Maidenhead are a likable lot. Not only do they play decent football, but their manager Pat is a friendly fellow who will not stand for any of the nonsense that can spoil Sunday football – questionable actions and attitudes on either side of the touchline. But in terms of scorelines, they’re turning into nightmare guests: having won 6-3 at Udney Park in October, this time they scored five without reply. Not good considering they will be Teddington’s opponents in the SCWGL Cup final, having powered past AFC Wimbledon – whom they are currently holding off atop the league.
The home side had gone into the game confident but slightly under-strength. Having featured in 12 of the first 13 games, Emily Bashford was away for the second match in three; similarly, Millie Theobald – a starter in 11 of the first 12 – was missing for the third time in four games.
The latter absence meant a fourth successive change at the back, with Anna Kauffmann recalled at right-back despite missing Friday’s training session and Amy Hallett shuffling across into the centre-back role she fills with mature dependability if not ecstatic enthusiasm. The team was otherwise unchanged, if not quite on top form – several players suffering from colds, with goalkeeper Ruby Rudkin’s sore throat rendering her unusually inaudible. But at least the surface was good: untouched for a fortnight, the Udney Park pitch was eminently playable.
Having started sluggishly in each half of the cup semi-final win over Abbey, Teddington tore out of the gate and were on top for the first 15 quarter of an hour. Barely two minutes had elapsed when an Emily Coulson snapshot demanded a smart save from Maidenhead’s new goalkeeper.
On 10 minutes, Teddington dug back well against a Maidenhead attack, supplying Guilia Clini in the hole to feed Ella Dodd through the inside-right position. Doddsy edged past the defender and shot across goal; her contact presumably wasn’t as clean as she’d have liked, judging by the expletive, butthe keeper was forced to push it wide.
At this point Ruby was struggling to keep warm but Maidenhead aren’t top for nothing. Teddington were perhaps guilty of slightly overplaying in defence – something the coaches are loathe to castigate, but opponents are keen to punish – and the visiting attacker broke into Ruby’s box and forced a fgood low save from the keeper.
If that was a lesson, Teddington didn’t learn it: a minute later, they were behind, their first goal conceded in 277 minutes. Left exposed by a lack of midfield protection, Coffee was outmuscled and the attacker fired superbly into Ruby’s far corner.
Sensing fragility, Maidenhead started to test Teddington’s high line with longer balls designed for runners from midfield. The home side stuck to their own gameplan, and Giulia might have been sharper when a chance fell to her 20 yards out; instead, she tried to shift it from her left foot to her right and was swamped by defenders. The classy Clini certainly has the ability to score with her left, and in games against the best, you don’t always get the option to select your preferred foot.
With Maidenhead probing for weaknesses and Teddington fighting for redemption, the game entered a frantic phase. The home side were working hard up and down the pitch, exemplified by Saskia Brewster. But on 22 minutes, after what had seemed liked two minutes of constant sprinting to and fro, she was beaten to the ball by the right-winger, who promptly burrowed towards goal. By the time Ruby reacted by coming off her line – perhaps more tardily than in recent weeks – the attacker was ready to chip over her from the edge of the box.
A second concession in six minutes might have triggered a collapse, but Teddington have recently again enjoyed the benefits of Martin Fairn’s mental training. Switching from red to blue, they stuck to their tasks and responded with a couple of near-misses – a Doddsy shot well saved, a Giulia effort from out wide threatening the near post.
However, three minutes before half time Maidenhead extended their lead when a ball over the top found three attackers in clear space. Andy Kriebel’s flag went up, the defence stopped, the attackers didn’t, the referee ruled that the actual recipient of the ball had run from behind the offside line – and by that time she had again lobbed over Ruby’s desperate rush off her line.
Struggling with the physical exertion, Coffee made way for Millie MacEacharn – who played the rest of the match with a kind of composed Zen calm, quietly tidying up when required, notably with an unfussy but brilliantly judged injury-time defusion of a developing Maidenhead attack. On the other side, Saskia also offered to withdraw, saying she wasn’t playing very well and would make way for anyone who could do a better job. Swiftly told there wasn’t such a player in the league, she set about her job again.
