Sun 20 Mar (2): Teddington Athletic 1-1 Abbey Rangers

After a brief break for Jaffa cakes and praise, Teddington restarted with the XI that finished the first game, save for Emily Bashford replacing Carla Novakovic – who cheekily asked “We’ve beaten them once, can’t we just go home?” but later re-entered the fray with typical energy.



As expected, Abbey Rangers started the rematch in determined style, breaking through Teddington’s defensive ranks after two minutes but dragging it wide of the post. They took the lead on four minutes, with an effort from distance that seemed to surprise the kicker as much as the keeper; considering it was side-footed, it was either an underplayed masterpiece or an overenthusiastic attempt to get the ball back in the mixer.



Teddington didn’t panic, held firm and started to create their own chances. In the 16th minute a long ball from Emily C surprised the goalkeeper, who unluckily underestimated the bounce on the hardening pitch; however, Ale – who had been showcasing some lovely centre-forward play, holding up the ball and laying it off – had already stopped running, so the goalkeeper was able to recover the situation. It served as an indication, if any were needed, of why manager Dave Waldron is forever shouting “GAMBLE!”.



Again, Teddington refreshed their legs at the halfway point. First Doddsy and Phoebe replaced Emily C and Macca, then Carla replaced Amy – indomitable in defensive midfield, but ready for a rest after a hard hour’s work – and Ale made way for Boz.

The former Wimbledon striker has scored in more games this season than any other Teddington player, and she immediately made a difference, creating the 26th-minute equaliser. Running at a suddenly startled centre-back, she forced the error and the ball broke to the supporting runner Phoebe, who hammered it high past the helpless goalkeeper. No question of her intent here: this was a top-class, top-corner finish from the top scorer.



Going into the final 15 minutes, the game was finely balanced and flowing from end to end. Abbey turned up the pressure, especially at set-pieces – rarely can a girls’ team be so drilled on corners – but Teddington defended bravely and resolutely, and even on the two occasions that the visitors managed to get a shot on target, Ruby parried excellently.



With five minutes left, Teddington sent Emily Coulson back on for Bash, and the previous game’s hat-trick hero was soon into the action. Cutting inside from the left, she sent through a ball that Boz coukdn’t quite stretch to, and was then invvolved in the day’s closing drama.

At the climax of a move down the left, a through-ball into the area hit a defender’s outstretched hand. The referee pointed to the spot… until he noticed the flag was up for offside. Can you be interfering without receiving the ball or being in the goalkeeper’s eyeline? If so, the striker was offside for that split-second.



A second Teddington win, though welcome, would have been a touch harsh on Abbey, who deserved a share of the spoils in the second game. A well-organised team, a physical presence without being in any way dirty, they had previously only been beaten by runaway leaders Crystal Palace Reds but found themselves blown away in the first game by the home team’s footballing prowess. In one lunchtime session they conceded as many goals as they had against all their opponents (bar Palace Reds) since November.

In some respects, this was Teddington’s greatest day so far. Adapting to a new tactical system, they started brilliantly to streak away from dangerous opponents, demonstrated mature game management to close out the first game, then came back determinedly from a goal down to deserve a draw in the second.

A special note to the back four, who played the legal maximum 80 minutes without notably tiring, perhaps thanks to the indefatigable protection of the rotating squad of midfielders in front of them.

And so to the USA, for a long-planned Tampa Tour. The girls are grateful and excited to be going on such an amazing tour, and they have responded with one of their best performances yet. Long may such shows continue, because when they fly back across the Atlantic, they will still be part of a bunfight for the runners-up spot.



At the moment, the four teams behind Palace Reds are separated by just four points. Teddington hold second place with 31 points from 18 games. As well as another trip to Palace Reds, they have to play Wimbledon home and away. It’s a big ask but also a big opportunity for a Teddington side coming into form. The Dons, although reigning champions, aren’t the force they were; having been held by Fleet Town for the third time this season, they are now three points behind Teddington with three games in hand. They also face a potentially crucial double-header with Abbey.

For their part, Abbey – who finished third last season – are now fifth, four points behind Teddington with four games in hand. But besides that double-header with Wimbledon, they also have next week’s trip to Maidenhead, the league newcomers whose last three games have been a narrow 1-0 loss at Palace Reds, a 2-1 win over Wimbledon and last week’s 2-2 draw at Abbey. The Berkshire side sit two points behind Teddington on the same number of games, and they also have to face Palace Reds again.

