CAMBS LEAGUE DIV ONE

Market Deeping Ladies 1st XI (3) v Bourne Ladies 3rd XI (1)

Deeping were delighted to convert their overall superiority into goals, after losing by the same score to Bourne last week in the cup. Deeping played with pace and passed the ball well, and once again put Bourne under pressure from the off. However they met with an outstanding Bourne goalkeeper, and she thwarted an excellent first half solo effort by Karen Goddard in the opening minutes. She made several more saves, and Deeping still looked dangerous, when against the run of play Bourne broke out and scored. The Deeping keeper hadn’t touched the ball at this point. The rest of the half was tight but Deeping kept clearing their lines without panic, and their keeper made only one save.

Deeping showed the benefit of their excellent attendance at training with a crisp new short corner routine which allowed skipper Catherine Flitton to strike several trademark accurate shots.

They took the half-time talk to heart and lifted their game, and soon Becky Allam forced a short corner rebound home. Karen Goddard then scored and then Sarah Smith followed up with a superb run and power shot into the corner of the goal to clinch victory.

Jenny Brassington was dominant throughout in midfield and Hannah Windsor made (just) one sharp second half save to ensure Deeping stayed ahead.

Cambs City Ladies 4th XI (7) vs Market Deeping Ladies 2nd XI (0)

Within seconds of Deeping’s push back a strong fast Cambs City were besieging the goal. Despite hard work in defence and several saves from stand-in keeper Shelley Winbourne, they quickly scored . Good tackling from Grace Macdonald and some good ball work from Chrissy Stoodley pushed Deeping forward but poor passing stopped them entering the Cambs City D.

Deeping were tiring by half time but the defence stayed strong with Tash Newitt and Debbie Bowen remaining quick. At half time the score remained 1 – 0. Deeping then lost centre mid field player Chrissy Stoodley to injury, and restructured and to play an even more defensive game. Cambs City pushed up more and more and goals started to come. Deeping were getting frustrated and tired at this point and this showed with players making mistakes.

Division 3NW
March 2nd XI (4) vs Market Deeping 1st XI (4)
Deeping will be the least pleased with this result, despite a very decent March performance, because several of the goals they conceded were due to daft defensive errors. In fact, in an open and attacking game, had both keepers not been in superb form, it could have been nine apiece not four. Russ Seaton opened the scoring for Deeping, slightly against the run of play, with a tidy flick from a short corner. March quickly equalised before Henry Winfield-Chislett ran at the March defence and as he lost his balance cleverly managed to turn the ball past the March keeper.

It was 2-2 at halftime before March took the lead minutes after the restart. Deeping responded well and Paul Tancred continued to harry and hassle the March defence. He won’t be pleased with the chances he made and missed but he got Deeping level with persistence and a clever lifted finish before Andy Brassington gave Deeping the lead again at a short corner. March equalised with a soft penalty corner goal with minutes to go, and the last 60 seconds of the match saw a shot well-saved at each end of the ground. On balance, two points dropped by Deeping who sit third in the league.

Division 4NW
Market Deeping 2nd XI (5) vs Cambs Nomads 3rd XI (0)
A great day for Deeping’s second team as they won their first three points after promotion last season. Despite Nomads having nine men for part of the game and only ten for the rest, the first half was close. Deeping got the perfect break just before half time when the ball ran loose to Magnus Windsor who swept home from close range. Deeping held out until half time, despite the visitors winning a number of penalty corners.

Nomads quickly tired after half-time and after missing several good chances Jason Purllant doubled the lead with a powerful raised shot and Deeping finally found out that the “goal machine” could score at this level as Muddy Waters pounced on a loose ball to reverse stick home. To their credit Nomads pushed up more and more, but they foundered on the jab tackling of  Jez Phipps and the persistent covering of skipper Mike Gregson.

Purllant pounced on a loose ball again to cleverly reverse-stick home from close range and with Cambs desperate to get something back, Deeping broke quickly and Waters finished off a four-on-one advantage with a tidy sweep home from Purllant’s pass. Other results in what looks likely to be a close league mean that Deeping are poised in mid-table just a point behind the top two - with nine other clubs! All to play for...

Friendly

Spalding 3rds 1 Market Deeping 3rds 0
This friendly was Deeping’s first game of the season, and it looked like it, as a well-organised Spalding side won more easily than the score suggests. Deeping came nearest to scoring from short corners, especially in a reasonably close first half which Spalding edged with a drag-flicked short corner of their own.

Deeping couldn’t match Spalding in the second half when only desperate defence managed to contain almost one-way traffic. Veteran keeper Ray Isaacs made some sharp saves, and skipper Steve Allam revelling in the results of his recent fitness campaign shone in defence. Phil Arnold always looked dangerous when running at Spalding and Tom Allam worked tirelessly at centre-forward. Deeping will have to improve for their 6NW debut against Spalding’s 4th team next week.