Sun 18 Oct: Teddington Athletic 8-1 South Park

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Teddington Athletic's first home game as an 11-a-side team, at their new base of the St Mary's campus on Broom Road, went along like many of their previous games: with pleasing parental help, footballing intelligence, a good mentality and plenty of goals.

The parents were rallying to the Tampa Tour cause, creating a makeshift refreshment stall selling bacon butties and the like to raise money for the Easter 2016 trip Stateside. The girls, meanwhile, were demonstrating their intelligence and mentality by overcoming some obstacles.

For starters, the previous week's ghosts need to be exorcised. A chastening defeat at Wimbledon had underlined the squad's need to pull together and work for each other, and circumstances for this game against South Park forced them to do so even more.

Teddington's squad is blessed with many good footballers, but not many defenders. In fact, if every girl honestly nominated her favoured position, there would probably only be three defenders – and all of them were absent. Saskia Brewster and Millie Theobald were on holiday, and with Ella Parkinson-Mearns still injured, replacements were needed.

Luckily, Ella Waldron – in the week she was deservedly named Best Female Footballer at the Teddington School Sports Awards – is more than capable of commanding the backline, as she has done on many occasions. To her left, Carla Novakovic has always cheerily pitched in wherever requested, including a couple of defensive stints. And on the right of the back three, Anna Kauffmann willingly took on a new role to continue a very impressive and welcome return to the team after illness problems last season.

Finding midfielders is rarely difficult. Amy Hallett continued her education as the defensive anchor behind Emily Coulson and Ella Dodd, with Phoebe Head and Millie MacEacharn wide. Up top, Ella Bothamley and Ale Fairn continued their burgeoning partnership, while Sadie Day and Sinead Morris were ready on the bench.

The only thing the team needed was a goalkeeper… and a minute before the 10am kick-off, in sprinted Ruby Rudkin, full of apology and determination.

And although Teddington had the better of the early exchanges, South Park had the first clear chance, through miscommunication at the back. Jelly tried to let a bouncing ball through to Ruby, but the goalkeeper wasn't as ready as the striker, who nipped in and was only stopped by Ruby bravely diving at her feet.

Any worries were eased by two quick Teddington goals before the tenth minute. First Phoebe sped through and, after initially seeming to take it too close to the goalkeeper, effortlessly clipped it over her. Two minutes later she doubled her tally with an instinctive left-foot finish at the back post from a corner.

Settling in, Teddington were playing lovely football. Ale dropped deep to pick out a clever 10-yard diagonal in front of Macca, whose superb whipped cross behind the back four was met by a solid Boz shot, well saved. Then Phoebe, Doddsy and Boz were all denied in a frantic 30-second period.

By the 12th minute Boz had the ball in the net, but to no avail. Emily had done well to win a falling ball in midfield, Doddsy and played through a clever ball for Phoebe to pull back for Boz – but after consultation with the linesman, the referee judged the latter two to have been marginally offside.

Still Teddington pressed, setting each other up with pleasing teamwork. After 21 minutes Phoebe won the ball 25 yards out, Boz skipped past the defender and cut through on goal but unselfishly squared for Ale to finish left-footed at the far post for 3-0.

On the half-hour three became four. Doddsy powered on from midfield through the inside-right channel and shot towards the far side – and when the goalkeeper parried the shot, Ale was again on hand to lash it high into the net.

South Park weren't lying down, and with two minutes left they broke through the lines – only for Jelly, Carla and Anna to swarm back and muscle the striker off the ball. Anna in particular was impressive at right-back, settling into her new role as if born for it, timing her tackles expertly despite the left-winger's speed.  

Even so, much of the defensive arts are about concentration and learning. Teddington didn't heed the warning and in injury time conceded a goal with virtually the last kick, despite all three defenders desperately trying to clear.