It adds up to a four-way shootout between four different but capable teams. It is to Teddington’s credit that they can maintain themselves in such company. The memories of the opening-day 6-2 defeat to Abbey has been exorcised: next up, Wimbledon.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Anna Kauffmann, Ella Waldron, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Amy Hallett, Millie MacEacharn, Liz Kriebel, Emily Coulson, Emily Bashford, Ale Fairn. Subs: Carla Novakovic, Ella Dodd, Phoebe Head (1), Ella Bothamley, Ella Parkinson-Mearns (not used).

Sun 20 Mar (1): Teddington Athletic 3-1 Abbey Rangers

Teddington’s third season has had its ups and downs. Heavy first-month defeats at Abbey Rangers (6-2) and AFC Wimbledon (5-0) contrasted with sterling performances against Maidenhead (3-2) and Crystal Palace Reds (0-2); a winless run of five games – a relative aeon for this usually-successful team – was alleviated by promising performances in defeat (1-2 against Palace Reds and Wimbledon in the cup); and the recent 2-1 humbling at Palace Blues has produced a determined response in the attitude of a talented squad.

This double-header – two games of 40 minutes each, hitting the FA-proscribed maximum for girls of this age – against Abbey Rangers was perfectly timed, with the team coming into form and preparing to leave on Thursday for the tour to Tampa. Friday’s training was good and the warm-up was excellent; would the good vibes continue?



Abbey had a warning in the third minute when Jelly won the ball in defence and found her friend Phoebe. Beating the left-back, Pheebs sent a clever little alley-ball for Boz, but the goalkeeper was out quickly to the edge of her area.



It was only a temporary reprieve. Teddington were penning the visitors in, with Amy floating in defensive midfield to recycle clearances, and then in the sixth minute Doddsy took a more direct route. Getting a clearance flush in the face, she nonetheless chased down the rebound and played a 10-yard diagonal to Phoebe, who picked out the back post. The cross bypassed Boz but Emily C had enough time time to steady herself and sidefoot home.



When talk in Friday’s team meeting turned to the opening-day defeat at Abbey, EC had asked “did I score?” She was told that no, she hadn’t, but she was welcome to do so this time.

Five minutes later, she did it again. Teddington had continued to keep Abbey in their own third, with throw-ins and then a corner; when Phoebe’s flag-kick from the left was partially blocked – effectively flicked on – by the first defender, EC was again in the right place to nod in.



It’s worth noting here that Abbey Rangers aren’t usually the kind of team to go two goals down by ten past kick-off. In fact, besides their only two league defeats of the season (to runaway leaders Crystal Palace), they’d only conceded two goals twice since September, and one of those was in a 5-2 win. By the 18th minute Rangers were coming back into the game, but that merely allowed Teddington to counter-attack – again through Jelly intercepting a through-ball and feeding Phoebe, who cut inside and brought a reflex save down at the near post.

It was a slick move, a stinging shot and a smart save, but the glove-wearer – so impressive in that opening-day game – could do absolutely nothing to prevent Teddington going 3-0 up from the resultant corner, Phoebe’s cross being met on the six-yard line by Emily C, powering it home like a 1970s centre-forward.



Turns out that the night before, Em had roped her dad into helping her practise headers, despite Richie’s protestation that “we haven’t scored a header in two years”. His daughter had now scored two in 10 minutes, to complete her hat-trick and bring a whole new meaning to the phrase “double header”. There’s a moral in there somewhere. Teddington weren’t letting up, and Jelly almost got in on the goalscoring act, arriving late through the inside-right channel at a pulled-back corner, but her first-timer from the edge of the box fizzed just wide of the far post.



Ringing the changes, the home side gave the excellent Doddsy – one of several girls clearly benefiting from fitness training, her extra pace over the first few yards visibly improving her self-belief – a rest for Liz, then bringing on Ale and Macca for Boz and Phoebe.



Abbey started to threaten a little more but it’s worth noting that it took half an hour for them to have their first real shot inside the area, turning inside Anna and firing wide of the near post. The Danish girl was otherwise impeccable, often breaking intelligently out of the defensive line to add numbers in midfield – an encouraging habit that she and her fellow full-back Sas will be able to cultivate, given the extra security of a second centre-back.



With Abbey’s through-balls being effectively mopped up, the likeliest source of a goal for the visitors seemed a set-piece, and so it proved in the 32nd minute when a couple of Teddington defenders couldn’t quite sort out their feet to clear a corner. One of them, Sas, was very apologetic afterwards, insisting the goal was her fault, but was told not to worry: just do the next thing right.



And Sas was an integral part of a back-line – an entire team – which treated the rest of the first match is an exercise in game management. Not unlike the second half at Fleet a month previously, Teddington conserved their energy and their lead, conceding possession without conceding too many chances and, crucially, any more goals.

But how would they fare in the second game? Read on to find out...

