Sun 14 Dec: Teddington Athletic 3-2 Croydon Girls

And so to the final fixture before the festive break: Croydon. With Anna still out of contention, Ella V continued in goal behind a back three of Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Millie Theobald and Saskia Brewster; ahead of them, Ella Dodd and Emily Coulson were flanked by Phoebe Head and Sinead Morris, with Carla Novakovic up top after Ale Fairn made a brave but futile attempt to warm up through her heavy cold. 

As is so often the case Teddington started the brighter, Sinead finding Emily but Emily finding the keeper's midriff. Then Parky dug in to win the ball and send Phoebe up the line for a cross Sinead volleyed just wide of the post. So far, so promising, but it doesn't take long for things to change in football. 

Ever impressive in defence, Saskia Brewster was just starting to enjoy foraging forward with the extra insurance of a back three, when she went down after an innocuous, innocent challenge with a painful hip injury. Cue major reshuffle, with Carla switching to left-back, sub Sophie Wallman into midfield and Doddsy going up front.

With Teddington in flux, Croydon pushed on, knocking balls over the top. On one occasion their forward got onto the end of it, with the home back three appealing in vain for offside; luckily, Jelly stood up strong and saved well, but she was little more than a spectator just afterward when a lob narrowly cleared her crossbar. 

Teddington came back into it, trading blows. Collecting a Croydon clearance in midfield, Doddsy sprayed wide to Phoebe who did brilliantly to keep it in before setting off on a searing diagonal run and placing a shot just wide of the far post – but a minute later, Croydon again broke through to force Jelly into another save. 

Eleven minutes before half-time, though, Teddington made a chance count. Doddsy met Phoebe's cross at the near post and although her first effort didn't quite cut the mustard, she was stronger and quicker to the loose ball than the goalkeeper and put Athletic in front. 

The lead was deserved on the balance of play but Croydon weren't crumbling, putting on the pressure with a couple of corners – although from the latter Sinead sprinted off on a run that took her to the edge of the visitors' area, shooting from slightly too far out and allowing the keeper to fumble it wide. 

As the half entered time added on for Sas's injury, Teddington got a crucial second goal. Mopping up in the centre circle, Millie T won a ball it looked like she'd lost, allowing Doddsy to slip a super little vertical daisy-cutter for Emily to run through and fire home right-footed.

Five minutes after the break, Athletic seemed to sew it up with a third goal. Winning the ball on halfway, Emily carefully lobbed over the top for the onrushing Phoebe, and although the goalkeeper rushed out Pheebs gambled, held her nerve and held out a leg to steer the ball home. Game over?

Not a bit of it. Four minutes later, another Croydon through-ball caused confusion as Millie T ran back, Jelly ran out, the ball ran clear and the forward ran it in. Fortunate, but a minute later the visitors scored a goal of top quality, the ball over the top being pulled back and volleyed in for a worldy. With 26 minutes left, Teddington faced a test they could barely have imagined a few short minutes previously. 

Pleasingly, they passed the test and the ball in an absorbing contest. After a Phoebe volley was well saved, Croydon hit the bar. And as the pressure grew, Teddington reorganised, retrenched and retrained themselves into positions they hadn't occupied in some time. 

Having played most of her football this season on the wing, Millie MacEacharn was pressed back into service as left-back, and dug in with grit and determination. Sadie Day, too, has spent much of her time on the right wing but with numbers in short supply, found herself replacing the exhausted Sophie in central midfield. Doddsy dropped back into central defence – her third position of the game – with a Millie either side of her, Parky pushing on to stiffen the midfield with Sadie, while Sienad, Emily and Phoebe orchestrated the attacks.  

Still the sides traded blows. Pouncing on a poor goal kick, Sinead fired a speculative volley just wide; then, as Croydon once more knuckled it through the middle, Millie T managed to get back and execute a brilliant tackle right on the edge of her area. 

It was close – too close, considering the 3-0 lead a lifetime ago – but Teddington held on to celebrate their 14th win of 2014 (from 18 attempts), having scored 69 and conceded 25 in a calendar year full of marvels. What happens in 2015 remains to be seen but playing with this panache and pragmatism, Teddington will bag a few more yet. 

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ella V; Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster; Ella Dodd (1), Emily Coulson (1); Phoebe Head (1), Carla Novakovic, Sinead Morris. Subs Sophie Wallman, Millie MacEacharn, Sadie Day. 

