EASTERN REGION WOMEN’S FOOTBALL LEAGUE

DIVISION ONE EAST

 Sunday 23^rd January 2005

 Chelmsford City 3 – 2 Cornard

     THE last time these two team met, Chelmsford had an easy victory, but this time round Cornard Ladies came with a full-strength squad and put up a great fight for the first 40 minutes.

    City dominated all of the first half but it was only on the stroke of half time that they netted their first goal.  A scramble inside the six-yard box wasn’t cleared by Cornard, Emma Ridings pounced on the ball just out side the area, and beat a defender before striking a shot into the net.

    The second half was much the same as the first, with City having plenty of shots but unable to convert any of the chances.

    On 60 minutes a superb piece of play by Ridings saw her cross perfectly to Sarah Jolly who was unfortunate to see her cracking shot on goal well-saved by the keeper. Ten minutes later Emma Ridings took on the Cornard defence before slotting the ball home to make it 2-0.

    Then five minutes later, Ridings’ run down the wing culminated in a low cross-in to the box where Lisa Napean timed her run to perfection to strike the ball home, making it 3-0.

    Cornard never gave up and on 85 minutes they pulled a goal back with a sweetly-struck shot from the edge of the box which dipped over the Chelmsford keeper.  With a couple of minutes left, a City defensive error gave Cornard a second goal, which put pressure on City for the last moments of the game. But they managed to hold on to their one-goal advantage to seal victory.

    City’s player of the match was Shelley Haslam.

CHELMSFORD CITY:  V. Smith, M. Harman, E. Marshall, L. Kendle, S. Brownlie, E. Ridings, S. Haslam, S. Jolly and L. Napean.