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Anna Kauffmann, Ella Waldron, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Amy Hallett, Phoebe Head, Ella Dodd, Emily Coulson (3), Carla Novakovic, Ella Bothamley. Subs: Liz Kriebel, Millie MacEacharn, Emily Bashford, Ale Fairn

Sun 13 Mar: Teddington Athletic 3-1 Crystal Palace Blues

Your correspondent wasn’t there, but he is glad to report that Teddington’s girls recovered well from the chastening defeat to the same team a fortnight earlier.

Despite a wrist operation earlier in the week, Ale Fairn was willing enough to follow in on a shot and received a striker’s favourite reward by gobbling up a rebound for the opening goal.

The team as a whole played well, working hard for each other and communicating more efficiently than has sometimes been the case. For example, defensive stalwarts Millie Theobald and Saskia Brewster corrected an initial problem with through-balls – a recurring problem recently – by covering for each other. And in midfield, Liz Kriebel – another player asked by the manager to be more vocal on the pitch – overcame her initial reticence and stretched Teddington’s lead with a superbly executed free-kick lofted over the goalkeeper.

Demonstrating their own increasing confidence, Palace Blues halved the lead before half-time - but a subtle half-time tactical tweak, coupled with renewed determination from a squad whose fitness is clearly improving with the weekly running sessions, helped to negate any risk of a comeback. And the result was put beyond doubt when Liz surpassed the excellence of her first goal with an even better second, taking a few steps before floating a superb clincher over the goalkeeper.

And so the girls go into what has now become a double-header (two 40-minute games, to respect the FA maximum of 80 minutes’ play per day at this age range) against Abbey Rangers. The Addlestone outfit drew 2-2 with Maidenhead, a result which leaves them three points and three places below the Berkshire team in a season with plenty of surprises to come.

TAFC Girls Tampa Tour Silent Auction - Bid Now!!

Take a look at the fantastic auction items listed below and bid NOW 

in aid of TAFC U14 Girls Tampa Tour.  

If you are interested in any of the items below, please send your bid to: dawn.gomes@gazing.com & martin.fain@gazing.com or text with your chosen item and bid to 07957 829866. 

There is also a fantastic Raffle - with lots of prizes donated by local businesses - please take a look and contact Dawn or Martin on the email above if you would like to purchase a ticket!

Eat cheese, drink wine and help Teddington

If you like cheese, wine, fun or helping Teddington Athletic's girls – or even all four! – come along to the TAFC wine & cheese fundraiser on Saturday 12 March.

Last time we held one everybody had a great time, and it will help raise money towards the Tampa Tour. As well as taste-tests there will be quizzes, a raffle and a silent auction for some great prizes.

Sun 28 Feb: Crystal Palace Blues 2-1 Teddington Athletic

This was Teddington Athletic’s worst ever defeat.

They’ve been beaten by bigger margins before, and in all likelihood will be again; no team can expect to remain unbeaten, especially when competing in the county’s top flight against offshoots of professional clubs from the Football League and Premier League.

But let’s not gild the lily. Before this game, Crystal Palace’s second team defined rock-bottom, having played 12 league games and lost them all, scoring just nine goals and conceding at least 78 (the “at least” allowing for the league’s laudable limiting of reported winning margins at eight goals). But they beat Teddington, and deservedly so.

Two days after being given their gleaming new kit for next month’s Florida tour, the visiting team turned in the sort of performance to raise the question: “Why bother?”. Manager Dave Waldron had dashed across London from Lord’s, where some of the girls were progressing in a cricket competition. Assistant manager Gary Parkinson was absorbing his daughter’s decision to leave the team at the end of the season to concentrate on her GCSEs, and was himself wrestling with whether to continue his commitment to the club. On Friday, the coaches had dedicated another excellent training session to retaining possession and tiring out the opposition. And the players’ ever-willing parents had once again donated the bulk of their Sunday to schlepping an hour each way through some of south London’s ugliest suburbs.

The only people who didn’t show up were the players.

The warning signs were there from early on. With only 12 players available, it didn’t help that more than half of them turned up late to a ground they’d only played at three weeks previously. Despite the 1.30pm kick-off, many were unaccountably dozy in a lacklustre warm-up – an apt name with some players complaining of the cold, as if they hadn’t been bought enough thermal base-layers in their lives.

Some players might blame their parents for not packing a base-layer, but that would excuse a lack of responsibility that would soon leave them feeling silly as well as chilly. These are no longer primary-school children, and although part of the point of Teddington Athletic is to equip the girls for life’s challenges, unlike in last week’s narrow win at Fleet Town none of them really rose to take control of the situation. A team that started the day third in the league looked leaderless, listless and eventually pointless.

