Today’s game was supposed to be an away fixture at Wyre Forest Phoenix Flyers U12’s but due to bad weather recently which had made their pitch unplayable the fixture was moved to Green Lane. After an unbeaten start to the season Headless Cross started the game full of confidence and after just 1 minute on the clock a smart move down the right side of midfield by Megan Lewis and a good ball in to Jade Cole created the opportunity for Jade to slot the ball into the bottom corner to make it 1-0. After the restart Headless Cross kept the pressure on Wyre Forest’s defence with some great passing through midfield which released Sarah Dayus on the edge of the box to square the ball into the middle of the penalty area for Jade Cole to make it 2-0. With such a great start to the game Headless Cross really should have kicked on but to Wyre Forest’s credit they didn’t let their heads drop and came back into the game creating some good chances of their own, but Beth Strain was a rock in defence with a strong display ensuring that it stayed 2-0 when the half time whistle went.
Half-Time 2-0
The second half began the same as the first half with Headless Cross playing some great football keeping Wyre Forest pinned in their own half. It seemed only a matter of time before we scored a third goal and after 2 minutes Sarah Dayus burst into the box and put in an inviting ball across the box for Becky Smith to finish off with an easy tap in to make it 3-0. With the game at 3-0 Wyre Forest could of easily gave up but they didn’t they kept playing some nice football and reduced the deficit to 3-1 on 40 minutes, this gave Wyre Forest a lift and on 42 minutes and some poor defending led to Wyre Forest scoring a second and making it 3-2. From then on the game seemed to be slipping away from Headless Cross claiming a third win out of three with Wyre Forest very much in the ascendancy and it was no surprise when Wyre Forest brought the game level on 53 minutes when some nervous defending let their opponents in to make it 3-3.
Headless Cross have never let a 3-0 lead slip before and this sprung them into life and the following 15 minutes saw Headless Cross create countless chances and if not for 2 great saves from the Wyre Forest keeper and a shot from Becky Smith hitting the post the game would have been won. The game entered the final minutes and with Headless Cross piling forward it started to look as though we wouldn’t find that elusive forth goal but then from a cross field pass from Becky Smith to Amie Iles in the final 30 seconds was finished off with a great right footed effort giving the Wyre Forest keeper no chance at all.
Full-Time 4-3 to Headless Cross
Headless Cross deserve a lot of credit for the way they played football today and shows the mark of a good team by the way they kept playing football when letting a 3-0 lead slip. The girls can be very proud of the unbeaten start to the season and hope we build on that further with a home fixture to Pershore Town next week.
Player of the Match: Becky Smith
