Date | Sunday 13 February 2011 |
Match | Royston Town Ladies v Haverhill Rovers |
Competition | Eastern Region Women's Football League: League Plate Qtr-Final |
Result | Won 1-0 |
Royston Scorers | Miller |
Royston booked their place in the semi-final of the competition after a hard fought battle with their neighbours from Suffolk at Garden Walk on Sunday.
The hosts began the game with great tempo, with both Claire Rattty and Eve Brindle dominating the midfield. Town nearly took the lead after just 5 minutes when Sharon Pinner put through striker Jenny Probert and it took an excellent save from the Rovers keeper to deny her. The combination of Hannah Mardell and Marie Miller set-up another chance for Leanne Buchannan and the same combination put in Probert whose shot cannoned off the bar. Haverhill seemed to have no real answer to Town’s attacking flair and on 30 minutes they deservedly went ahead after Miller beat the keeper to Probert’s cross and steered the ball home.
A change of tactics after the interval saw Haverhill now playing with three up front really put the pressure on the hosts defence but they failed to create any real clear cut chances. As the visitors pushed forward Town were able to exploit the space and Miller, Probert and Pinner all had chances to put the result beyond doubt. In a frantic last ten minutes Haverhill seized the initiative and only a combination of excellent defending by Wendy Webster, Gemma Barlow and Amy Shepherd combined with some eccentric goalkeeping by Claire Draper saved the day.
After the game Town’s Manager Steve Buchannan commented “I thought we showed a lot of character especially in the second half and it was another great example of excellent teamwork and we are looking forward to the semi-final”.