Sun 7 Dec: Molesey Juniors 0-7 Teddington Athletic (Surrey Cup Quarter-Final)

Last season, Molesey Juniors were in a division above the new Teddington Athletic team. Fast-forward to the tail end of 2014 and Teddington are fourth in the top flight, motoring along well in two cup competitions and looking confident.

A lesser team might be spooked by this sort of fixture: a Surrey Cup Quarter-Final held under glowering skies at the Neilson Recreation ground, trapped between the Mole and Ember rivers and the Island Barn reservoir. Depleted resources meant Teddington only had 10 players – this from an original squad of 17 – and a communication mix-up meant they turned up in a mixture of home and away shirts (perhaps best bring both from now on), but the girls simply bibbed up and got on with it.

With such scarcity of resource, the team picked itself, although there was lengthy discussion among the management as to who should play where among these adaptable performers. In the end the formation showed few changes from the previous week's starting IX, with Millie MacEacharn replacing the sleepovering Phoebe Head and Amy Hallett in for Ale Fairn. Ella Dodd, Carla Novakovic, Emily Coulson and Sinead Morris continued in their various midfield roles, while Saskia Brewster and Millie Theobald minded the shop in front of stand-in goalkeeper Ella V.

Teddington would spend the first half facing into a strong wind whipping in off the Ember, but showed little trouble adapting to circumstance. In a taste of things to come, Emily had the first shot on target; soon after, she received the ball from Millie Mac and fed Sinead, who picked her spot but rolled it wide.

The template was set for the first quarter of the game: Teddington would regularly make chances then fail to take them. On occasion, this would be through inaccurate finishing, but mostly it was through determined Molesey action. According to this reporter's notes, in the first 23 minutes, the visitors fired in 11 notable shots, of which only two were off-target, two were cleared off the line and a startling seven were saved by the goalkeeper.

Again, such things might worry a lesser team, perhaps making them convinced that they are helpless hostages to fortune. Teddington tweaked – an injury break helped the management quietly divulge a tactical point or two to certain players – and continued to push, recognising their own ability to change events.

For all that, when the goal came, after 24 minutes, it wasn't a complicated affair: a somewhat rushed clearance out of the Teddington defence, onto which Amy ran, held off two defenders and confidently finished into the far corner.

A minute later, Doddsy almost set up Amy again, but Molesey broke and threatened to level – until Millie Mac brilliantly tracked back to break up the counter-attack, demonstrating the increased defensive diligence in the new formation. Even so, the visitors were relieved when a Molesey shot hit the post and was gratefully gathered by Jelly.

Soon after, the increasingly impatient stand-in goalkeeper was involved more productively. Dominating her area and collecting the ball, she passed to the left wing where Sinead beat her full-back and pulled back for Emily to calmly round the goalkeeper and left-foot home.

Teddington reached the turnaround two up and in control, and although the skies had cleared, they still had a fair wind at their back for the second half. Four or five chances came and went – including one for Molesey, well saved by Jelly – before the visitors extended their lead in the 42nd minute: lurking in the centre-forward position and anticipating a wind-hampered goal-kick, Emily duly collected the shortened clearance, advanced on the goalkeeper and left-footed home.

Four minutes later, 3-0 became 4-0 with more set-piece quick-thinking: a rapid Sinead throw allowed Doddsy to spin and fire in.

That allowed for a certain level of experimentation. After much badgering, Jelly was finally allowed to take off her gloves, swapping with Millie Mac (who would later make a couple of expert block-tackles in her own box – unorthodox, but effective). Ella Parkinson-Mearns had replaced Millie T in defence at half-time, but now Millie T came back on for Amy – with Emily going up front and Saskia pushing on into a midfield role she had readily expressed an interest in exploring.

Wonderfully calm on the ball, possessed of good vision and such two-footedness that she can almost absent-mindedly take penalties with either peg, Sas has the skillset to play further forward if need be, and this experience will have done her good. At one point, she almost scored…

She didn't, but Emily was certainly hoovering up the spoils. On 58 minutes she intercepted another goal-kick and finished left-footed for her hat-trick; four minutes later she calmly finished after Sinead dispossessed the right-back; then she intercepted another goal-kick, finished right-footed for her fifth and Teddington's seventh, and was immediately subbed for Amy. (Sitting on the touchline and asked how many she'd scored, she replied "Four" with more certainty than accuracy.)