Teddington might have reduced the deficit either side of half-time – Doddsy with a fierce shot well saved. Ella Bothamley with a superb looping shot from distance which bounced off the bar – but a minute before the hour Maidenhead made sure. A corner on their left was cleared back to the taker, who boldly chanced her arm with a shot from down near the flag – and was delighted to see it loop into Ruby’s far corner.
Shortly before, the home side had rolled the dice again by replacing the quiet Emily with Ale Fairn. That required a reshuffle but Teddington had the staff for it, shifting the battling duo of Doddsy and Giulia back a notch each and moving Liz – creative and willing but clearly tiring – to the left.
And it was from that station that Liz enjoyed a close-up of a passing express. Saskia’s 67th-minute barnstorming run down the left – from her own 18-yard line to the opposition box – recalled Sinead Morris at her unstoppable best, burning along the chalk and delivering a superb cross which Ale couldn’t quite finish and Boz couldn’t quite reach. This team and its players keep developing, and Sas’s overlaps are a pleasing and increasingly potent weapon.
Teddington’s second-half determination deserved something and Boz almost provided when she forced a good save from the substitute goalkeeper: Maidenhead have two glove-wearers competing for the position. But with five minutes left, the scoring was completed by the visitors when the ball bounced free in the centre of Teddington’s half and a Maidenhead player, first on the scene, was savvy and skilful enough to lob the stranded Ruby from distance, thus equalling Teddington’s heaviest margin of defeat.
An optimist might insist that the Maidenhead scored one questionable and two freakish goals, and for all the visitors’ impressive finishing perhaps a two-goal difference was a more realistic reflection. But there is no question that the visitors looked clearly the better side, and that Teddington must raise their game considerably before the SCWGL Cup final at the end of April.
Improvements can be found in several ways. As Teddington were losing to Maidenhead, somewhere across South London professional players were squirming. The day before, Premier League side Crystal Palace had collapsed 4-0 at home to Sunderland, conceding three goals in five minutes; Sam Allardyce had responded by making his players report for duty at 7am for a blow-by-blow video analysis of the game – part punishment, part reparation.
Such measures are neither available nor desirable for Teddington Athletic. After all, these are not professionals, but youngsters learning the game and playing for fun. However, that’s not to say this defeat can’t bring its own lessons. In their own calm but frank debrief, Teddington’s girls were told that to match the top teams they have to do more things right than pass and tackle. Their own reparation can centre on preparation.
Maidenhead manager Pat admits that his team are feeling the benefit of pre-season fitness training; Teddington have been playing catch-up on that score all season. Conversely, the fitter girls may be overstretching themselves: without wishing to curtail other sporting involvement – after all, more than 85% of players in Sunday’s SuperBowl played multiple sports at high school – but a teenager’s tank may run dry if she has been playing for school teams all week then engaging in other taxing athletic endeavours on a Saturday.
Nutrition, too, is vital. After encouraging early-season signs of the players bringing savvy snacks for half-time refuelling, sightings of energy-giving fruit and chocolate have somewhat slackened off. This is in no way to blame the parents, who diligently transport their offspring and support them every week come rain or shine. The players are no longer helpless infants: they can buy their own snacks, or at least request an addition to the weekly Big Shop. If they want to avoid another chastening defeat like this, they will do well to monitor their food intake for the 24 hours before a big game. This season will end in a cup final; nobody wants it to end in tears, but in being proud of a team who have done their level best. That glass ceiling can be broken, but only with the right tools.
TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Anna Kauffmann, Hannah Hutchison, Amy Hallett, Saskia Brewster, Liz Kriebel, Carla Novakovic, Ella Bothamley, Giulia Clini, Emily Coulson, Ella Dodd. Subs Ale Fairn, Millie MacEacharn.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please note that comments will be moderated before publication.