The half-time break brought changes which reflected the squad's depth rather than any deficiencies ion the departing. Sinead came on for the excellent Macca wide left, while on the other side Sadie replaced two-goal Ale – with Phoebe shifting into an experimental new central role behind Boz. New position, same result: two minutes in, Phoebe completed her hat-trick, coming in on the angle and expertly finding the far corner.

Ten minutes after the break, Phoebe again rampaged down the right, sent through by a clever little diagonal, but her cross couldn't quite be reached by Sinead. The enigmatic left-winger was slightly rusty, suffering from a lack of football, but would come to dominate the later stages of the game.

On 51 minutes, Sinead was set up by Doddsy powering through the inside-left channel, and although the winger's cross eluded Boz, Phoebe – bending her run round Boz to hit the far post – had more time to judge the flight and clip home first time for her fourth of the afternoon and her ninth of the season.

Boz was clearly gagging for a goal. Having bagged a brace on her debut at South Park, she had endured two games affected by a heavy cold and was looking to get back on the scoresheet. She got an assist of sorts on 57 minutes when her corner was unluckily deflected in for an own goal, but just after the hour she finally got her reward, calmly hammering home a chance cleverly created by Sinead's excellent cut inside and curled right-foot ball to feet.

By that time Phoebe and the diligent Amy had been replaced by Macca and Ale. The striker was again given a new role, as a No.10 playing off Boz, but still managed a couple of chances to complete her own hat-trick - sadly fluffed, although she pronounced herself happy with her day's work.

As might Teddington be. After the Wimbledon defeat they had got straight back on the horse, working well for each other in defence, midfield and attack, with a number of players impressing in new positions.

It is a pity that low squad numbers mean the next game is not for three weeks: the impending trip to Crystal Palace Reds has had to be forfeited because the holiday-ravaged visitors can't raise a team, while the following Sunday's Surrey Cup game with Kempton has been postponed for a week. It is the final time Teddington can request a postponement without forfeit in a season of great promise, if everyone works together on and off the field.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC: Ruby Rudkin, Anna Kauffmann, Ella Waldron, Carla Novakovic, Amy Hallett, Ella Dodd, Emily Coulson, Phoebe Head (4), Ella Bothamley (1), Millie MacEacharn, Ale Fairn (2). 1og.

Sun 11 Oct: AFC Wimbledon 5-0 Teddington Athletic

From Teddington Athletic's most impressive victory to its most depressing defeat. Last week's win at Maidenhead spoke of the team's determination and ability; seven days later, crashing to a record defeat at AFC Wimbledon exposed serious flaws in aptitude and attitude.

The Dons are the reigning champions and current leaders of the division. They are also the only league opponents Teddington have never beaten, winning each of the four previous meetings by a variety of margins from an initial 6-2 Surrey Cup win to more recent triumphs by the odd goal in five.

Even so, the visitors would hope to have given a better account of themselves than this. Two down within 15 minutes – the first a deflected own goal from an uncleared corner, the second a simple long ball bypassing a disorganised defence – they made a remarkable number of unforced errors, from conceding three foul throws within five minutes to conceding a slack third goal in the first 30 seconds of the second half.

More seriously, some of the players allowed their heads to drop. There are talented players within the Teddington squad, but some of the most blessed are in danger of finding that football is an unforgiving team sport. Ability is nothing without application, and what marks out the successful sportsperson is not as much talent as tenacity – not revelling in success but knuckling down in the rough times. On this occasion, some players may reflect that they let their team-mates down.

That's not to say that all players were disappointing. Ella Bothamley might have trudged off the field wondering why on earth she left Wimbledon for Teddington, but she had done the hard yards up front and was deeply unlucky to see a fine second-half strike hit the bar; worse, Wimbledon promptly hit a long ball up the other end and made it 4-0.

Ella Dodd, too, deserves credit for playing in a number of positions with equal valour. Starting in midfield, she dropped into the back-line to replace Ella Waldron and then switched up front after Ale Fairn had withdrawn ill. Also under the weather with a cold that had her barking like a dog, Ruby Rudkin gave a typically gritty performance behind a defence that frequently did too little to protect her – a point underlined late in the game when the hosts danced down the right touchline and ended the scoring all but unopposed.