And so Teddington march on to the Surrey Cup Semi-Final, at the end of the February half-term; they might also face a semi-final the previous week in the Capital Cup, should they overcome Denham in next month's quarter-final.

In the Surrey semi, they will come across Crystal Palace Blues – the South London side's second string, and more Division One opposition. Palace are no slouches, top of the league after 10 straight victories, and Teddington should take nothing for granted. They have worked hard to come this far and they are in the top division on merit; reaching a cup final might be a very good way to prove it.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ella V, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Carla Novakovic, Millie MacEacharn, Ella Dodd (1), Sinead Morris, Emily Coulson (5), Amy Hallett (1). Sub: Ella Parkinson-Mearns.

Sun 30 Nov: AFC Wimbledon 3-1 Teddington Athletic

A crisp morning on the cusp of December. A first trip to champions Wimbledon. How would second-placed new girls Teddington do?

The challengers lined up with Ella V in goal, with the usual defensive duo of Millie Theobald and Saskia Brewster protected by Carla Novakovic and Ella Dodd, not to mention wide girls Phoebe Head and Sinead Morris. Up top was Ale Fairn, with Emily Coulson dropping off as and when required.

Pre-match nerves were shaken off more easily than sleepiness. The first 10 minutes were very end to end, perhaps slightly shaded by Teddington, whose best chance came when Emily broke down the right, her cross hitting Doddsy in the face and falling to Sinead who nearly scored with Ale in close attendance.

Savvy as well as successful, Wimbledon played with high wingers to stretch the Teddington defence, and although Sinead and Phoebe diligently dug back in to assist their team-mates - nobody in this squad doesn't - it did tire the flying wingers eventually.

Wimbledon's first big chance came from a problem of Teddington's own making. On 13 minutes Millie T's foul throw in the right-back position turned over possession, and the home side quickly took their chance to hurl the ball forward to the big No.12 who found herself clean through with Jelly turning and retreating to the safety of her goalmouth. The stand-in keeper blocked both the shot and the rebound, but it was a let-off.

It didn't last. A minute later Wimbledon sent a long ball over the top for the same centre-forward who, with Jelly on her six-yard line, calmly placed it into the goal.

Teddington don't give up easily, though, and two minutes later almost equalised from a typically team-based build-up. Holding possession 30 yards out and probing for space, the visitors eventually worked it to Emily who played Phoebe in through the inside-right channel, but her goalbound shot was deflected onto the post and wide for a corner.

As is usually the case, Phoebe had looked very capable of breaking through the defence but she tired rapidly, plainly displaying the after-effects of a Saturday night sleepover. She was replaced on 25 minutes by Amy Hallett, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, who immediately dug back in on her old right-wing beat and had her most impressive game in weeks. (Saturday sleepovers have now been banned, or rather those who have them may not be considered for selection.)

Two minutes after entering the fray, Amy chased down and dispossessed the left-back, slipping the ball inside to Emily to dash through that inside-right channel, although neither Sinead nor Ale could reach the cross. Six minutes later, Sinead's left-wing throw 18 yards out found Doddsy, whose pass allowed Emily to fire just wide of the left-hand post.

Teddington ended the half strongly but goalless, and the break brought changes. Ella Parkinson-Mearns came on in defence for the slightly struggling Millie T, while Phoebe returned on the right with Amy switching up top in place of Ale.

The visitors threatened frequently in the first 10 minutes of the half. First, Sinead ghosted in at the far post but sliced a left-foot shot just wide. Then Emily cut in from the right, beat a couple and forced a left-foot shot wide. Then, as if to reassert pedigree, Wimbledon went up the other end and threatened. The game was opening up and another goal seemed inevitable.

It came, to wild celebration, for Teddington, vindicating their hard work off the ball. Penning Wimbledon into their right-back zone by hunting in packs, Amy, Emily and Sinead forced a turnover of possession; Sinead was strong enough to beat the No.10 with whom she'd had a running battle and smart enough to poke it into the far bottom corner. Sinead's sixth of the season, drawing her level with Phoebe as top scorer, was a well-earned reward for all her hard work over the last few weeks.

Cue the cliché of the week: a team is never more vulnerable than when it has just scored. Two minutes later, Wimbledon had the ball in the net but it was disallowed, almost certainly incorrectly as the cross had been pulled back: you can't be offside if you're behind the ball when it's passed. Cue a quiet explanatory word with the linesman, without whose volunteered help these games would not occur.

