Saturday 27th February 2010

Ladies 1st XI

Aylesbury Ladies 1st XI: 4 - Henley 2nds: 1

Another fantastic result for Aylesbury Ladies 1st XI who visited Henley and came away with a valuable 3 points. In the pouring rain, Aylesbury had most of the pressure in the first half but could not capitalize on their chances and it was 0-0 at half time. Undeterred, Aylesbury dug in and scored 4 rapid goals at the beginning of 2nd half, 2 by Charley Smith, 1 by Ria Symmonds and 1 by Tash James. Midfield and defense worked solidly throughout the game to keep Henley at bay though near the end of the game the home team scored a cracking consolation goal. Aylesbury are now 3 points clear at the top of the league but Wokingham who are in 2nd place have a game in hand. With 5 games remaining till the end of the season, Aylesbury continue to push for promotion.

Ladies 2nd XI

Aylesbury Ladies 2nd XI: 3 - St. Albans 4th: 2

Another team pushing for promotion is the Aylesbury Ladies 2nd team, which continued its winning streak on Saturday beating St. Albans 4th team 3-2. The game started strongly in Aylesbury's favour with the team driving forwards and over-powering the St. Albans defence from the offset. The 4th minute into the game saw Emily Davitt win a short corner from an expertly placed ball onto a St Albans foot. Kim Yeo took the first goal of the match from a well-rehearsed short corner routine which saw her strike the ball into the corner of the goal from the top of the 'D'.

Aylesbury continued its assault and created multiple opportunities and were only hindered in taking another goal by St Albans defending deeply and outnumbering the Aylesbury attack. Shortly before half-time, Aylesbury's lost its focus and St Albans were able to steal a goal from a free hit outside the 'D'.

St Albans fought back hard in the second half and Aylesbury had to work hard to build a solid attack. Aylesbury found a break from an insightful pass up the left wing from Gill Nord, which was picked up by Evie Plumb who drove 50 metres up the pitch. Having taken the ball past every defender in her path, she entered the 'D', pulled the keeper out to the left, instantly switched right and slotted the ball into the empty goal. However, Aylesbury's relief was short-lived as St Albans equalised after competently out-witting the Aylesbury defense and scoring off the back post.

Undeterred, Aylesbury fought back hard in the last ten minutes of the game to gain the lead which it deserved. Player of the match Linda Kynaston created multiple opportunities from driving up the pitch making delft passes into the 'D'. Aylesbury's break finally came when debutant Liz Sheppard battled hard to steal the ball from the St Albans attack to feed the ball to Plumb on the halfway line. Once again, Plumb's speed was St Albans' undoing and an exhilarating sprint up the pitch and around the home team's stricken defence gave her another one-on-one situation with the keeper. This time, drawing the keeper off her line to the right, Plumb ducked to the left and tapped the ball past the keeper. Aylesbury continues its drive for promotion next week, as it travels to Berkhamstead & Hemel.

Ladies 3rd XI

Aylesbury Ladies 3rd XI: 7 - Bicester: 0

The Ladies 3rd XI maintains fourth position in the league with a great, confidence boosting result over Bicester. The first goal came within minutes of the whistle when Amy Hudson broke through the Bicester defence and struck the ball to the far post for Poppy Fitzwalter to lip the ball through the keeper’s legs. Injury forced Fitzwalter off the pitch but super substitute, Naomi Smith, came on to trouble Bicester and duly scored four of Aylesbury’s goals. With solid defensive work in the midfield and back by Claire Heale, Kelly Marsh and Katherine Anley, Bicester just could not get into the game, and Aylesbury continued to push forward. Hudson teamed up well with the forwards and allowed Meghan Howitt to get two more goals for Aylesbury. A resounding win for Aylesbury 3rd XI and although it looks unlikely that Aylesbury will be able to catch the top two teams, the team has done well to hold its own in this new division.