Some dug in and tried – Amy was as diligent as ever, Liz came out for the second half determined to take the game by the scruff of the neck, and emergency centre-forward Doddsy tried to outrun the defence – but they weren’t good enough to match a winless team whose average result this season was a 6-1 loss.

Meanwhile in a simultaneous game on an adjacent pitch, champions AFC Wimbledon and runaway leaders Crystal Palace Reds contested a Cup game played at a far higher quality, yards away in geography but miles ahead in application and ability.

There were hard-luck stories along the way. A qualified referee might have disallowed Palace’s first goal, although it’s a moot question whether Ruby had dropped the ball fractionally before the striker – chasing lost causes in a manner Teddington rarely did – kneed home the opener. The home side’s typically high offside line (against which the management had designed a simple tactical plan the players failed to enact) was aided by an overenthusiastic home linesman who seemed to regard any attacker as active at all times.

But all credit to Palace, who were more than the sum of their parts. Their crucial second goal was a fine strike, the big No.6 outstripping the visitors’ defence and lashing home a ferocious shot which may have bounced down off the crossbar and over the line – not that she waited for acknowledgement before heading home the bouncing ball anyway.

All game long the strugglers fought for each other, even when Teddington threatened an undeserved late comeback with Carla hitting the post and Liz despatching a penalty nobody seemed to want to take. Had the visitors fluked a draw it would have been unconscionably cruel on their visibly thrilled hosts, who were enthused anew with a love of football. Unlike some in the league, Palace Blues and their manager Matt have a likeable humility and gratitude; they may not have a winning team, but they have a winning attitude. Teddington need to rediscover theirs.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Anna Kauffman, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Amy Hallett, Carla Novakovic, Ella Dodd, Liz Kriebel (1p), Emily Coulson, Millie MacEacharn, Ella Bothamley. Sub: Emily Bashford.

Sun 21 Feb: Fleet Town 2-3 Teddington Athletic

And so to Hampshire, and Fleet away. A Maidenhead parent your reporter had spoken to at Crystal Palace a fortnight ago had warned of a mudbath, but compared to that benighted Beckenham hill Fleet’s new Oakley Park surface was perfectly playable, and at least didn’t resemble the side of a mountain.

Speaking of ski-slopes, half-term took its toll on Teddington’s turnout. With Phoebe, Macca, Sadie and Doddsy away, and Saskia ill, the visitors arrived with only a dozen players – quickly whittled to the regulation XI when Ale, who had been stretchered off a mountain a few days before, – failed a fitness test on her knee.

Ruby Rudkin continued in goal, with the ever-adaptable Carla Novakovic slotting into Saskia’s place alongside Millie Theobald and Ella Parkinson-Mearns. Pushed forward to the right flank of a five-girl midfield, Anna Kauffman shyly asked if she was allowed to score. In the middle, the trio of Ella Waldron, Liz Kriebel and Emily Coulson were told to sort out amongst themselves who went forward and when. Amy Hallett resumed her usual post in deep midfield and Emily Bashford completed the central set, with Ella Bothamley the front-runner.

Teddington started keenly enough, probing from the off with Liz bursting down the left to feed Boz, who cut inside for a right-footer the goalkeeper did well to save low down. But after five minutes, a typically tenacious Fleet got hold of the game and started asking questions the visitors couldn’t answer.

Fleet’s finest player is their left-winger, and they soon discovered she had more pace than Parky. Exacerbating the problem, Teddington’s backline appeared chronically unable to organise an offside trap or even to cover for each other particularly well, and the home side started to thread balls through an increasingly shaky back line.

How a team responds to the opposition is one thing, but Teddington were also making unforced errors in possession. One particularly shambolic goal-kick almost led directly to a Fleet lead, although Ruby redeemed herself by coming out to claim. Still, it was no surprise when the hosts took the lead on eight minutes, and no shock that it came from an angled ball through a porous defence and in behind Parky.

Teddington reacted immediately, switching Anna for Parky and demanding more effort in midfield. And slowly, it started to work, as the visitors wrested back control of the game through essential hard work. Arriving at the far post, Couls couldn’t quite convert what must have been the fifth corner in five minutes – but the equaliser was on its way.

It came from an entirely suitable goal. The girls have been reminded before of Alex Ferguson’s old maxim that hard work will beat talent if talent doesn’t work hard, and the 22nd-minute leveller summed this up. Battling for the ball in midfield instead of allowing Fleet to bully them, Teddington forced an error and the ball bounced through to Liz. Advancing on goal at an angle from 25 yards, the American midfielder had the vision and ability to do what not many in this league could: lift the ball over the goalkeeper and high into the net.

