They were seeking to end their first-ever run of three consecutive defeats, the Abbey reverse following two season-closing losses against AFC Wimbledon. The opponents were Carshalton Athletic – newly promoted, but having suffered an opening defeat 4-2 at Fleet.
Teddington’s starting XI was set to be the same as last week, with Ella Dodd edging out Ale Fairn up top while Amy Hallett and Sadie Day – absent at Abbey, but in for the unavailable Emily Bashford and Millie MacEacharn – watched the new system from the bench.
Such plans were tweaked by necessity when Saskia Brewster, the steadfast full-back whose probing overlaps had done so much to unsettle Abbey, felt ill during the warm-up. While Sas sat and recovered (apparently by covering herself with every training jacket in the postcode), captain Carla Novakovic – who had also exemplified the demands of a tweaked role last week, in her case as a holding midfielder – switched to left-back, with Amy slipping back in to the holding role she played so well in last season.
As it turned out, though, Carla only lasted a minute at left-back before Teddington switched again. Having started the match with only 10 players, Carshalton were playing a 4-4-1 – so the home side sought to maximise the numerical advantage, operating with just three defenders while the midfielders pushed on, with Amy the sole holding midfielder.
Even before that switch, Teddington had had a chance, with Doddsy scooting a good through-ball along the floor for Ella Bothamley, cutting in from the right. Boz beat the defender but pulled her shot across goal and just wide of the far post.
It took just over five minutes for Teddington to break the deadlock. Giulia Clini had shown great promise in attacking midfield at Abbey, and here she glided confidently across the edge of the area before feeding Emily Coulson. Her shot was fumbled over the line by the stand-in goalkeeper, leading the shy Em to declare at half-time that the goal “doesn’t count”. Wrong, Em: it does, just like the previous 46 goals she’d scored for the club. Some of us count them, literally.
For the next 10 minutes the home side utterly dominated possession but didn’t create enough clear chances against a hard-working Carshalton team, who then threw down a warning when their sole striker wriggled past the entire defence of Anna Kauffmann, Hannah Hutchison and Millie Theobald to force a save from Ruby Rudkin.
Teddington responded immediately with a strong passage of play. From a throw-in on the left in the attacking third, the initial move broke down but Carla tracked back and recycled via Millie T, cleverly positioned to receive the pass and lay a first-time ball up the line for Em. After a one-two with Liz Kriebel, Em drove to bye-line, cut inside, beat a couple of players and laid off to Liz, who took a touch and shot just over.
More chances came and went. A Liz long-ranger bounced off the goalkeeper towards Doddsy, but the scrambling defence forced the corner; then when Boz fired across the face of goal, the keeper just about managed to kick clear with Em ready to sweep in her second.
Just before the half-hour, Carshalton made their second foray into Teddington’s penalty area with a cross from the left which Ruby caught and bowled straight to Liz, who promptly accelerated down the inside-left channel. Her superbly-weighted vertical daisycutter sent Em through to cross for Doddsy, but her shot was saved by the goalkeeper’s stuck-out leg.
Whether by hesitancy or bad luck, the home side weren’t making the most of their superiority, and the arrival of Carshalton’s 11th player buoyed up the visitors, who could now see a dramatic narrative twist. Suddenly Teddington were wobbling: from their own goal kick, Millie was dispossessed and Ruby had to deal with the shot.
On came Ale and Sadie for Doddsy and Boz, and Teddington continued to create chances. Carla shot from 20 yards after Liz had done well down the left, then more good possession ended with Em steering the ball toward the top-right corner, only to see it float agonisingly wide.
Teddington were also looking dangerous from set-plays. Blessed with superb crossing ability, Boz has understandably taken most of the corners; however, Liz also takes a fine flag-kick, so at Dale’s suggestion (largely to get Boz’s striking abilities involved in the penalty area) Liz started taking the corners.
And what corners. Three minutes before half-time, one from the left whistled across the six-yard box and just wide of the far post after what seemed to be the faintest of headers from Giulia (although at half-time she said she hadn’t touched it). A minute later, one from the right drifted through the danger zone and out the other side; coming out to collect it, Em had Amy as an option inside her but instead beat her defender and delivered an excellent left-foot cross, which evaded Ale before Sadie steered it just past the back stick.
