The Ladies bounced back in style following their below-par performance against Harraby. They were boosted by the return of Pat and Carly on a very dry and hard pitch. Faye was also fit to play following her arm injury received in the match v Harraby but Laura O missed out as she had not recovered from her knee injury.
Newlaithes got into gear from the off and played some excellent one and two touch passing. Abbeytown were difficult to break down as they defended deep and pressured the ball well. However they almost took the lead when a shot from the edge of the area found its way through a mass of bodies but luckily for Newlaithes it hit the post and was cleared. Then Pat was unlucky at the other end when her 1st time lob from 25 yards thundered off the top of the bar. Tasha was also causing problems up front and got into some good positions but the rock hard pitch made it nigh-on impossible for her to control the through balls before being closed down. Abbeytown's trademark counter-attacking style was always a threat though and they broke the deadlock after 35 minutes when a loose ball in midfield was lumped over the top and their striker won the race to slip the ball past Katie M with a neat finish. Abbeytown got their tails up and seemed to gain an extra yard but Newlaithes kept their composure and the score remained 1-0 at half time.
The second half continued in the same way with Newlaithes passing the ball confidently and Abbeytown closing down well. Holly, Jade, Carly and Chelsea looked solid at the back and kept the Abbeytown forwards at bay. In the 55th minute Newlaithes got their reward when Laura W prodded the ball through the massed ranks of the Abbeytown defence to Tasha, who turned to blast the ball in at the far post from 10 yards. Newlaithes had Abbeytown on the back foot as they began to get more shots in and Claire was unlucky after battling well to get past two defenders only to see her shot to go over the bar. Abbeytown continued to counter attack and disaster struck in the 68th minute when an Abbeytown forward shook off Holly's challenge to prod the ball past Katie M against the run of play. The goal knocked the wind out of Newlaithes' sails as Abbeytown began to pressure and they had Laura W to thank when she cleared off the line at the far post following a corner from the left. Newlaithes weathered the storm though and took back control with the ball almost entirely in the Abbeytown half for the last 15 minutes. As the clock ticked into stoppage time, Newlaithes won a corner on the right. Chelsea burst into the area to meet Pat's outswinger on the volley and the ball screamed into the near-post top corner for a well deserved equaliser with the last kick of the match.
This was an excellent display by Newlaithes; they were sharper, retained their shape well, worked hard for each other and continued battling when the chips were down to earn a point in a match where it's fair to say, their quality deserved a victory. It also demonstrated the importance of battling right until the end - we have scored in stoppage time in two out of the last three games. Everyone made a positive contribution today and played with great determination but player of the match was Chelsea for her outstanding workrate on a very warm afternoon.
The final league match of the season is at home to Abbeytown next Sunday, kick-off 11.30.
