CAMBS LEAGUE DIV ONE

Bourne Ladies 3rd XI (0) vs Market Deeping Ladies 1st XI (4)

The men who stayed on after a useful interclub workout on Saturday morning and the other keen supporters of the club’s most successful side did not see the Ladies 1st team at its best this week. In fact in the first ten minutes both teams looked like they were sleep-walking through mud. Eventually Deeping woke up and even on a bad day they had the wherewithal to outwork the extremely defensive opposition.  The spark was ignited by the two Amys - Ellington and Gwilliam - who dominated on the left while Becky Allam moved astutely into space on the right. Skipper Catherine Flitton was totally bossing the midfield.
The first goal came from a short corner; the routines had not been going well so a change of tack saw the ball slipped right to Ellie Allam who pushed in to her sister Becky on the right post to drive it into goal.
The lead gave Deeping the confidence to play to their strengths.  Short passes started to flow in the midfield and Bourne didn’t get a look in. Deeping where denied another goal by a premature umpire’s whistle but by now Sarah Smith and Karen Goddard had begun to rattle Bourne’s defenders and some calm passing around the D – and clever stopping - was rewarded when a joint effort was pushed through the keepers legs by Goddard for a 2-0 lead at half time.
The second half went entirely Deeping’s way as they began to flow. Bourne barely made it past the half way line and when they did Julie Bower cleared effortlessly. Every time Jenny Brassington ran at Bourne’s defence she created panic. It wasn’t long before Becky Allam got a chance to strike a clean and powerful third goal.
Deeping now closed in tightly on Bourne’s tiring defence and gave nothing away. Some nifty work along the baseline from Goddard drew the keeper out and Smith pounced on a rebound to score.
Deeping continue to top Cambs Div one by one point with a game in hand.

CAMBS LEAGUE DIV TWO

Market Deeping Ladies 2nd XI (2)vs Cambridge City Ladies 4th XI (1)

Second placed Cambs City dominated the first part of the game and within minutes the ball was swiftly moving towards the Deeping ‘D’. The Deeping defence looked strong but Cambs City kept threatening, and passed the ball effectively around Deeping’s defenders. The result was numerous short corners and some excellent saves from player of the match goalkeeper Kirsten Hackett kept City out. Eventually City scored from a penalty.
Deeping held their heads up and came back stronger. A sweeping move down the pitch and some excellent stickwork from Helen Middleton gave Chrissy Stoodley the chance to equalise.
At half time the score remained 1 – 1. The half time talk inspired Deeping and they came back with so much determination and spirit, that the quality of hockey that followed was inspired.
Suddenly there was much more energy on the pitch and the ball was passed around the team with good clear calling, and the pressure mounted on the Cambs City defence. There were near misses from newcomer Emma Sear, before some excellent running from Nicky Buckby and Sophie Goodrum saw the ball passed to Anya McKenzie who scored a second for Deeping.
Cambs City worked harder to get the ball towards the Deeping ‘D’  but man of the match goalkeeper Kirsten Hackett was not letting anything past her and a very tired Deeping kept hold of the lead as the game finished at 2 – 1. A delighted Deeping move out of the basement and into mid-table in the Cambridgeshire 2nd division.