Saturday December 8th 2007

CAMBS Div 1

Market Deeping Ladies 1st XI (5) vs Cambridge City Ladies 4th XI (1)

Deeping can take a well earned rest over Christmas after this 5 – 1 win ensured that they stay top of the Cambs Div One.
Deeping were instantly on the attack with Sarah Smith scoring early in the game.  Deeping’s second goal came from a strike at the top of the “D” from which Becky Allam deftly touched to ensure it reached the back of the goal. 
Cambridge were still able to break through Deeping’s solid midfield and get the ball into the Deeping D, but were contained by Deeping’s defence.
Deeping patiently continued to create opportunities and Sarah Smith added her second goal. 
A break by Cambridge took Deeping by surprise and they scored before Deeping hit back and player of the match Sarah Smith completed a hat trick.
There was some excellent inter-changing play on the left by sisters Becky and Ellie Allam. Cambridge continued to put the pressure on but Amy Gwilliam was outstanding in defence setting up more Deeping attacks.
Deeping’s last goal came from a hit at the top of the D which Becky Allam put in the back of the net.

CAMBS Div 2

Market Deeping Ladies 2nd XI (2) vs Cambridge South Ladies 2nd XI (3)

If this young Deeping second team could avoid their extraordinary run of on-field injuries they could have even more impact on Cambridge Div 2 in 2008, as this narrow defeat showed.
Deeping played the league leaders in vile conditions at Stamford, and took an early lead through Anya Mackenzie. Unfortunately Leanne Fane took a blow to the head minutes later and had to be substituted. Then a few minutes later Mackenzie fell to the ground in excruciating pain from a twisted knee and that was the end of her game.
Market Deeping stayed strong and still produced one of their best games of the season with Debbie Bowen and Kirsten Hackett doing well in defence. 
Jo Addison (player of the match) and Debbie Wilding also had a fine first half pushing forward and creating lots of goal chances, especially from short corners.
Despite this, Cambridge South came back with a goal and at half time the score was 1-1.
The second half began well for Deeping. With the rain hurtling down and everyone looking bedraggled they kept their spirits up. That wasn’t dented by a second Cambridge goal. Deeping replied with some beautiful passes down the left wing from Fay Sheppard to Sophie Goodrum who showed talent and speed.   Deeping probably had 60% of the possession but efforts by Nicky Buckby, Debbie Wilding and Jo Addison didn’t convert into goals.
South struck back with another goal despite some excellent ‘keeping from Emma Sear. Deeping’s heads may have hung for a few minutes but soon a short corner was awarded to them, which was worked from Nicky Buckby to Jo Addison and she struck it with precision into the back of the net.
Newcomer Jo Wardle snuffed out any South attacks, but the equaliser never came.

EAST 3NW

Market Deeping 1st XI (1) vs Cambridge Nomads 2nd XI (4)

A very bad day at the office, as Deeping let slip their unbeaten record on the last league fixture of 2007. Right from the off, a fit and determined young Cambridge Nomads side looked the more up for the game, while so many of Deeping’s star players had a major off day. The first few minutes set the standard and it was quickly clear that Deeping needed to step up to the plate.
Deeping dealt competently with several attacks until a mistake by Deeping’s captain let Nomads in with a cheap goal. Five minutes later another mistake in midfield gave Nomads another soft goal. At 2-0 at half time Deeping changed  their formation and looked to control the midfield more and a well worked move, topped by an error from the Nomads keeper, saw Jason Purllant score.
This would be the only good thing to come from the day but at least Deeping pressed for more goals. Sadly they over-committed and were caught by two more soft goals late in the second half.
Skipper Richard Woods dubbed it  “…an abysmal performance from the team. Losing is part of the game, and Nomads are a good side, but I am very disappointed in the way we lost - some players don’t seem to care when the chips are down".
Deeping are still top of the league but will be looking over their shoulders after Christmas and could face an interesting last league match of the season at Nomads in 2008  

Div 4NW

Market Deeping 2nd XI (1) vs Peterborough City 5th XI (2)

For the fourth time this season Deeping conceded a late, late goal which cost them valuable points. This time the sucker punch came from a short corner, struck hard and accurately into the bottom corner with the last meaningful touch of the match, giving keeper Adi White no chance.
Deeping didn’t start well and conceded a weak opener to a reverse stick shot. However things could and should have got much worse but a Peterborough striker blazed wide with the goal at his mercy. Deeping were then indebted to left back Mike Allam for keeping the score at 1-0 with a fine goal line clearance.
At least Deeping were creating chances of their own and the mood was positive at halftime as they looked to force their way back into the game.
The second half saw Deeping start to put some meaningful passes together. Ben Dalgliesh was denied from close range by some good goalkeeping, and Simon Burnell and Phil Arnold both went close to levelling the match. Deeping were playing with the one touch passing and movement they are capable of. They began to dominate, breaking in numbers and pressing high up the pitch, leaving Peterborough bypassing their midfield with long balls out of defence which were mopped up by Phil Tokens.
Deeping’s equaliser when it came was not the prettiest finish in the world, Simon Burnell poaching his second goal in two games from the rebound as
Phil Arnold’s shot was parried by the ‘keeper.  
Having drawn level, Deeping looked for all the world as if they were going to march on and take the win as they dictated the pace of the game. However Peterborough stood firm, and when a Deeping sideline hit smacked off a Deeping player’s shins and into the path of an unmarked Peterborough forward, Graham Brewer was lucky to stay on the pitch after his desperate challenge. Deeping cleared the resulting penalty corner, but a further succession of short corners late in the game produced Peterborough’s winner.
The winter break now sees Deeping six points off the NW4 pace until the New Year when they will need the consistency to force themselves back into promotion contention.

EAST Div 5NW

Market Deeping 3rd IX (6) vs Cambridge Nomads 4th XI (2)

This was a vital win over the bottom team in Div 5NW but what hard work Deeping made of it. Perhaps fazed by the listless performance they’d just witnessed from their first team, Deeping struggled early on. They opted for quite an attacking line up and when the ball was cleared from Deeping’s attacks Nomads very young and fast forwards were clearly going to trouble Deeping.
This led to a moment of madness when Will Winfield-Chislett lashed a speculative cross from Nomads into his own net with a finish that wouldn’t have disgraced his centre-forward brother Henry.
Deeping then powered back and had the ball in the net a couple of times before they finally got one to count, Steve Waters scoring.
Deeping then spurned numerous decent chances, before Nomads caught them on the break and youngest player on the pitch, left unmarked, slid the ball home. Despite this, the defence had done pretty well, with Kevin Richardson and Peter Hotchkin outstanding throughout.
At the break Deeping were far from panic, and with Jeremy Phipps showing huge courage to return to the game after losing a tooth to a blow in the mouth – despite wearing a gumshield – they eventually ground Nomads down.
They had a bit of luck before their equaliser, which was then bobbled home by Alex Gale, but there was no doubt about the second as Simon Taylor picked up an error and walked into the D before virtually passing the ball into the corner of the net.
Deeping now added an extra goal poaching forward but it was the “goalfather” Waters who was in the right place to benefit from another Nomads’ error with a clever reverse stick touch past the keeper. Steve Windsor then got in front of his marker to force a perfectly weighted Graham Barnes free hit through the keeper’s legs. The final star turn however was skipper Taylor beautifully lobbing the Cambs keeper and defence for his second.  Deeping have a long way to go to safety in 5NW but defeat in this game was unthinkable before the long winter break. They must now beat second-bottom Boston in their first game of 2008.