Long Eaton United Ladies vs. Sleaford Town Ladies Grange Park Sunday 20th September 2009
The Ladies went top of the league on Sunday confirming their promotion intentions, after they made it 4 wins out of 5 by beating Sleaford Town 5-1 at home.
With the sun making a rare appearance it was to be hard work for the two teams however at first it seemed that the visitors might have the edge after they won a free kick just outside the 18 yard box.
The ball was whipped in and as the Long Eaton defence stood rooted to the spot the ball hit the crossbar and the rebound fell to the Sleaford striker, who was the quickest to react to put it in the back of the net.
Yet again the Blues had conceded first despite keeping the majority of possession and now the Blues had to again stage a fight back. The more the Blues kept the ball the more their confidence grew and after countless attacks a Grace Whittacker cross was met by Hayley Armstrong and the ball snuck in the bottom right of the goal.
The goal further lifted the Blues and it wasn’t long before they got their second when Sam Barlow latched onto Sarah Harrison’s long ball to slot past the Sleaford keeper.
Now comfortable the ladies played some good football, and pushed for more goals. Their efforts paid off when Hayley Armstrong connected with a Sam Barlow pass to hit the ball just underneath the keeper, for her second and the Blues third of the game.
Long Eaton went in at half time 3-1 up. After the restart it was clear that the visitors were starting to struggle as injuries plagued the side. The Blues capitalised on this as Chloe Madden comprehensively put away Carly Hayes corner, 4-1 to the Blues.
By the this stage in the game Long Eaton were camped in the visitors half of the pitch and they rounded of the game with a final goal from Sam Barlow who made the best of a bad cross from Hayley Armstrong. Final score was 5-1 to Long Eaton a well-deserved result for the ladies and a vital 3 points in the bag.
All credit to Sleaford though as Long Eaton could have scored more but the Lincolnshire side got bodies behind the ball, preventing a higher scoreline. It’s a big game for the Blues next week as they play Premier League side Friar Lane and Epworth in the 1st round of the Women’s FA Cup.
The two teams met in a pre season friendly and Friar Lane came out on top, but with the Blues not having a full strength squad at the time and their recent run of good form, it has all the makings of a cup classic.
The Ladies team would also like to say a big thank you to goalkeeper Gaynor Whittacker who stepped in for Cairo Hopewell who has been coaching in America.
