Saturday February 23rd, 2008

CAMBS Div 1

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

Deeping’s first team ladies were celebrating despite Bourne conceding their game on Saturday. With St Ives 2nd losing, Deeping took the necessary three points to be Cambs league Div One champions after promotion alst season. They’ll hope to celebrate with a win in their last game against third placed Saffron Walden this weekend.

CAMBS Div 2

Wisbech Ladies 3rd XI (2) vs Market Deeping Ladies 2nd XI (3)

Deeping's hugely improved second team won away at Div Two’s second-placed Wisbech 3rd to cement a mid-table spot with one game left in their season their second defeat of Wisbech this season.

From the off the  home side put Deeping under pressure with commanding keeper Debbie Bowen making some early saves.

A quick piece of play finally wrong footed the defence and Wisbech took the early lead. Deeping then started to build momentum with a steady flow of attacks from captain Nicky Buckby culminating in a sweet short corner routine that enabled Catherine Flitton to tip in the shot and even the score.

The second half started like the first with Wisbech pouncing on a fumble in the D making the score 2-1.

Deeping heads stayed high and a run of intelligent passing in the midfield with several blinding runs from Rachel Gale on the right led to a string of shots at goal. Finally Deb Wilding's patience on the penalty spot was rewarded with an open goal.

At this late stage legs were tiring but Jo Addison continued to cause problems for Wisbech all over the pitch. The game was won with a text book goal as a strong cross from Wilding was swept elegantly into the goal by Sophie Goodrum.

EAST 3NW

Market Deeping 1st XI (6) vs Wisbech 2nd XI (1)

The plan was that Deeping would start the game at a high tempo but before they got into any rhythm, the plan was redundant as Wisbech scored with a short corner in the first minute of the game.
Deeping have only been behind once all season – and they lost that game, - so would their character be put to the test? It took a while to recover but once they began to play Deeping quickly took the lead with goals from Paul Tancred and Pete Jeffery, who pounced on the rebound at a short corner and flicked home.
Wisbech seemed to lose their cool with the Lincolnshire appointed umpires and before long were also arguing among themselves.
Deeping started the second half with a better shape and their defence snuffed out most of Wisbech’s attacks with comparative ease.
Despite a tendency to dribble too much and to pass the ball too slowly, things began to click for Deeping and silky stick skills from Chris Mann brought him a goal while the ability of Henry Winfield-Chislett to beat the last man and bamboozle the keeper brought him a fine goal and gave Mann a tap in for his second. John Plant on his long-awaited club comeback got in front of the keeper, waited for him to twitch, and nutmegged the sixth.
Skipper Richard Woods who had a fine game in defence was happy enough with the performance but will face player shortages before the season ends and will place the emphasis on consistent play through the game - and converting more short corners - as Deeping go for the NE14 3NW championship. 

Div 4NW

St Neots 2nd XI (6) vs Market Deeping 2nd XI (4)

It was a family affair at St Neot's as Deeping father and son pair Russ and Jack Seton both bagged two goals each, in a game where neither deserved to end up on the losing side.
St Neot’s sit third in the NE14 4NW division so it may have been a surprise when Seton Snr. opened the scoring against the run of play, his short corner strike too hot to handle for the keeper, who got a hand to the ball but could only divert it into the corner.
St Neot's midfield were breaking in numbers though, and as the pressure built, more and more short corner chances came and went for the men in blue. Deeping did well to see off a number of well worked short corner routines before Graham Brewer deflected a strike from St Neot's Danny Rowlands past his own keeper.
Within minutes Brewer went close to making amends but his shot skewed inches wide after good build up play from Seton and Mike Gregson.
St Neot’s were starting to win the midfield battle and were soon deservedly 2-1 up, after an optimistic rather than powerful reverse stick shot which keeper and defender seemed to leave for each other.
Deeping were working hard all over the pitch, but too often losing their shape. However with Jack Seton causing the St Neot's back line all kinds of trouble, Deeping always felt that goals could come.
They were right - Deeping’s equaliser came from a free hit just outside the D which Jack Seton swept home at the far post.
With just seconds left in the half a foul in the D led to a St Neot's short corner and Sean Sanderson gave St Neot's a 3-2 lead with the last touch of the half. 
Deflated, Deeping put changes in place to shut down St Neot’s’ passing game, with Brewer and Dan Medd playing as man-markers in central midfield. The change in approach was soon justified as Jack Seton broke through to make it 3-3.
Denied the space in the middle, St Neot’s were no longer bossing the midfield, and Deeping were creating their own chances.
Deeping were starting to gain some momentum, but a calf injury to centre back Dave Grammer saw him stranded out of position, and he could only look on as Danny Rowlands once again restored the St Neot’s advantage, leaving Deeping not only a goal down but having to face the final 20 minutes with only 10 men.
Deeping found themselves back under pressure, but showed they were not out of the game just yet, as both teams traded short corner strikes; St Neot’s taking back their lead only for Russ Seton to again draw Deeping level at 4-4.
Deeping lost discipline in their tackling and well worked short corner routines let St Neot’s increase their lead, giving a final score of 6-4.

EAST Div 5NW

Market Deeping 3rd IX (2) vs Newmarket 1st XI (2)

Deeping fancied their chances of revenge over mid-table rivals Newmarket having given them a decent game with only ten men before Christmas. They were much stronger for this match and started well before Newmarket took an early lead from almost their first attack. Adi White made a decent save to keep Deeping in it, and they fought back well, with Alex Gale moving intelligently into space on the left while Muddy Waters drew defenders away in the middle. Nick Maxey’s defence splitting passes gave Gale a couple of decent chances which he struck well but failed to convert. Then given an opportunity on the right shortly before half-time Gale struck a first time effort from just inside the D which a defender parried over the keeper into the net and Deeping were back in it. The second half saw both teams enjoy a periods of dominance with some poor finishing from Newmarket’s forwards costing them dear.
Then a Deeping short corner rattled about the D before Magnus Windsor reverse hit it into the roof of the net.
You could argue about whether Deeping deserved the lead but there was no doubt that the second half defensive performance was greatly improved. Newmarket wasted several penalty corners and then, from what would be the last corner of the match the ball bobbled about on the goal line before a Newmarket player forced the ball home. It was a heart-breaking ending, but probably a reasonable reflection of the balance of the game. As a result Deeping creep a little further out of the relegation dog fight.