Two minutes later, Teddington exemplified their zest. After Jelly chased someone around in midfield to force the error, Parky chased it down on the line, found Jelly who found Liz who found Couls who shot narrowly wide from just outside the area.

The second goal arrived a minute later. Again it was won in midfield and the ball over the top found Boz, who finished with consummate confidence for the ninth strike of her debut season. That puts her two behind top scorer Phoebe, but it’s worth noting that Boz has collected her nonet in seven different games; although she sets herself high standards, the summer signing from Wimbledon scores with a pleasing regularity.

Fleet continued with their gameplan and broke through from the left a couple of times, but found a newly determined Teddington. On the first occasion, Ruby stood up well to save the shot, and on the second Jelly got back into the penalty area for the sort of superbly-executed, whistle-clean sliding tackle befitting her beloved Hammers’ greatest No.6, Bobby Moore. (At least, your reporter assumes that’s why she wears that number, rather than an admiration for fellow Hammers No.6s Martin Allen, Danny Williamson, David Unsworth, Neil Ruddock, Hayden Foxe, Carl Fletcher or George McCartney…)

Two minutes before the break, the visitors enforced their superiority for a two-goal cushion they’d later appreciate. Box chased down the right and sent over yet another superb cross, and though it eluded Liz’s run, it landed perfectly for Bash to expertly side foot home her first Teddington goal. It’s a strike she fully deserves for her fearless hard work, and means that all three of the team’s 2015/16 signings scored.

The second half was a quieter affair. Fleet had more of the ball, and scored nine minutes in when they danced through unopposed. For the first time ever, Teddington switched to a back four – and saw the game out, despite tiring legs, through working hard for each other. Up to third in the table (albeit above dangerous teams with games in hand), this undisputedly talented bunch are beginning to appreciate that they can’t always dance to victory, learning when to dig in, and making sure that talent works hard.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC: Ruby Rudkin, Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Millie Theobald, Carla Novakovic, Amy Hallett, Anna Kauffman, Liz Kriebel (1), Ella Waldron, Emily Coulson, Emily Bashford (1), Ella Bothamley (1). No sub (Ale Fairn injured in warm-up).

Sun 7 Feb: Crystal Palace Reds 2-0 Teddington Athletic

It’s not easy arranging youth football. Even as well-organised a side as Crystal Palace Reds, double cup-winners last season and clear Premier Division leaders this, can struggle to get a reliable venue. After their previous 11-a-side base proved too susceptible to postponements, they have shifted their home games to Club Langley in Beckenham. Last season, Teddington came here and handed Croydon a 6-0 hammering: an omen?

That was on a nine-a-side cabbage patch, and as affable Palace manager Rick Lockett admitted, this pitch wasn’t up to much either: a 1 in 3 slope topped by a blazing sun and whipped by a strong wind, and freshly churned into mud by a preceding men’s game. Now the girls are playing on what are frequently full-size pitches, they’re discovering the hard way how poor the provisions are for grassroots teams in the multi-billion pound industry we call football. 

With Ruby Rudkin away, Ella Waldron donned the gloves behind an unchanged back three of Anna Kauffman, Millie Theobald and Saskia Brewster. The increasingly confident defensive midfielder Amy Hallett was joined on this occasion by Carla Novakovic, primed to repeat her successful marking job on Palace’s dangerous No.11. In front of them, Ella Dodd and Emily Coulson were flanked by Phoebe Head to the left and Ella Bothamley on the right, with Ale Fairn running the hard yards up front. On the bench were impressive newcomer Liz Kriebel, fit-again Ella Parkinson-Mearns and the late-arriving Emily Bashford.

Having lost the longest toss in history, Teddington would play the first half into the teeth of the wind, the glare of the sun and the gradient of the hill. And they did it with heart-swelling excellence. Diligent in defence, dogged in the tackle and trying to use their possession by playing under the wind and up the muddy slope, the visitors frustrated the hosts.

With Carla’s marking job forcing the No.11 into an early substitution, and every visitor snapping into the tackle, it took 22 minutes to draw Jelly into serious action, coming out to dive at the feet of the Palace forward cutting in from the left. It took another five minutes for the hosts to get a shot on target, handled confidently by Jelly.

Sadly, on their next foray the favourites took the lead. A Palace through-ball down the left found no fewer than four forwards stranded by Teddington’s offside trap, but the flag didn’t come. Somewhat amazed but certainly not sluggish, Palace accepted the gift and hammered into the lead.

Half-time brought warm words and a triple substitution: Parky on for Anna, Liz for Doddsy and Bash for Pheeb, with Boz flicking to the right and Bash left. With the wind, slope and sun in their favour, and just the one goal to claw back, Teddington set about their hosts, pinning them down the hill.

