Evesham had marginally beaten Cookley earlier in the season in a close game and it was obvious from the start that they were not going to give up without a fight in this afternoon’s game. The visitors hassled and harried Evesham’s Ladies from the start, whilst the hosts midfield of Hannah Watts and Kasy Corbett were putting together their passing game and feeding balls out to the wings or trying to get them through to the strikers. The first half was mainly in the possession of the Evesham team with Cookley trying to break down the passing moves and Emma Jones organising the visitors defence. Anything getting passed the back 4 was being stopped by the Cookley keeper. The hosts continued to probe but their shots were either misplaced or within the keepers grasp. The one time Millie Meadows the Evesham striker did manage to beat the keeper and get the ball in the net she was caught offside.
To start the second half Evesham made a few substitutions to freshen things up and continued the siege on the Cookley goal. The visitors however were not going to be over powered and continued to thwart Evesham whilst trying to break forward themselves. The pitch was getting more and more sticky and Evesham moved captain Rosie Johns forward and brought Katie Armento back on to increase the attacking options. With the increased tempo both Johns and Armento had shots, one of which the keeper tipped on to the post. The game moved into the last 15 minutes with the stalemate still intact but another Evesham attack fell to Armento who turned and put a high shot over the keeper into the back of the Cookley net. Evesham played a rather nervous finale including an inexplicable 7 minutes of extra time added on to the end but ultimately held on for 3 vital points.
A third clean sheet for Sophie Broome the stand in Evesham keeper who is sadly leaving the team after three years. We would all like to thank her for her effervescence, hard work, commitment and team spirit.
The game was competitive and physical but both teams showed respect for one another in a hard fought contest, with Emma Jones and Kasey Corbett taking players of the Match for Cookley and Evesham respectively.
0 Comments