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.
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