After six minutes of pressure, a Boz corner from the right was just about bundled out at the near post for another flag-kick, fired across to Bash at the far post but she couldn’t quite turn it home.

Palace threatened on occasion, such as when the big No.9 expertly turned the otherwise wonderful Millie T and fired a shot just past the far post, but this was Teddington’s half. Another triple sub after 15 minutes saw the return of Anna in deep midfield for Carla, Doddsy up top for Ale and Phoebe out wide for Boz – and the returning winger’s 52nd-minute corner from the left once again flew agonisingly across the six-yard box without a Teddington girl managing to turn it in.

That proved doubly damning a minute later when the visitors dropped their guard and the hosts doubled their lead. Allowed too much time in midfield, Palace fed the big No.9, who cut inside and fired in off the far post.  

Teddington didn’t fold. A right-wing Phoebe corner on the hour was again almost converted by the ever-willing Bash, with Couls’s effort from the rebound blocked by a desperate defender and grabbed by the relieved goalkeeper. And with six minutes left, Pheebs’ right-wing cross once again found Bash, but the keeper parried and Liz couldn’t quite turn home the rebound.

That this wasn’t the finest of Palace’s 12 league victories this season reflects well on Teddington’s first-half dedication and second-half domination. A fifth defeat in six against the league leaders was frustrating in its thwarted possibilities but inspiring in its attitude. And even though the rejigged fixture list next takes them to champions AFC Wimbledon, and even though the squad will be weakened by half-term holidays, the Teddington team have proved that they can compete with the best on a playing field that’s only uneven in its geography.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC: Ella Waldron, Anna Kauffmann, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Amy Hallett, Carla Novakovic, Ella Bothamley, Ella Dodd, Emily Coulson, Phoebe Head, Ale Fairn. Subs: Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Liz Kriebel, Emily Bashford. 

Sun 31 Jan: Teddington Athletic 7-0 Crystal Palace Blues

Teddington’s next two games could be as tough as they’ll get all season. Next week it’s away to Crystal Palace Reds, last season’s double cup winners and this season’s league leaders; then a skeleton squad of 11 girls will take on Abbey Rangers, who started the day with a 100% record from their seven games.

In the circumstances, then, Teddington needed a fillip, and they got it against Crystal Palace Blues. Promoted last season, Palace’s second string have struggled to 11 consecutive losses, and could have done without starting this game a girl short while a delayed carful found the ground. But they possess some good players, are well-organised and could spring a surprise on the unwary.

The home side approached the game in the right fashion. Seeking to compress the game, Palace played a well-drilled but extravagantly high offside trap, and Teddington took their time to work it out – although they could have gone ahead in the fourth minute if centre-forward Ella Bothamley – starting in the absence of injured Ale Fairn, but herself perhaps feeling the effects of missing Friday’s training with a cold – had been more effective in reaching Ella Dodd’s through-ball.

Palace’s missing players arrived after 20 minutes of Teddington alternating between creating chances and getting carelessly caught offside. Sadly for the delayed visitors, they arrived just in time to see the home side solve the puzzle. Amy Hallett, who spent the match expertly defusing Palace attacks and setting Teddington on the front foot, played a peach of a through-ball for Boz. With Palace’s offside trap in tatters somewhere near the halfway line, the striker had a long time to think about it but stayed calm and planted the ball low to the goalkeeper’s right for a lead nobody could call undeserved.

Two minutes later Boz almost doubled the lead in a decidedly less purposeful fashion. Taking a corner short to the ever-alert left-back Saskia Brewster, Boz received the return pass and curled it towards the far post – which the ball promptly hit.

The positive impact of Palace’s fresh legs was outweighed by Teddington’s own rotation. Anna Kauffman had been as dependable as ever, but for the last 10 minutes of the half she was replaced at right-back by Ella Parkinson-Mearns, returning from illness and injury with a typically tenacious show; with Anna away for the Abbey game, Parky will need to be as diligent again. The ever-alert Liz Kriebel came into central midfield for Doddsy, while Emily Bashford replaced Millie MacEacharn on the left.

Meanwhile, Sadie Day – who has perhaps surprised herself with her own determination – suffered a knee injury and was replaced by Phoebe Head. The top scorer was soon in the thick of it, linking well with Boz twice in two minutes. First, a typically dangerous Boz corner fizzed across the six-yard line and Phoebe’s point-blank left-foot effort was instinctively blocked by the goalkeeper; then, striker sent winger running through from deep, but again the goalkeeper did well to parry Phoebe’s high shot.

