Saturday October 27th 2007

CAMBS League Div 1

Market Deeping Ladies 1st XI (2) vs St Ives Ladies 2nd XI (3)

St Ives 2 came down from the Premier division this season and they proved to be Deeping’s toughest and most equal opposition so far. 
The match started evenly, with both sides making inroads into the opposite D.  Deeping created some good chances and scored when Gemma Caitlin fed the ball down the right to Faye Logan who swept it to Sarah Smith to score.  St Ives came right back to score, making it 1 -1 at the end of the first half.
Deeping showed how far they have come in the last few years by reacting to the St Ives formation by slightly changing their line up to mark St Ives’ key player out of the match. This meant some players moving out of their normal positions but Deeping were still able to work the ball out of defence to the midfield and forwards.
Their second goal came from player of the match, Janet Eagle-Smith who slammed the ball into the back of the net from a short corner.
St Ives raised their attack and put pressure on Deeping’s left, but newcomers to the squad, Beth Askham and Kirsten Hackett tirelessly kept the opposition at bay and continually cleared the ball.
It was not until the last eight minutes that St Ives came back to score two goals from short corners for Deeping’s first defeat of the league.

CAMBS LEAGUE Div 2

Market Deeping Ladies 2nd XI (2) vs Rutland Ladies (3)

Deeping attacked from the off taking Rutland’s defence by surprise as Anya Mckenzie scored within the first five minutes.

EAST 3NW

Market Deeping 1st XI (22) vs Cambridge Nomads 3rd XI (0)

In all his years of poaching and powering goals in top level hockey, it’s unlikely that Paul Tancred has ever struck 11 in one match. With Cambs struggling at the bottom end of the division and putting just ten men on the pitch Deeping scored three times in the first five minutes. Now they not only wanted a win but a win that would boost their goal difference. They simply tore Nomes to pieces. A player who was in Canada the previous day Treeve Wagstaffe struck four and his half-brother Pete Jeffery added two having not scored for five seasons. Deeping did not allow Cambs anything. James Sharpe pitched in with three goals, and Andy Brassington and Henry Winfield-Chislet struck one apiece.
Deeping’s challenge now is probably to control their over confidence when bigger challenges arrive. 

Div 4NW

St Ives 2nd XI (2) vs Market Deeping 2nd XI (1)

Deeping repelled more than a dozen short corners in this match, and could have come away feeling that they deserved a point. But in retrospect anything less than three points for St Ives would have been a nothing short of daylight robbery.
Deeping had started the better side and took the lead when Russ Seton blasted home Deeping’s only short corner of the match. 
As St Ives started to step it up, Deeping just found they couldn’t raise their own game, and at half time knew they were lucky to be ahead from what had been their only real attempt at goal.
Deeping opened the second half brightly and it could have swung their way as two or three good chances went begging. Then as St Ives again began to dominate there was a feeling that those misses could prove costly. Clearly struggling to play anything like free flowing hockey, Deeping were being penned back in their own half for much of the second half.
Tom Richardson was again having a good game at right back and the much and long awaited return of Pete Smith saw him weighing with some important tackles after long term injury. The feeling grew that Deeping might just sneak away with this one.
Ill discipline in the tackle was causing problems as the penalty corners mounted up, but when Phil Arnold was yellow carded for persistent fouling and dissent, the 10 men of Deeping knew that this was the pivotal moment of the match.
And so it proved to be as St Ives levelled the scores with a well taken strike from the edge of the D. It was certainly no more than they deserved, and there seemed an inevitability about what was to follow. Once again they failed to clear their lines adequately and conceded again with less than 5 minutes to go. Improvements all round will need to be made if they are to finish anywhere near the position they are capable of this season.
 

EAST Div 5NW

Market Deeping 3rd IX (1) vs St Neots 3rd XI (5)

Deeping came up against a strong St Neots side. Jeremy Phipps put in a great performance at centre back but was unable to prevent St Neots from scoring an early goal.
Deeping lacked fire power up front, and this ultimately led to their downfall. A cameo performance by Welsh International trialist Zeb Taylor set up the one and only goal for Alex Gale to score.
A disappointing result, and Deeping will somehow have to strengthen the 3rd XI to remain a serious threat in this league.