Within five minutes, a righteously indignant Wimbledon were back in the lead anyway, in the manner they demonstrate better than anybody else in the league: the big vertical to the front-runner. The ball was hoisted over the top, the big No.12 spun Saskia and ran into the gap beyond. Parky came across to cover but was beaten for brawn and as Jelly came out the striker simply nutmegged her. An unarguable goal.

Again, Teddington tried to respond. With the ball at her feet, Emily burst through but couldn't quite keep it under control and her shot wasn't strong enough to trouble Wimbledon's excellent goalkeeper.

With 15 minutes to go, the visitors played their final card, replacing the tiring Sinead with Millie MacEacharn, despite her protestations that she didn't want to play against the champions because they're too good. Within seconds she was one of three Teddington players breaking through on goal, and although she and Emily were both offside the linesman correctly didn't flag because the ball was instead with Amy, who was onside but unable to steer the ball goalwards.

Soon after, Teddington tried their own vertical, which almost succeeded spectacularly. With Wimbledon retreating to the edge of the box, the ball over the top was met with technical brilliance by Emily who volleyed, but the goalkeeper saved well again.

It could have been the equaliser, but now it's just a memory. Shortly after the hour, Wimbledon doubled their lead as Teddington again contributed to their own downfall. Taking a goal-kick, Jelly slipped in the mud; Parky had split wide to receive the ball rather than cover the middle in case of mishap; the Wimbledon striker simply received the ball and slapped it into the empty goal.

Even at 3-1 down, Teddington didn't give up, and late chances could have given them an unlikely point. Firstly, from a big Jelly clearance, Amy hit a volley that the keeper parried well, with the rebound falling for the reintroduced Sinead to hit a volley that the keeper parried well. A minute later, Emily burst through the inside-left channel and hit a goalbound shot which the goalkeeper pushed onto the post. There's a theme developing: good goalkeepers win games, and while Jelly is far from dodgy "in the middle of the woods", as the French call the position, her presence is also missed outfield in the big games.

Clearly Teddington are far from outclassed in this division; the warmly welcoming Fawwad (not Ahmed!) and his AFC Wimbledon colleagues are generous in their praise of the top-flight newcomers. The best teams operate on weaknesses and mistakes, eliminating their own and punishing their opponents'. Teddington are learning all the time and they left SW19 more experienced, more thoughtful and better players. That's all that matters.

TEDDINGTON Ella V; Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Phoebe Head, Carla Novoakovic, Ella Dodd, Sinead Morris (1), Emily Coulson, Ale Fairn. Subs Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Millie MacEacharn, Amy Hallett. Thanks to David Theobald for pigeon-posting the photos.

Sun 16 Nov: Colne Valley 0-4 Teddington Athletic (Capital Cup 2nd Round)

At just after midnight on the eve of this game, the management and various parents of Teddington Athletic players were at a 1970s party, grooving on down to Get Lucky and throwing semi-comic shapes on the improvised dancefloor. But you make your own luck in football, and the young girls on duty the next day, thrown into a new shape by that same management, were far from fortunate to win yet another game – and proceed to the quarter-final of their second cup in a fortnight.

Teddington's development has been a credit to the players and club, but progress is a process. With great challenges to come, in league and cup, the management wanted to try out a new system making subtly but importantly different positional demands on an already successful team. As usual, this exemplary bunch of players tried it willingly – and executed it encouragingly.

With Anna Kauffmann still hobbled, Ella V continued in goal behind a defence which reverted to the usual back two of Saskia Brewster and Millie Theobald. Ella Dodd and Carla Novakovic anchored the midfield behind Phoebe Head, Sinead Morris and Emily Coulson, while Ale Fairn returned to front-running duties; watching, waiting and learning on the sidelines were Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Millie MacEacharn and Amy Hallett.

The kick-off to this Capital Cup 2nd Round game was unusually late – perhaps a blessing for certain sore heads among the adults – but like their parents the night before, the team wasted no time getting into the swing of things. Within the first two minutes Phoebe had flown down the right and crossed in dangerously, and although Sinead couldn't connect the clearance went straight back to Phoebe who fired wide.

Up the other end, the season's first really muddy-goalmouthed pitch had been regarded warily in the warm-up by Jelly, although she showed no hesitation in flinging herself in with typical determination once battle commenced. That said, she didn't have too much to do herself as early Colne counter-pressure was mopped up by an impressively organised rearguard.