Teddington ended the half in a flurry of corners, and doubled their lead in injury time when Phoebe’s flag-kick from the right was forced home at the near post by Emily Coulson. This was only her second of the campaign, a surprisingly poor return considering she was last season’s 19-goal top scorer, and has the technical quality to strike the ball from anywhere. But as the management reinforced at half-time, Em is often simply too reluctant to shoot. Always aware of the possibilities of passing and turning her defender inside-out, “Couls” sometimes needs to remember the advice of Bob Paisley: “If you're in the penalty area and don't know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we'll discuss the options later.”

As is sadly traditional, Teddington started the second half a little slowly, standing off in midfield and allowing the visitors their best chance – but the increasingly confident goalkeeper Ruby Rudkin was easily equal to the task.

A Palace goal might have caused some nerves, but with Parky, Sas and Millie Theobald tightening up the defence most of the action was up the other end, where Couls was finding lots of space in the pockets between the lines, and linking up notably well with Phoebe. First the winger found her on the edge of the box, but she dragged her shot just wide; a minute later. Phoebe’s right-wing cross was heading straight for Couls when a pressure defender bundled it in for an own goal – Teddington’s fourth of the season.

That started a glut of three goals in a little over five minutes, all featuring Emily C at some point. Midfield dynamo Carla Novakovic dug in to win the ball in the centre-circle and laid off to Phoebe, who cut back inside and laid a gorgeous left-footed diagonal for Bash to streak onto. The goalkeeper once again got something on the shot but Couls was on hand to mop up and make it 4-0.

Within a couple of minutes, 4-0 became 5-0 – and once again both Emilys were involved. Bash roared down the left and closed in on the goalkeeper, getting a clonk on the leg and tears in her eyes, but she wasn’t going to stop. Again the keeper’s parry was picked up by Couls, and with her view of goal blocked by defenders, she reset it to Boz on the edge of the area to lash home her second of the match.

Clearly enthused, Emily C almost completed her hat-trick but her superb lob was ruled out for yet another offside. Boz didn’t get the chance to complete her own hat-trick: after 52 minutes of hard running up top she was replaced by Doddsy, who presented Palace with a different challenge. At the same time, the quietly excellent Carla was replaced in midfield by Anna, with Parky settling at right-back: to prove the point, she wont ball determinedly, and laid it off to Liz, whose clever ball one more found Bash coming in off the left wing.

Palace now faced a front three of differing styles: the muscular determination of Doddsy flanked by the fearless speed of Bash and the pacy awareness of Phoebe – who, like Emily C, was given some personal coaching to improve her chances in front of goal. At half-time, Pheebs had quietly complained that “I haven’t scored in ages”; 10 minutes after the break, she scorched through but stayed wide instead of heading for goal and getting her body across the trailing defender. A quick word from the sidelines soon sorted this out, and Phoebe was back on the scoresheet. Darting through the inside-right channel, and accompanied by Doddsy and Bash to keep the defence occupied, Pheebs headed for the whites of the posts instead of the bye-line and stroked the ball into the bottom-left corner like the excellent goalscorer she is.

Soon after, the same simple technique worked again. With her final act of a towering performance, Amy – surrounded by bigger opponents, but wiser than all of them and learning all the time – nipped in to win the ball and play a quick 10-yarder to Doddsy, who executed a classic target-man’s lay-off to send Phoebe scuttling past the poor old left-back. Arrowing in from the wing and once again supported by Doddsy and Bash, Phoebe got her body between the ball and the helpless defender, headed straight for goal and calmly found the bottom corner at the near post for 7-0.

That concluded the scoring, but not for want of trying. Liz slalomed through with a great run but couldn’t quite finish it off; Ella Waldron added her usual presence during a late cameo in place of Amy; while Bash’s replacement Macca quickly get herself involved too.  

The seven-goal gap was as big as Teddington have achieved since January 2014, but there are more important things than drubbings. Teddington once again shared the action around a squad that is pleasingly deep in talent, but will be precariously thin as the half-term holiday absences bite. And the action wasn’t the only thing shared around: so were the goals. Boz’s brace took her to eight for the season, Emily C’s first league goals of the season are hopefully a sign of things to come, and Phoebe broke a three-month scoring duck with a simple lesson quickly learned. When she made that plaintive half-time point, Pheebs was told that it would come good if she did the right thing. She did and it did. Onwards to new challenges.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Anna Kauffmann, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Amy Hallett, Ella Dodd, Carla Novakovic, Sadie Day, Emily Coulson (2), Millie MacEacharn, Ella Bothamley (2). Subs Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Ella Waldron, Liz Kriebel, Phoebe Head (2), Emily Bashford. +1og

Sun 24 Jan: Teddington Athletic 1-0 Fleet Town

That Fleet Town have been such habitually difficult opponents for Teddington Athletic is as much to praise the Hampshire side as to denigrate their Middlesex opponents. 