Despite Teddington reverting to a back four – albeit with just Amy holding, Liz having a turn on the left and Em more central – Carshalton started the second half the stronger side. A Carshalton ball over the top turned the Teddington defence but Millie managed to recover in time to block the shot wide, then a cross from the right required Ruby to race off her line and bother the centre-forward.
Still, Teddington were creating chances. Ten minutes in, Em cut inside and shot across goal. Soon after, Hutch knocked a free-kick into the box, but neither Em nor Liz could convert the chance. Then more good work on the left from Em created a chance for Boz – back on for Sadie, who’d eventually succumbed to the ankle injury she’d bravely earned during a strong block tackle – to shoot from the right; the effort was just about smothered with Ale lurking.
But with the score still 1-0, Carshalton still carried a threat. On the hour, Tia Searle, one of twins playing down the left, broke through on goal – but Ruby stood big to pull off a vital save. Had that gone in, Teddington may have collapsed, and a revitalised Carshalton may have completed a smash-and-grab against the run of play. (Asked to describe a match she had mostly spent as a spectator, Ruby said it was “well boring”.)
Teddington made more changes, with Doddsy returning for Ale, while the fully recuperated Saskia replaced the tiring Amy: Carla moved into holding midfield, swiftly joined by Liz as the home side – seeking to both extend and defend their slender lead – reverted to the default formation.
Sas had an immediate effect, and Teddington should have gone 2-0 up. Motoring down the left and combining well with Carla just inside her; Sas delivered a cross which missed the first defender and found Liz in a glorious position 10 yards out – but the American steered just wide of the far corner. Then a Giulia drive from edge of box was scrambled wide by the goalkeeper. Cue another gorgeous Liz corner from right; Boz got a head on it, Emily pulled it back from the left but Giulia’s first-time left-footer from the edge of the box scudded just wide.
By the 67th minute this had become the kind of end-to-end game which neutrals love and managers fear. A dangerous Carshalton through-ball was mopped up by Ruby, who laid it out for Liz to produce a good through-ball for Boz. Attended all the way by the left-back, Boz kept going to the byeline and pulled back for Doddsy, who got underneath her shot at the end of a lightning counter-attack, with Emily also sprinting through to be available at the far post.
And it was a similar passage of play which finally created Teddington’s second, with seven minutes to go and an apparent eternity after their first. As Carshalton passed through midfield, commanding Carla nipped in front of her opponent to intercept – but instead of just hitting the ball, she cleverly curled it down the wing, one of those instantaneous decisions that comes with fitness and awareness and can turn defence into attack within a split-second. Rarely slow to accept an invitation, Boz raced onto it and pulled it back for Emily to calmly tuck home.
The killer goal created an audible rush of air around the pitch: the home side relaxed, while the brave visitors finally acknowledged their fate. It was music to a football lover’s ears to hear both sets of players (let alone coaches) saying “get the ball on the floor”. A very pleasant bunch of footballers, coaches and parents, Carshalton are a welcome addition to the top flight.
How well Teddington do in that division this season may yet come down to how efficient they become. Even more so than at Abbey, they had majority possession of the football and frequently demonstrated excellent movement and awareness with it. However, as at Abbey, they wasted an almost comical number of chances – and in doing so, almost let their opponents take advantage again.
They will need to be sharper in the next home game, another 9.30am Udney Park kick-off against Fleet. Having beaten Carshalton on the opening Sunday, the Hampshire side were inactive this week as Crystal Palace again succumbed to a default walkover, raising questions as to their ongoing participation.
Elsewhere, Maidenhead cruised to a 5-2 home win over Abbey, while newcomes Hampton Youth were crushed 10-2 at home by title favourites AFC Wimbledon. Good teams lurk in this division; if Teddington are to truly become one of them, they need to keep being diligent without the ball – and become clinical with it.
TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC: Ruby Rudkin, Anna Kauffmann, Hannah Hutchison, Millie Theobald, Carla Novakovic, Amy Hallett, Liz Kriebel, Ella Bothamley, Giulia Clini, Emily Coulson (2), Ella Dodd. Subs: Ale Fairn, Sadie Day, Saskia Brewster.
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