How cold? Early Feb and an arctic easterly wind brought in regular snow showers that threatened to turn in to blizzards at some stages.
The girls needed a strong solid performance to erase the memory of the Moneyfields game and strong and solid they were. From the first whistle United looked up for it and though not testing the Widbrook keeper enough, were the only team in it first half. Mel was having plenty of joy against their right back and Sam, in her new midfield role, seemed to have the measure of her opposite number. The snow blew in and Hayling continued to command the lions share of possession, but were unable to carve open any real clear cut chances, Angie and Mel successfully swaped flanks and kept the Widbrook defence occupied and Shaggy, Sam and Andy bossed the midfield.
The second half started with another snow flurry and the girls continued to give their all, the game became a little scrappy as Widbrook found more possession thanks to the wind. They pushed forward more and more and were rewarded with a some what suspect penalty, Sarah judged to have brought down their striker even though Kate had already saved the shot. The Widbrook penalty was blasted ten yards over the bar and parity remained. The last knockings were again scrappy as the snow got heavier, Shaggy picked up a yellow card for descent after Angie retaliated for a blatant barging, but goal mouth action was sparse. Jazz has a descent effort, but it was just too far out to trouble their keeper.
Alll in all a draw was probably a far result, Uniteds defense deserve massive credit for a clean sheet after the previous game and they were protected well by a battling midfield. The forwards worked hard and it was a very promising display by all.
We had a strong bench today and with Chrissie returning from injury soon and the promise of new signings imminent the future looks promising once more. Well done girls.
Player of the Match: Angie Bundy - A strong and determined performance well deserving this weeks award, well done Ang.