Since both were promoted to the top flight in summer 2014, the teams had met on four occasions, and they had only been separated in the first instance – October 2014’s hard-fought 2-0 away win for Teddington. And Fleet arrived for this latest clash as Teddington’s closest top-flight neighbours, four points behind their fifth-placed hosts. 

Not for the first time, Fleet started the game the livelier side, but were repelled by the Teddington defence: a somewhat sleepover-afflicted Ruby Rudkin in goal, centre-back Millie Theobald flanked by Saskia Brewster and Anna Kauffmann, with Amy Hallett mopping up in front of them. 

For the first 15 minutes, a midfield lacking flu victim Ella Dodd was more defensive than attacking – but Liz Kriebel, Emily Coulson and Carla Novakovic (also fighting a virus) stuck to their tasks with commendable diligence, helped out by ever-willing wide runners Sadie Day and Emily Bashford. 

Halfway through the first period Teddington started to impose themselves when Emily C sent a lovely clipped through-ball for Emily B, who forced the goalkeeper into conceding the corner. Before that set-piece could be taken Ella Waldron and Phoebe Head came on (for Amy and Sadie) to ask some different questions, a process continued soon after when Millie MacEacharn and Ella Bothamley replaced Bash and Ale Fairn respectively.

The fresh legs rejuvenated the home side and helped create a more flowing end-to-end game, with Jelly and Emily C linking particularly promisingly in midfield and Phoebe a typically constant threat on the ball. Indeed, the top scorer led a counter-attack from a Fleet corner, driving most of the way up the right flank to force a throw 10 yards from the byeline; Boz met Phoebe’s flick-on with an attempt that beat the goalkeeper but was just about scrambled off the goal-line.  

After the break, Teddington continued to create ever more promising chances. Jelly’s measured daisy-clipper reached Boz but so did the goalkeeper, whose half-clearance couldn’t quite be turned home by Phoebe. 

Teddington were getting on top and now created four good chances in six minutes. Twelve minutes into the half, Emily C was bundled over on the edge of the box and Boz’s fierce rising shot was parried, with a disappointing lack of Teddingtonian follow-up. 

A minute later, Emily C’s lovely little through-ball broke the Fleet defence, but Boz’s shot rolled agonisingly wide. Three minutes thereafter, EC and Phoebe combined to set up Boz; her shot was blocked, and although Em picked up the rebound and sidestepped a defender to fire in again, her own attempt was cleared by a relieved Fleet defence.

Emily was to be denied again two minutes later, when the second corner in quick succession found her unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box, but the No.99 couldn’t quite keep her header under the crossbar. 

Out wide on the left, Macca suddenly realised she had the beating of the right-back and took her on so frequently that the Fleet girl must have been delighted to see Macca substituted. Sadly for her, Bash set about doing exactly the same. Set free by a delicious ball from Amy – on for the tiring Carla – Bash streaked away from the stunned defender, knocked it past the goalkeeper and watched it hit the post… before hitting it herself in a desperate attempt to bundle the rebound home.

As the game entered the last 10 minutes, the excitement ratcheted up. Phoebe hit the byline and pulled it back across an empty six-yard line to gasps from all concerned. Fleet were by no means out of the game and almost scored from a corner, hitting the post before Sas calmly tidied up. 

But with less than five minutes to go, it was Teddington who broke the deadlock. Attacking down the right, the home side worked the ball to Boz, on the edge of the area in the inside-right zone; with commendable vision, calmness and accuracy, she noticed the big gap on the far side of the goal and steered home with the outside of her right boot. 

Fleet couldn’t believe their luck, but it got worse in the final minute when they hit the bar. Even so, Teddington almost had the last word as the game ticked into injury time, Phoebe picking out late sub Ale and Bash in the middle although neither could quite turn it in.

A fourth successive draw between these teams would not have been a travesty. But Teddington weathered the early storm, imposed themselves, then stood fast for only their second-ever 1-0 win. The previous victims of that scoreline, Abbey Rangers, beat Maidenhead 3-0 to maintain their 100% start; that result also means Teddington are only three points behind the fourth-placed Berkshire side. After their first league victory in three stop-start months, Teddington can once more look up the table and wonder.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Anna Kauffmann, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Amy Hallett, Liz Kriebel, Emily Coulson, Carla Novakovic, Sadie Day, Emily Bashford, Ale Fairn. Subs Ella Waldron, Phoebe Head, Millie MacEacharn, Ella Bothamley (1).