Maybe Teddington have been naive in their switch to 11-a-side. Certainly a squad full of attacking talent is suffering from a relative lack of fit defenders. It may be that the formation has to change, although that may require more round pegs in square defensive holes. And while managerial lessons will be learnt and have already been earnestly discussed, the finest tactics and talent mean nothing without hard work on the field.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Millie Theobald, Ella Waldron, Saskia Brewster, Amy Hallett, Ella Dodd, Emily Coulson, Phoebe Head, Ella Bothamley, Sinead Morris, Ale Fairn. Subs: Carla Novakovic, Anna Kauffmann, Millie MacEacharn, Sadie Day.

Sun 4 Oct: Maidenhead Blue Sox 2-3 Teddington Athletic

Another season, another new opponent for the increasingly inaccurately-named Surrey League. Teddington (technically Middlesex) have already got dates in Kent (Crystal Palace) and Hampshire (Fleet); now, their itinerary takes in a trip to Berkshire.

Not that anyone’s complaining if it raises the quality of opponent and venue. Having won last season’s Berkshire County Girls League top flight without dropping a point, Maidenhead Blue Sox needed a new challenge; the Surrey League teams have certainly provided it, and Maidenhead have given almost as good as they’ve got in games against the division’s best sides.

Having lost their opener 3-2 at Cup winners Crystal Palace Reds, they went down 2-1 at home to champions AFC Wimbledon before losing a Cup thriller at Abbey Rangers by the odd goal in seven. Next up: last season’s other top-four finishers, Teddington.

Their results prove Maidenhead deserve a place in the division, and their venue was the best Teddington have yet visited. The National Sports Centre at Bisham Abbey was the senior England team’s default base until the creation of St George’s Park, and remains a thriving hub of sporting excellence.

Yet even here, there wasn’t a pitch (available) that fulfilled the FA’s suggested dimensions for U14 11-a-side – 90x55yds rather than 110x70, with goals 7x21ft rather than 8x24. Still, having checked via the goalkeepers’ drop-kicks that the blue-lined mini-pitch was too small, the managers mutually and rightly decided it would be better to play on the full-size pitch – the same scale as Wembley itself.

It was going to be a big task for a stretched squad. With Carla Novakovic away, Sadie Day busy and Ella Parkinson-Mearns still injured, it was a blow to discover that Ella Bothamley was struggling with a cold – but Boz had willingly trekked to take part and would give whatever she had.

Saskia Brewster was still feeling the effects of her own cold but replaced Carla and rejoined Millie Theobald alongside Ella Waldron in a defence protecting Ruby Rudkin. Emily Coulson came back into the engine room alongside Ella Dodd, and in front of Amy Hallett – playing in a new defensive-midfield role.

The front four were unchanged from the previous Sunday's 6-2 win at South Park, with Ale Farin ahead of last week's scorers – Millie MacEacharn, Pheobe Head and Boz, the latter preparing for a mid-match rest, what with a strong bench of Sinead Morris and Anna Kauffmann raring to join in.

Going into a slightly low autumnal sun in the first half, Teddington started on the back foot but soon started to dictate – despite curiously losing Doddsy to an ankle injury, the excellent quality of the pitch only serving as an ironic reminder of the capriciousness of such injuries. Macca dropped into the middle, with Sinead on as sub and straight at the opposition.

Teddington were also threatening on the other flank, where five-goal Pheebs was finding her feet. First she dug back into midfield to lay in a delicious ball which Boz pulled just wide, then Ale's high shot toward the corner was tipped wide.

The visitors were getting more of the ball largely through the work of the impressive Amy in breaking up the home attacks. Initially a striker, then a winger, later a central midfielder and now looking very promising in defensive midfield, Amy is able to adjust to different positions because she reads the game excellently, uses space intelligently, accepts suggestions willingly and applies herself diligently. It's a winning combination.

