Saturday November 15th, 2008

CAMBS Ladies Premier League

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

Deeping celebrated a timely and vital Premier league away win which pushed them away from the bottom of the table.
Cambs Uni came out fast and hard forcing Deeping to start the game defensively.
After 10 minutes Deeping settled into their stride and started to pass concisely and hold their shape well. 
Angela Cox led the defence from the goal and Jan Grace (player of the match) distributed the ball wide releasing the wingers.
One pass led to Sarah Smith taking the ball up the left wing, and passing it from the back line to Jo Addison, who slammed home the only goal of the game.
Deeping dominated the play in the second half with consistent passes from Kirsten Hackett and Debbie Bowen through to Amy Gwilliam in the midfield leading to many attacks on goal. 
Gemma Catlin took a high ball in the ribs and went down; with the two home umpire’s not stopping play Deeping protested and were put on a “green card” team warning.
As the game ended Deeping successfully defended four short corners in a nerve racking finish. Ellie Allam kept her head and bossed the defence under pressure.

CAMBS Ladies Div 2

Wisbech Ladies 3rd XI (0) vs Market Deeping Ladies 2nd XI (4)

A slightly under strength Deeping were forced into a few positional changes for this game but they produced a remarkable performance at lowly Wisbech.
Playing at sweeper, teenager Grace MacDonald had a superb game, surging forward to pick off any loose ball and win virtually every tackle before driving into the Wisbech half to distribute the ball. This left the experienced pairing of centre back Fay Shepherd and centre half Deb Wilding free to push up and dominate the midfield, where they passed creatively, tackled aggressively and picked up most of Wisbech’s free hits.
With three forwards also working hard and all of the 13 player squad performing well, Deeping made endless chances while Wisbech rarely had a shot.
A good looking short-corner routine produced two first half goals, Sophie Goodrum picking up on a through ball to score, before Kat Kennedy’s squeezed shot went accurately at ankle height into the corner of the net.
The second half went the same way, with MacDonald taking even more outrageous risks to dominate in defence and a fine cross from Wilding through a crowd of players was immaculately stopped by skipper Nicky Buckby and smashed home. To cap a great team performance, Buckby’s clever deflection of a long through ball took out two defenders and put Goodrum through on the excellent Wisbech keeper. She made another good save but Buckby followed up to score her tenth of the season. Second-placed Deeping face a crunch battle with high-scoring table toppers Rutland next week

CAMBS Mens Div 2 N

Market Deeping 1st IX (0) vs City of Peterborough 3rd XI (2)

Deeping were unbeaten going into this table-topping derby game but met their match in a very good City Of Peterborough side.
Deeping were 0-1 down at half time but it could have gone either way with both sides having good chances. Treve Wagstaff received a yellow card just before half time but at this point Deeping looked to be giving City a bit too much respect.
At half time Deeping went out to address the balance but soon found themselves under the cosh again but with John Plant and Andy Cannings making some excellent last ditch tackles and man of the match Stu Ireland making some very important saves the score remained 0-1. Then City extended their lead with a short corner. Deeping lie fourth place with their pride still intact but face a tough visit to Ipswich and East Suffolk next week.

CAMBS Mens Div 4 NW

Market Deeping 2nd XI (4) vs Long Sutton 2nd XI (0)

Sutton lie near the bottom of the 4NW table but the apparently easy win for unbeaten Deeping doesn’t do them justice.
Deeping started brightly, defending from the front and playing most of the game in the Long Sutton half.
This pressure was duly rewarded when Russ Seton pounced to score the opener within the first five minutes. Mike Gregson then added a second shortly after, with a deft flick past the advancing ‘keeper which just about managed to trickle over the line.
A thunderbolt from Simon Burnell, lurking at the top of the D then made it 3-0 with barely a quarter of the game gone. Floodgates open, it seemed.
But Long Sutton mounted a spirited fight back as Deeping lost their way in midfield and spent the remainder of the half penned back in their own half and on the back foot. Passes went astray with alarming regularity, and panicky tackles kept handing the ball and the advantage back to Long Sutton. It seemed only a matter of time before Sutton scored. But for all their increased possession Sutton failed to capitalise on Deeping’s ragged shape.
The second half saw Deeping work much harder on keeping the ball and their own shape, but they were still guilty of giving away too many free hits in and around their own 25 and were finding it hard to mount any form of sustained pressure themselves.
Mike Gregson, Phil Arnold, and Jack Seton all came close to increasing the score, but it was his father Russ Seton who finally killed of Long Sutton’s hopes of a fight back with his second of the game.
Deeping continue to grind out results. Their man of the match was Dan Medd   - industrious down the right flank and always a willing outlet from the back.

CAMBS Mens Div 6 NW

Wisbech 5th XI (1) vs Market Deeping 3rd XI (1)

A very strong unbeaten Deeping third team produced a disappointing performance to drop two vital points against a hard-working and resilient Wisbech team that in the end deserved to get something from the game.
Deeping started slowly on a dimly-lit pitch but started to get the upper hand after ten minutes and this first half dominance eventually produced an excellent goal when Ben Dalgliesh again drove up the right wing and crossed powerfully for Ben Walden to cleverly deflect the ball into the roof of the net. This high quality goal was followed by a number of good chances that were thwarted by good Wisbech goalkeeping.
Deeping should have been further ahead by half time but the second half saw them lose shape and even the ability to pass the ball. Hesitant Deeping players would quickly find themselves harried by two fit young Wisbech players and while Wisbech didn’t really threaten they deserved to snuff out Deeping’s attacks.
They eventually scored themselves with about five minutes to go, from their only effort of the entire game, cleverly deflecting a free hit into the net.