The only change from the previous game was up top, where Ella Dodd replaced Ale Fairn. So goalkeeper Ruby Rudkin started behind a back four of Anna Kauffmann, Ella Waldron, Millie Theobald and Saskia Brewster protected by Amy Hallett, while Emily Coulson and Liz Kriebel patrolled midfield between Ella Bothamley on the right and Phoebe Head on the left. A strong bench of Ale, Emily Bashford, Carla Novakovic, Millie MacEacharn and Sadie Day would all be called into action.
The hosts rustled the net in the second minute from an offside position, but the officials couldn’t save the visitors soon after when the Dons’ first corner produced a goal. As hasn’t always happened, Teddington managed to repel the initial cross but the clearance fell to an unmarked player on the edge of the box who drove low under Ruby.
Teddington shuffled their pack, with Boz and Doddsy rotated for Ale and the increasingly impressive Sadie, who showed some confident touches in what turned out to be a 10-minute cameo cut short by a knock to the hip. She was covered by the solid Macca on the right, and by then Bash was terrifying Wimbledon from the left.
Within a minute of her entrance Bash had torn through the defence but lacked the support needed to finish the chance she’d created – and just before the break she burst through again, but neither she nor the willingly-supporting Ale could convert the chance.
That turned out to be Ale’s last input, her day cut short at the half by a foot injury. She was replaced by Doddsy, while the ill Anna was replaced at right-back by Carla.
Not for the first time, Teddington conceded again from a corner, this one nodded over the line from a yard. Having given themselves a mountain to climb, the visitors picked up their icepicks and crampons and set off: Bash shot just wide of the post, then Doddsy knocked on a falling through-ball with the outside of her right heel before running on to her own flick and firing just wide from the edge of the area.
So it was no real surprise when Teddington reduced the arrears after 11 minutes of the second period. Pushing forward from midfield, Emily laid a great ball to Liz, who used her strength to create space in the inside-right channel, used her guile to cut in our her left foot and used her ability to shoot from the edge of the box, with the goalkeeper only able to parry it into the roof of the net.
Still Teddington came. When Emily couldn’t find space for a shot the ball was recycled through Amy to Doddsy whose shot from the edge was well saved; clearly troubling the Dons defence, the big striker then burst on to a Jelly throw, and with Em and Boz in support she had the confidence to shoot herself – just wide of the far post.
That confidence was well-placed. The very next minute, Doddsy timed her run through the inside-right channel perfectly, latching on to a Jelly through-ball and powering it into the near top corner from the edge of the box.
Teddington had been well on top for 20 minutes, and with 16 minutes to go they scented a first-ever victory over Wimbledon – the only team they’ve played more than once without beating. Sadly, they lost concentration and immediately conceded to an old story: the ball over the top falling into the gap between defence and goalkeeper, gleefully finished by a nippy attacker. Within 30 seconds of the restart Boz was sent through by the same means, but the Wimbledon goalkeeper was rapidly off her line and alert enough to snuffle out the danger.
While continuing to seek improvement, Teddington will always look to play the game the right way. It was almost their undoing when a passing move out of defence was intercepted, but Ruby did well to save the high shot. And with Phoebe back on the pitch, there was a late flurry of chances. First Pheebs received an excellent Amy through-ball but dragged her shot just wide of the near post. Then there followed an exhilarating minute in which Phoebe burst down the left and saw a shot parried, her cross from the rebound just evaded Boz, Carla recycled the Dons’ clearance to Jelly who powered through but Emily was controversially flagged offside.
The only remaining incident of note was an entirely accidental bust nose for Millie, borne with stoical determination and a comical amount of passing up the conk. This season has been anything but a slap in the face for Teddington. True, they finished a place lower than last year; credit for that must go to the welcome newcomers Maidenhead, who have made the division more challenging while remaining thoroughly pleasant on a personal level.
Despite the positional slip, Teddington’s first 11-a-side season wasn’t a regression. The Tampa tour which dominated the agenda for so long, taking an enormous amount of effort and money from helpers too numerous to mention here, will prove to be an enormous aid to the girls’ personal and football development: gaining a new earnestness and interest in self-improvement, they have thrown themselves into multiple training sessions with a genuine desire to improve and enjoy their game. And what could be better than that?
TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC (4-1-4-1): Ruby Rudkin; Anna Kauffmann, Ella Waldron, Millie Theobald, Saskia Brewster; Amy Hallett; Ella Bothamley, Emily Coulson, Liz Kriebel (1), Phoebe Head; Ella Dodd (1). Subs: Ale Fairn, Emily Bashford, Sadie Day, Millie MacEacharn, Carla Novakovic.
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