Recycling the ball well, Teddington were making forward strides. Threatening down the left, Sinead won a throw and sent Emily skipping down the touchline; her cross evaded Ale but reached Boz, only for the big centre-back to get across and tidy up.

Then Jelly came forward to receive a throw from Emily, laying it into box where Boz again lurked, although her wafted shot was fielded by the goalkeeper. A minute later up the other end, Ruby came out to field a lateral threat into her area, tackling and clearing with all the assurance of the outfielder she once was.

Despite the odd threat at the back, Teddington were closing in. Trapping a dropping ball on the forward edge of centre circle, Emily laid a beautiful controlled pass into the inside-right channel for Phoebe to chase, but again the goalkeeper could get to it and push it wide.

It was only a reprieve. On 24 minutes Sinead's harrying of the home defence paid off when a defender, backtracking under pressure and desperate to get to the ball ahead of the winger, could only divert a cross past her own goalkeeper.

Although happily bolstering a depleted defence, Jelly showed the completeness of her game in a few flowing seconds of excellent football. Emerging with the ball from a solid but fair block tackle which left her opponent floored, she strode forward and picked out a great diagonal for her friend Pheebs to chase – turning defence to attack in classic fashion.

As the first period wore to a close with weary players awaiting half-time, Boz trudged off to be replaced by Anna – but Maidenhead were ending the half the stronger team. Working it well down the left, they produced a shot which Sas was happy to block wide.

Then Teddington had to withstand three successive dangerous corners contested by that impressive and imposing centre-back, and although she did indeed receive the ball from one of them, the visiting defence stood up to block the way to goal.

To Maidenhead's despair, in the dying seconds Teddington doubled their lead with a goal of genuine quality. Rather than playing off Ale as Boz had, Anna was quickly settling into midfield – as they lined up for the second half, it was good to see the unchanged XI work out for themselves who was playing where in the slightly altered system – and the Danish girl played a crucial part in the second goal.

Dispossessing the opposition with a well-timed midfield tackle, she then had the ability and vision to play a beautifully-weighted diagonal daisy-cutter behind the left-back. Phoebe tore onto it, her cross cleared the goalkeeper and Ale rose well at the back post to volley in.


The second half started quietly, but 15 minutes into it Maidenhead served notice with a direct free-kick from five yards outside the area which Ruby did well to get both hands to. By now Macca was clearly suffering with a blister, so Boz volunteered to come back on as a midfielder – although it took five minutes to make the switch as the ball refused to go dead.

Indeed, on 54 minutes Maidenhead halved the deficit while Teddington struggled with substitutions. Having run herself into breathing difficulties, Anna quite correctly left the field – but with the ball again staying obstinately in play, Doddsy couldn't replace her and the home side cut through the decimated outfielders to score.

Despite the home side's vociferous support, Teddington were still creating chances. Phoebe almost picked out Ale, Emily connected with a cross but could only divert it wide, and when Pheebs rolled a corner back to Jelly, the captain's shot from distance hit the bar.

Next, Ale and Doddsy fed Phoebe whose chip over the goalkeeper arced toward the far corner but agonisingly cleared the bar. With Boz stiffening the midfield, Ale was cleverly orchestrating attacks from a deeper No.10 role – an interesting development for one of the few Teddington players who has only ever played one position.

That the visitors weren't taking their chances was distressing rather than disastrous – until Maidenhead equalised on the hour, their striker getting to a left-wing cross fractionally before Ruby, who was left floored by the accidental collision.

As she was tended to, the game hung in the balance: with 10 minutes left, Teddington could quite easily lose a game they had led by two goals. But during the impromptu team meeting as both sides took a well-deserved drinks break from their exertions on an adult-sized pitch, the visitors were given a simple message: carry on doing what you’re doing with the ball, and work harder for each other to get it back when Maidenhead have it.

