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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