The Ladies were looking to improve on last week's performance in the return match against Dalton. There was a stiff breeze blowing diagonally across the heavy pitch and bright sunshine, which was very low in the sky behind one of the goals proved to be particularly troublesome.
Newlaithes started the match with the wind advantage and they took the game to Dalton from the start with Tasha and Emma both coming close. On 5 minutes Faye played the ball in to Tasha from the right. Tasha then played through to Emma who jinked her way through the Dalton defence to open the scoring. A minute later and Newlaithes were two up. Paige played the ball to Claire from midfield and Claire thumped a 25 yarder that the Dalton keeper seemed to have covered but the low sun was in her eyes and the shot went through her hands to the delight of the Newlaithes players. Newlaithes were playing with confidence and looked a million miles from the team that had played the week before. Faye, Emma and Tasha all had shots well saved by the Dalton keeper then on 23 minutes Emma went on a mazy run before thumping the ball over the keeper's head and into the top corner for number three. Five minutes later and Alix played a long ball out of defence and it was Emma again who finished in clinical style to complete her hat-trick. With the wind advantage, Newlaithes kept Dalton pegged back for much of the time but they had Lauren to thank when she dived at the near post to save a stinging shot from the edge of the area. However it was the Dalton keeper who was by far the busier and she made several excellent saves to keep the Newlaithes score down. With two minutes to go until half time, Newlaithes increased their lead further when Laura W whipped in a ball from the left and Faye chipped the advancing keeper. Half-time, 5-0.
Dalton came out strongly in the 2nd half and on 49 minutes they pulled one back when they attacked down the left and sloppy marking at the back allowed their forward to score with a quality finish. This gave Dalton a lift, while Newlaithes were struggling to clear their lines as they reverted to last week's form, all too often giving the ball away needlessly. Then on 56 minutes the sun played a part in Dalton's second goal when their keeper launched a massive kick into the Newlaithes half. With the sun in their eyes, everybody missed the ball and it bounced through to their forward who raced clear to score with a quality finish. It wasn't all doom and gloom for Newlaithes but they continued to be thwarted at the other end by the excellent Dalton keeper. Dalton were playing with more purpose than in the 1st half and it was end to end stuff but on 74 minutes it was de-ja-vu as Dalton scored a third which was a carbon copy of their 2nd goal. A minute later and they scored their 4th when they were awarded a free kick just outside the Newlaithes area and their forward curled a superb shot into the top corner that gave Lauren no chance. Surely they weren't going to pull back a five goal deficit - were they? Two minutes later and Newlaithes breathed a sigh of relief when Cathy played down the left to Emma, who raced past her marker to slot the ball home at the near post. This gave Newlaithes a bit of a lift as they began to regain their composure. However Dalton weren't finished and on 89 minutes they scored their 5th when their forward got onto the end of a cross from the right to head in at the far post. To Newlaithes credit, they kept the ball in the Dalton half for the remainder of the match to hold out for an excellent victory.
This was an exciting match and credit to Dalton for fighting back after a first half that Newlaithes dominated. However it is fair to say that Newlaithes thoroughly deserved the victory and on balance, the Dalton keeper was by far the busier of the two. The whole team played well today - in particular Paige, Faye and Claire were excellent in midfield and Emma's pace and silky skills up front were once again too hot to handle, while at the back Chelsea and Jade made some crucial tackles with Alix putting in a typically robust performance. Player of the match goes to Claire who had her best game to date since joining the team and she is now playing with real confidence.
The Ladies are at home next week in another tough fixture against league leaders Kendal Town.