It worked. Teddington noticeably stiffened their resolve, and five minutes later got their just deserts. Reaching Doddsy's super ball, Phoebe crossed from the right, and although Boz couldn't quite connect, Sinead – popping up between the posts, as each winger had been reminded to do when the attack comes down the other side – was on hand to finish confidently for her first of the season, her 40th for the club, and the winner in the best game this team has yet been involved in.

Maidenhead once again lost out by the odd goal to a very good team. Their very affable gaffer Pat need not worry: they will win many games this season, and not just against the division’s lesser teams. Another strong team, they are a very welcome arrival in an increasingly competitive Surrey League top flight.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Millie Theobald, Ella Waldron, Saskia Brewster, Amy Hallett, Ella Dodd, Emily Coulson, Phoebe Head, Ella Bothamley, Millie MacEacharn, Ale Fairn (1). Subs: Anna Kauffmann, Sinead Morris (1). +1og.

Sun 27 Sep: South Park 2-6 Teddington Athletic

After a fortnight's break, back on track with a win. Your reporter wasn't there but here's the information we have.

The team was hit by injury and withdrawal – particularly in a defence denuded of Ella Parkinson-Mearns (knee-knack) and Saskia Brewster (chest infection). With Sadie Day, Sinead Morris and Emily Coulson all unavailable for various reasons, numbers were down to a bare XI. Recruitment is ongoing, but for this game Teddington were going to have to do the best they could with the players available.

Thankfully, Teddington's management and coaching staff have long tried to make players comfortable in different positions. Ella Waldron dropped back into the centre of defence, flanked by Millie Theobald and Carla Novakovic; despite her barnstorming centre-forward play in the second half at Abbey Rangers, Ella Dodd willingly became the holding midfielder, assisted by Amy Hallett and Anna Kauffmann, while a familiar front three of Phoebe Head, Ale Fairn and Millie MacEacharn was supported from slightly deeper by debutant Ella Bothamley.

The team's fourth Ella took less than two minutes to mark her debut with a goal. After the timid display at Abbey Rangers, the girls had been encouraged to shoot more – and Boz brings a refreshing willingness to do just that. Whereas sometimes Teddington have been almost Arsenalesque in their preference for passing rather than shooting, the new girl – while not being greedy – is perfectly prepared to pull the trigger when she sees the whites of the goalposts.

Shaky defending let South Park equalise but Teddington soon nosed back in front – and through a most welcome source. Millie MacEacharn hadn't scored since the opening game of last season, will never be the loudest voice in the dressing room and is almost comically self-deprecating about her own abilities, but she will quietly get on with whatever job she is asked to do (left-back, central midfield, left wing). Such efforts reap rewards and it's a delight when team stalwarts like Macca get a goal – especially when it regains a lead Teddington would never subsequently relinquish.

The next two goals came from a more familiar scorer, albeit one with a perhaps surprisingly similar outlook to Macca. Phoebe Head's opening-day brace at Abbey had taken her back level with Emily Coulson atop Teddington's all-time goalscorers list, on 41 (for the record, Sinead Morris has 39); by the final whistle at South Park she had streaked clear thanks to a hat-trick. For all that, she remains a dedicated team-player, in her own way just as quiet (and occasionally as worried) as Macca. Teddington doesn't seem to breed big heads.

Phoebe's second made it 4-1 before lax defending made it 4-2 at half-time. The second half was quieter, with an increasingly confident Teddington keeping a clean sheet for goalkeeper Ruby Rudkin and extending their lead through Phoebe's hat-trick and Boz's second. Without a substitute between them, both sides also did well to last the full 70 minutes. Considering the circumstances, this was an impressive return to form for Teddington.

TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC: Ruby Rudkin; Millie Theobald, Ella Waldron, Carla Novakovic; Ella Dodd, Amy Hallett, Anna Kauffmann; Phoebe Head (3), Ella Bothamley (2), Millie MacEacharn (1); Ale Fairn. No subs.

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