Cambridge League Div 2

Market Deeping Ladies (4) v Peterborough Town 4th XI (0)

Market Deeping Ladies proved that they are not just a one trick pony as a team consisting partly of new and young players faced Peterborough Town 4 th in the semi-friendly Cambs League cup.

For the first ten minutes the match seemed fairly even. Both teams worked hard but Deeping soon began to take the upper hand and break through the town defence. Nicky Buckby looked almost certain to score as she hounded the keeper but was denied by a nasty ankle injury as she raced to pick up a deflection. Left with only 10, Deeping simply increased their work-rate and Town were totally unable to take advantage. Capitalising on their well deserved dominance, one of three Carmody sisters in the team Orla made a smooth run up the right wing and crossed the ball into the centre where regular striker Sarah Smith slipped it past the keeper to put Deeping in the lead. This spurred the whole team on and they kept control for the rest of the half.

One of the original Deeping ladies in her teens Hannah Windsor was back and tackled fiercely at centre back, stopping Town from appearing too dangerous. Her strong hitting was a bonus too, and allowed skipper Flitton in the centre half role to run the midfield yet again. Centre-back Flitton is too modest about her abilities when pressed into midfield. As usual, halfback Clare Stevenson sprayed the ball around and it wasn't long before her pass found the pacey Smith who raced in from the 25, beat the remaining defence and lifted the ball into the goal in textbook style.

The second half started the same way with Town's extra player going totally unnoticed as Deeping marked them out of the game. Both teams won a few short corners but it was Deeping who made them count as Catherine Flitton's shot was saved. Karen Goddard cleverly controlled a bobbling rebound off the keeper and volleyed powerfully into the net. At this point the Deeping attack and midfield started to miss the eleventh player and tiredness began to show. However this merely gave the defence a chance to shine. Directed by Windsor , the Carmody Twins and Tracey Winbourne fought hard to keep Town out of their territory. A very strong Erin Carmody tackled every player trying to break down their wing.

In the unaccustomed position of sweeper one of Deeping's two keepers Ailis Carmody cleared numerous loose balls to prevent any serious shots on goal. Just once Ailis forgot she wasn't in goal, and made a superb foot stop in the D. Fortunately another Deeping new signing, keeper Kirsten Hackett was on fire in goal and saved the resultant penalty flick well. One final short for Deeping, this time slipped to the right, gave Smith her hat-trick and took the final score to 4-0.

A well earned result and some great performances from Deeping's very promising youth talent – all of whom attend and obviously benefit from training sessions. Deeping finish this half of the season with a rearranged fixture at Peterborough on December 10th.

East Div 3NW

Market Deeping 1st XI (4) v Peterborough Athletic 1st XI (3)

If they fail to achieve a second successive promotion, Deeping may still look back at this game as the day they came of age in 3NW. They battled back against an aggressive and provocative athletic side who sat fourth in the league to Deeping's third and were in Div 1 just a couple of years ago. They stood the test of temperament under great pressure.

Deeping took the first half lead after Ali Rowledge scored early on but defensive mix-ups led to Athletic apparently cruising to victory with a 3-1 lead and 15 minutes to go. Worse still, the Athletic keeper was in great form. But the last fifteen minutes saw a turn around and once again it was a Simon Wilmot short corner that turned the game, before Paul Tancred struck twice. This left Deeping facing a hairy four minutes at the end of the game before the final whistle brought relief. Deeping stay third as Cambs City (2 nd ) and Peterborough Town (3 rd ) both won. They meet each other next week, while Deeping encounter more old friends at Spalding.

East Div 5NW

Cambs City 5th XI (4) v Market Deeping 2nd XI (3)

Deeping met a surprisingly strong Cambs City side on the exposed Peter Boizot astro in Cambridge where freezing horizontal rain made playing and umpiring a real challenge. Deeping played pretty well, but were constantly troubled by players who clearly came from a higher level than they normally encounter in 5NW. Though disappointed they showed lots of character, especially when faced with some interesting umpiring decisions in the second half.

After early Deeping pressure Cambs broke away to take the lead, but a superb pass found Muddy Waters in the D and he produced one of his best (of many) goals this season with a reverse stick sweep.

Cambs took the lead again but Deeping's defence splitting passing with Phil Yetzes, Mike Gregson and Magnus Windsor prominent always caused problems. Intense Deeping pressure, led by the powerful Yetzes eventually produced a loose ball which skipper Gregson smashed home to equalise.

Sadly Deeping lost momentum for most of the second half, despite some solid defending and good midfield work from Pete Smith, but troubled Cambridge for the last ten minutes. With a minute to go Smith scored his first goal for a few seasons, but Deeping couldn't find an equaliser. If there was one criticism, Deeping lacked a little shape and cohesion in midfield, where the wide players too often found themselves isolated. Deeping drop to second on goal difference but should take encouragement from their performance against a very useful side.

East Div 7NW

Market Deeping 3rd XI (9) v Bourne 5th XI (0)

Deeping just get better and better, and they utterly outplayed a useful Bourne side who on the day looked to be one of the better teams in 7NW. Despite a pretty good performance from the young Bourne keeper, Deeping were five up again at half time. Russ Seaton scored two, after an ailing Matt Brown had opened the floodgates with a competent solo run and dribble. Ben Walden added a close range tuck-in from a set piece, and Kev Richardson belted home a short corner.

Deeping were determined to better their previous week's eight goals after being five up at half time, but they had to endure ten minutes of Bourne pressure, as good passing let their skilful youngsters run at Deeping. Keeper Adi White, competent throughout, made a toe-end save from a short corner that post man Andy Brown cleverly turned wide - damaging a finger in the process.

Matt Brown then pounced on an error and made no mistake for the sixth goal before limping off, and good work by Jack Seaton and Tommo Allam led to an Allam goal. Kev Baker turned a superb Kev Richardson free-hit into the net, and Simon Taylor finished off the rout with a beautifully taken short corner strike. Deeping put seven scorers on the list for the second week running and the willingness of halves and backs to get forward and score is probably the most pleasing aspect of their success. They stay seven points clear at the top of 7NW.