The Ladies made the trip to Keswick for our 1st game in 2014. Several players were unavailable but we were delighted to see U16 player Abi Telford making her debut. The weather was over-cast but dry and the pitch was fairly heavy.
Newlaithes took control from the start as Keswick put up a spirited defence but they took the lead on 3 minutes when Carly Stevenson played the ball into Chez Brierley who took the ball on her thigh before totting it up and turning to volley over the keeper's head and into the far corner. On 13 minutes Newlaithes got number 2 when Alison McCorry broke down the right to square inside to Chez Brierley who this time received the ball on the turn before stroking the ball left-footed into the bottom left-hand corner. Newlaithes were enjoying the majority of the possession but the Keswick defence battled well to close down the space as too many Newlaithes shots flew over the bar or were straight at the keeper. After one of many re-shuffles, Vic Metcalfe played the ball in from the left on 35 minutes for top scorer Alison McCorry to fire home from close range. Four minutes later and Vic was again the provider when she played the ball to Carly Stevenson who took off on a mazy run to jink her way through the home defence to slot the ball home for Newlaithes' 4th. A minute later it was the same combination again as Vic layed the ball back to Carly to turn inside and curl a peach of a goal into the top right-hand corner. Half-time 0-5.
The 2nd half continued in the same vein and on 53 minutes, Chez Brierley completed her hat-trick when Alison McCorry played the ball in from the right. She turned sharply to blast the ball into the rook of the net from midway inside the area. Then on 60 minutes, Chez played the ball out to Carly Stevenson who completed her own hat-trick when she rifled the ball inside the right-hand upright from just outside the area. Despite the scoreline, Keswick continued to battle and they made a number of breaks into the Newlaithes half but the Newlaithes back-line of Jade Williams, Roni Duguid, Chelsea Norris and Georgina Campbell showed great composure do deal with any threats. On 64 minutes, Carly became the provider as she played the ball in to Chez Brierley to accelerate through a gap in the Keswick defence to tuck the ball home with her 2nd left-footed finish to grab her fourth and Newlaithes' eighth. Still Keswick battled and they came closest to scoring when Newlaithes keeper Nicola Morning had to be at her sharpest to pounce on a loose ball at the near post following a corner from the left. Despite spending long spells of the game with little to do, she stayed alert throughout the game to deal with anything that did come her way. On 83 minutes, Newlaithes grabbed their 9th goal when Lydia McGuiness played the ball back to Paige Williams who was in space midway inside the Keswick half. She took a step forward and hit a screamer that clipped the underside of the bar as it flew into the top right corner. Newlaithes continued to press right to the end with debutante Abi Telford and Jade Williams coming close with good efforts but the score remained 9-0 at the final whistle.
This was an enjoyable game that was played in an excellent spirit and you could count the number of fouls from both teams on one hand. Credit to the Keswick team who as always, continue to play with great determination depite their league position. The Newlaithes players themselves showed good determination and apart from the occasional attack of rustiness having not played for over a month, they displayed some nice passing football despite numerous re-shuffles of the pack. Chez Brierley looked sharp for her four goals as did Carly Stevenson for her three. Roni Duguid, normally a stalwart in defence re-defined the role of right winger as she covered just about every blade of grass in the Keswick half when pushed forward in the 2nd half. Forward Abi Telford played with great composure having just turned 16 and she looks a bright prospect for the future. Paige Williams looked sharp in midfield as she ran the show, with excellent control and precision passing and not forgetting three assists from Vic Metcalfe when asked to play out on the left, this was a sound team performance. Player of the match was right-back Georgina Campbell who was calm and controlled in everything she did and she didn't put a foot wrong throughout the game, playing with great consistency.
The win secures third place after phase one of the season, which leaves us to play Workington Reds and Abbeytown home and away in phase two. Unfortunately we will be forced to have another break while we wait for the other teams to complete their phase one fixtures.
Watch this space!