And on 10 minutes, Teddington turned defence to attack with a flowing move which typified their invention and team play. From a throw-in in their right-back area, a loose ball in midfield was won by Ella Dodd, making herself big using her instep to spray a calmly controlled pass out wide to Sinead. Turning inside her marker, the left-wing flyer unselfishly laid it back across the edge of the box to Ale, who herself controlled, turned her marker and laid it on again to Phoebe, popping up in the inside-right channel to lash it high past the goalkeeper.

Ten minutes later, scorer turned provider. Rescuing a Doddsy shot that was going wide, Phoebe crossed for Emily in the six-yard box to knock home a first-time shot for 2-0.

On 24 minutes, the same three players combined brilliantly again, Doddsy winning the ball in midfield and supplying Emily, who although facing the left wing knew that Phoebe was running down the right and excellently reversed the play to her. With Colne desperately scrambling across Phoebe fired the ball toward a terrifying trio (Emily, Ale, Sinead) waiting in the middle, but Em's shot was slightly too weak-ankled and drifted wide of the far post.

By now, this was the pattern: Teddington were controlling the game, if not quite ending it. When Jelly cleared a hopeful through-ball, Doddsy supplied Phoebe to again trouble the left-back but the resultant cross was over-politely passed around by Emily, Ale, Sinead and Doddsy, the queuing quartet strangely hesitant to shoot.

No such dilly-dallying with the clinching third goal, just before half-time. After some midfield pussyfooting Teddington hassled Colne into an error and Doddsy laid it wide right to Emily. Immediately faced with a left-back and covering centre-back, Em simply hit the byline and fizzed a cross back to the edge of the six-yard box, where an acrobatic Ale displayed her fleetness of foot and thought by adjusting in mid-air to volley home left-footed.

Half-time brought about changes: Parky for Saskia at the back, Millie Mac for Phoebe out wide and Amy for Ale up top. The tiny but mighty Amy almost scored twice in the opening two minutes, but it was another diminutive demon who quoshed any hopes of a Colne comeback with the fourth and final goal on 38 minutes.

Desperately repelling Amy and her cohorts, the home side had managed to clear the ball out of the congested area. There mopping up behind the midfield – as she had the whole game, with the tactical intelligence that makes her a joy to work with – was little Carla. With a box full of friends and foes, Carla bypassed the lot by lobbing the ball into the top corner; it was perhaps unfortunate for the goalkeeper, but if Carla got lucky, she had earned it.

The rest of the half was the Sinead show. Stationed on the left wing in the first half and thus right on top of the home fans, the ever-improving winger had incurred their wrath with her combination of gutsy battling and pacy dribbling. With Millie Mac replacing Phoebe at half-time, Sinead was switched to the right flank – meaning she stayed with those same spectators.

Some players might have wanted to hide on the opposite side, but not Sinead; if anything, she improved in the second half, at one point dribbling 60 yards up the touchline, chalk-booted, right in front of the spectators, with opponents floundering in her wake. And when she was substituted later in the half, to rest her up and give Phoebe another few minutes' run-out, she accepted it with a winning smile and a true team-player's commitment.

Being Sinead, she didn't just stay out on the wing either. Having tucked into central midfield when defending, she received the ball and powered out wide with it, dragging defenders with her. Stopping at the line, turning and beating a couple of players, she crossed to the near post for Carla to control and beat her defender. The goalkeeper saved but the rebound came to Doddsy, motoring ominously onto it at the edge of the box; with exemplary calmness and technique, she powerfully sidefooted it... just wide.

Against a team who just a fortnight earlier were only a few minutes from taking points off them in the league, Teddington were easily the better team and in no way flattered by 4-0 – if anything it could and should have been more. This young side continues to improve and can now look forward to quarter-final clashes in two different cups.

Next up in the Capital Cup, in mid-January, they host Denham United of the Hertfordshire League. Should they win that, they may face Charlton Athletic in the semi-final; the victors there might meet Tottenham Hotspur in the final. First, though, attention returns to the league, and a trip to champions and leaders AFC Wimbledon. It's shaping into an unforgettable season, all modern football and 70s dancing, flair and flares.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ella V, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster, Carla Novakovic (1), Ella Dodd, Phoebe Head (1), Emily Coulson (1), Sinead Morris, Ale Fairn (1). Subs Ella Parkinson-Mearns, Millie MacEacharn, Amy Hallett.