Reserves Enjoy Impressive Friendly Victory Dorchester Town Ladies: 0 Yeovil Town Ladies Reserves: 6
THIS was further proof just how far we have come this season. Dorchester Town have just recently won the Dorset Women's League losing just one game.
We took about 10/15 mins to settle down and relax a bit with the ball at our feet. Once we had done that we kept possession well and played great attacking football leading to plenty of goal scoring opportunities.
Kim Short opened our goal tally putting a high ball over Vicky Wright's head, who couldn't quite get a firm hold of it as it slipped into the Dorchester net. Janie Morgan was also managing to rifle some shots at the Dorchester goal but Vicky pulled off some great shot stoppers to deny her.
When Dorchester showed signs of breaking through our defence stood strong, won the ball and calmly played it out from the back along with some brilliant one touch passing down the wings soon put us back on the attack.
Justine Lorton showed her calmness and experience as she turned her marker and repeatedly found the pass that exposed the Dorchester defence, on several occasions going for goal herself and was rewarded with 2 finely struck goals.
Kim also showed what she was capable of with a high looping ball that just sneaked under the crossbar to give her 2 goals in her first game back.
Charlotte Hannam, who had shown great strength in the centre, was unlucky in seeing her shot hit the upright in the first half. But made up for it later in the game, getting on the score sheet with a power driver of a shot.
Our sixth goal came from Nicki Rowswell who did not want to miss out on the action and as attacking full back, pushed forward keeping pressure on the Dorchester defence and drove her shot low into the bottom corner.
It was great to see players taking their chances inside and outside the box and getting their just rewards.
Report by Andy Dickinson
Howard's Hits Two To Send Twelves Nine Points Clear With Two Games In Hand Yeovil Town Ladies U-12: 2 East Coker U-12: 0
WITH the weather on our side the girls were ready to take on East Coker, the game started lively from the whistle. East Coker worked hard attacking the Yeovil goal, with Chloe Hellyar pulling off some fine saves.
After being on the back foot for the first 10 minutes of the match, Yeovil raised their game. With Johnson and Gunn commanding the midfield, any ball that did get passed was quickly picked up by Hobbs and Jones in defence.
With Yeovil, now in control the girls began passing with ease, from the goal kick, the ball was passed to Hart who took the ball up the field, linking up with Gunn who picked Johnson out, who had time to slot the ball to Howard just inside the box, who hit her shot first time into the goal, with the keeper unable to hold it, in the 17th minute, putting the Glovers in the lead.
Now the girls were on top of their game, they sat back and let East Coker do the work, with Hobbs working hard in defence, with East Coker pushing forward, Howard picked up the ball in her own half beating two defenders and hitting the ball just inside the box into the top of the net, leaving the Coker goalie unable to stop it, in the 26th. Just before half time Coker was given a free-kick just outside the box, with Hellyar pulling off a fantastic save keeping the halftime score at 2-0.
Second half, both teams started as they had finished, Small nearly made it 3-0 for Yeovil, when she hit the ball just past the post, Strickland again just wide of the goal, and Hobbs took advantage of the pressure and struck the ball, hitting the Coker crossbar.
Now Yeovil changed their keeper with Pilton taking place in goal, who was quickly called into action, pulling a string of brilliant saves. The game continued at a fast pace with end to end football, with Gunn hitting the post at one end and Hobbs clearing the ball off the line at the other end.
With time running out for Coker, Yeovil slowed the game down, to see out the last few minutes of the match. Manager Mark Howard said " The girl's played really well, and deserved their win, all the team worked extremely hard throughout,."
Report by Hilary Howard
To find out more about the Yeovil Town Ladies Under-12 squad please Click Here
Tuesday 31 January 2012
Hard Fought Win Sees Title Bid Stay On Track Swindon Town Ladies: 0 Yeovil Town Ladies: 1
HOT SHOT: Striker Laura Bray scored the game's only goal Picture - Jemma Mills
A 24th minute Laura Bray goal saw Yeovil Town Ladies record a hard earned 1-0 win at Swindon Town Ladies on Sunday.
Swindon entered the game unbeaten at home this season and the Glovers had to work hard on an uneven pitch, which made the Yeovil's normal passing game difficult, but was ideal for Swindon's long ball tactics.
It was clear before the kick off that the surface would make passing the ball more difficult, but despite the challenge of the pitch, the Glovers remained true to their passing game and were rewarded on 24 minutes when the front players combined well and Laura Bray made no mistake, finding the back of the net for a crucial Yeovil lead. Swindon's long ball game meant that the Glovers defense had to deal with a number of Swindon attacks during the first half, the best of which was an excellent chance clipped passed the Yeovil ‘keeper, Rachel Simkin.
In the Second half Yeovil made an early change with Rosie Williams returning to the back four after being out for several months due to injuries suffered in a car crash. This change also meant Terri Trowbridge could move into the right wing position, a swap that paid off as Trowbridge was able to get the better of the Swindon left back on several occasions and test their defense with some great crosses.
Throughout the second period Swindon continued to try and push forward, but lacked invention up front and their attacks were easily swept up by the Yeovil defence. In an effort to grab an equalizer, Swindon changed their formation to field an extra attacker, but additional subs for the Glovers (Sarah Roxburgh into midfield and Leah Jennings to right wing), plus strong Yeovil defensive play, allowed the Glovers to see out the game.
Late on the Glovers even had some chances to extend their lead as Swindon’s search for a goal left gaps in their defense. The chances fell to Bray and Cornwall and although both missed the opportunity to double the lead, the Glovers defense held firm at the other end of the pitch and Yeovil recorded another crucial league win.
Yeovil Joint Manager Nigel Williams was pleased that the team came through a testing fixture on a less than ideal surface. He said “This match was never going to be a walk in the park and if we went into it thinking that way we would have not got this result - Swindon are a very physical side and had not lost at home this season. I was not happy about the pitch today - it was amazing that all parts of the field of play suffered from undulated ground, making it difficult to get a passing game going. We had to really dig in and fight for every ball. Swindon kept playing long balls up field - trying to get in behind our defence, but we held out, kept another clean sheet and swept up most phases of play".
With just 6 games in the league campaign left, Williams praised the squad’s potential and fighting spirit but underscored that he and Sarah Lawler (Joint Manager) were keen to see the team improve further, he said ”We just need to keep our feet on the ground, there were some nervous performances out there today, but we showed yet again we can fight a battle as well as play decent football. We will continue to take every game as it comes and will work on things that are not quite there yet. Sarah and I will continue to challenge players to fight for their place in the team and it is great to see every player in the squad rising to the challenge of pushing us forward.
The win at Swindon means Yeovil remain at the top of the South West Combination, five points ahead of second placed Havant & Waterlooville, who have also played one more game than the Glovers.
