Sun 10 Nov: Caterham Pumas (H) W 7-3 (League Cup 1st Round)

Of all Teddington Athletic's wins this season, this was the hardest fought - and the hardest lesson. Having come close to losing this cup game, the league leaders may have to scale down their ambition, stopping looking long and concentrate on doing the next thing right.

You can't blame Teddington for looking upwards. After nine straight wins in which they've rattled home 83 goals, the players and staff maybe forgiven for wondering how they would do against higher-division opposition – particularly when they knew that winning their first League Cup game, against a Caterham side they had beaten 9-1 a fortnight earlier, would send them through to a game against Division One opponents, with potential Premier Division opponents waiting thereafter.

But therein lies the problem: if you try to go forward too quickly, you can lose your footing. And against a determined Caterham not short on talent, Athletic very nearly threw away their cup run before it started.

Pre-match shooting practice.

The pattern was set from the off: an even game, with Teddington for some reason refusing to pass to each other, instead becoming bogged down in pointless dribbling. True, Ruby Rudkin opened the scoring after 10 minutes, and a minute later Emily Coulson planted a shot into the top corner – after the ref rightly ignored a premature offside flag given against an inactive player – but Teddington were not playing well.

Emily makes it 2-0.

That much was proved when Caterham dominated the next 10 minutes, deservedly halving the lead. Teddington players were trying to find individual answers rather than moving into spaces for each other and finding the right pass; even the defenders – Millie Theobald paired on this occasion with Ella Parkinson-Mearns – were initially guilty of trying to go forward with the ball rather than moving off into space for each other.

On 20 minutes, and after a couple of early substitutions intended to shake the starters from their lethargy, the message screamed from the touchlines got through. A glorious passing move the length of the field led to an Athletic throw 10 yards from the touchline; Ella V launched a rocket of a throw into the box and Emily rifled high into the net.

The throw that launched a thousand opposition complaints....

But Caterham weren't done. At a corner minute later, they intelligently pulled a corner back to the near corner of the box and finished past the luckless Charlotte Ward for 3-2. Again, Teddington slipped back into schoolyard ways: head-down dribbling in possession, tactic-free ball-watching without it.

Half-time brought a shock for the girls: the biggest rocket they've yet had from the management. Warned in no uncertain terms that they would lose if they carried on as they were, they were quickly reminded of the team's aims: pass, move, spread the ball and play for each other.

Some of the lessons were clearly heeded, but the sloppy play didn't end there. Two minutes into the second half, Caterham broke down the right and half the Teddington team were dragged over, ignoring the three intelligent runners streaming unmarked into Charlotte's box. Unselfish cross, unfussy finish, 3-3 and undoubtedly the league leaders' biggest challenge yet.

It took until 12 minutes from time – a tense, fluctuating 15-minute period in which either side could have gone ahead – for Teddington to regain the lead. And it was a combination of two of the team's most experienced players that did the damage, a Phoebe Head corner finding the hugely influential Ella V who cut a low first-time shot into the bottom corner.

Ella V is congratulated on her key second-half goal.

The girls celebrated as explosively as they had any goal this season, and as Caterham pushed forward for another equaliser which would hardly have been unfair, Athletic started to stretch and punish their opponents. First Sinead Morris found her way in from the left wing to finish delightfully into that same bottom-right hand corner.

Now Teddington could scent victory. The wide runs of Phoebe and Sinead, supported by intelligent movement from Ale Fairn and Emily in the middle, were pulling Caterham around at the back. An unlucky own-goal deflected in from a dangerous Sinead cross made it 6-3, but the real delight came in the final minute. Chasing down opponents as tirelessly as ever, little Ale refused to let the ball go dead down on the right-hand touchline, immediately in front of her admiring coaching staff. Two swift, incisive passes later the ball had been worked out to the opposite flank, where Sinead again applied the finishing touch – "With my left foot!", as she delightedly noted after the final whistle.

Sinead makes it seven.

There's no doubt that 7-3 flatters Teddington but it also shows what they are capable of. After their worst half of football yet – selfish, unfocused, schoolyard stuff – they grew into the game and won by once more harnessing their individual talents into a team whole.

That applies across the squad. Substitutes Sadie Day, Sophie Wallman, Millie MacEacharn and Amy Hallett were introduced by manager Dave W with the determined instructions to stick to the team plan – pass, move, spread, combine – and with a full squad to choose from, they might be pressing for a first-team start at home to Abbey Rangers on Sunday.

The gaffer.

The following week brings the long trip to new biggest rivals Caterham, then it's second-placed Kempton Girls before that cup quarter-final clash – away at Division One side Carshalton Athletic on December 8th.

That cup game will tell us much about Teddington's mindset. Nobody would be astounded if they win the intervening three league matches, especially on the back of this warning, but they need to make sure they do the next small thing right – whether it's close down an opponent, look up in possession or beat Abbey Rangers.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC (2-2-3-1): Charlotte Ward; Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Millie Theobald; Ella V (1), Ruby Rudkin (1); Phoebe Head, Emily Coulson (2), Sinead Morris (2); Ale Fairn. Subs: Sadie Day, Amy Hallett, Millie MacEacharn, Sophie Wallman. +1og. Bushy Park, 10am.  

Images this week from Richie Coulson (cheers!). More:

Emily gets her eye in.

Panic in the goalmouth.

Phoebe sets off into the great beyond.

Parky sees 'em off.

Emily invents the dragback tackle.

Sadie on the ball.

Parky does what she likes best: crunching into a tackle.

Amy on the ball: note Emily on the supporting run.

Amy and Sadie try to get through.

A packed penalty box.

A typical Teddington shot: Emily on the ball, Ale on the move.

Millie T gets involved.

Phoebe: Didn't score, for once, but a key player throughout.

Millie T looks for the right ball.  

Last minute: Sinead receives the pass...

...draws the defender...

...and finishes the game.

The girls observe two minutes' silence for Remembrance Sunday.