit back they pressed further.
This proved successful as Armstrong received a pass from Strange, fed it into Hancock who squared the ball again for Lisa Jones who hit the back of the net for her second and Long Eaton’s third.
A jubiliant Blues side just had to see the clock out to take the win, and despite winning corners Hinckley had no answer to Long Eatons 3 goals, the Blues defence again coming out on top in every one to one.
Finally the ref blew for full time and it was a well deserved win for the Blues after a convincing performance.
So with only 3 games remaining the Blues are 3 points clear at the top of the league with a game in hand over Hinckley. They travel down to Kingsthorpe at the weekend where they are hoping to extend their lead at the top
