The pitch was a little muddy, especially in the middle, but even there the ball bounced rather than splatted and rolled rather than stuck, so the experienced referee pronounced game on.
The home side already knew they would go into this crucial game without Emily Bashford, Anna Kauffmann and Sadie Day, and were further weakened by the late withdrawal of Millie Theobald through illness, while Ale Fairn’s cold had her barking like a Dobermann on Gitanes. Plucky as ever, she was willing to give it a go but with 12 girls available she was saved to the bench, albeit this week a theoretical bench – the usual folding chairs would have merely been puddles in this weather.
All this gave the management a puzzle to solve: 11 good players, without the correct balance to allow them all to play in their preferred position but with several players capable of slotting into different roles. After discussing four or five different XIs, the decision was made to continue with Amy Hallett at centre-back, shift Carla Novakovic to right-back, hand her central billet to Giulia Clini, move Emily Coulson to No.10 and play Millie MacEacharn wide on the left, where she so excelled last week.
For their part, Abbey only had 11 players and again started with a back three, although this would shift a couple of times during the game as the sides sniffed each other out and the coaches changed their plans.
Teddington had much the better of the first half. The first chance came in the first minute, Liz Kriebel dragging a shot just wide, and although Abbey hit back a couple of minutes later, Carla was quickly on the scene, covering behind her centre-backs and putting herself in where it hurts – especially when goalkeeper Ruby Rudkin arrived on the scene. Carla took a whack for her troubles but between them they got the ball clear.
Each side was somewhat hesitant, the sticky pitch and falling rain hampering fluidity, but just as last week against Fleet the home side settled better and ran the game. Both Ella Dodd and Ella Bothamley broke through – the latter collecting her own backheeled flick round the left-back – but shot a little too early to trouble the goalkeeper.
The visitors went down to 10 when the orchestrating centre-back went down, clutching a knee that was already heavily strapped. It is to Abbey’s credit that they fought valiantly with 10, never giving up in defence and always looking to profit in attack, under trying conditions against strong opposition.
Indeed, although Teddington dominated the first-half position they were restricted to long-range shots, notably just before the break when Doddsy did well to allow Emily a set-and-shot which cruised just over. The home side just needed to tighten up their attacks slightly, finding a better final ball to break through. Would the deciding factor be a moment of genius, a passage of teamwork or a slice of luck?
A half-time change certainly helped. It wasn’t so much the personnel (Ale replaced Macca, who had been central to much of Teddington’s play) as a slight switch of formation: Ale went up top alongside Doddsy, with the underemployed full-backs encouraged to help flood the midfield – Saskia Brewster particularly enjoying the opportunity to go forward.
If Teddington had dominated possession before the break, the switch suddenly helped them create chance after chance. With Doddsy creating space by drifting to the right, Giulia drove on to set up Emily for a fierce shot which rebounded for Doddsy to put just wide. Then Boz, mystifyingly underfed in the first half, steamed down the right to find Liz on the edge of the box for a shot just wide.
As Teddington penned Abbey in, they earned a hat-trick of corners in quick succession, and the third time was the charm. Boz’s dangerous 51st-minute flag-kick was cleared but only as far as Liz on the edge of the box, and her low shot deceived Abbey’s excellent goalkeeper Amy Gordon. She didn’t deserve that (and fought back impressively) but perhaps Teddington did: it’s worth noting that the goal was scored by a girl operating behind five others in the home side’s attacking formation.
Two minutes later, Teddington doubled their lead with a goalof outstanding quality. Back on patrol in deep midfield, her forehead stained with a bandana of mud, Liz battled to win the ball and released Boz down the right. Her gorgeous cross just about evaded Doddsy at the near post and Ale in the second six-yard box but fell beautifully for Emily at the back stick. In acres of space, Em was quickly told by her coaches to take a touch, which she promptly did – volleying brilliantly into the top corner.
Boz was now thoroughly enjoying herself, regularly terrorising a left-back who was beginning to get rather sick of the sight of her. Driving on from deep in her own half, Boz tricked past the defender, cut inside and unleashed a shot brilliantly parried by Amy Gordon, with Emily again slamming it goalwards but this time just over. Amy repeated the trick a moment later, saving Boz’s left-foot shot. But for the goalkeeper’s excellence, Abbey could have been on the end of a much worse scoreline.
The visitors had the odd threat: just before the hour they profited from a rare mix-up in the Teddington defence and Ruby was forced to shovel the shot wide. Abbey do love a corner, diligently arranging their players along the edge of the 18-yard box, but Teddington stuck to their jobs and cleared the danger.
As might be expected given the lack of substitutions and surfeit of weather, the game slowed a little toward in the fourth quarter. Boz continued to worry Abbey, going on one notable run in which she inexorably wriggled past three defenders before just about being halted by a fourth. Typically, she almost had the final word with one last run down the right finding Emily for another acrobatic volley, this one just over.
By then Millie Mac was back on, spending the last five minutes replacing the ailing Ale up front – another new role for an adaptable player. Even those players who haven’t switched are growing by finding new levels of performance; after battling through 80 physical minutes, Liz came off requesting a “header bonus”.
In such ways do Teddington grow, seeking constant improvement in tactics, technique and physicality. For the second game running players seamlessly filled unusual positions: special credit here to Amy Hallett, whose two games at centre-back have yielded two clean sheets. For the second game running Teddington switched from their standard shape mid-game to great effect, and they’re now bang in form, six games undefeated with five straight wins if you include the cup shootout at Fleet.
The next challenge is to keep it going with a trip to Crystal Palace. In a tripartite division, Teddington are a way off the two title-chasers but are firmly in a three-way battle for third place. By beating their rivals Fleet and Abbey they have gained the whip hand; now they must press onwards and treat every game with equal determination. Great things may be at hand for those who work for them.
TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC Ruby Rudkin, Carla Novakovic, Amy Hallett, Hannah Hutchison, Saskia Brewster, Liz Kriebel (1), Giulia Clini, Ella Bothamley, Emily Coulson (1), Millie MacEacharn, Ella Dodd. Sub: Ale Fairn. Thanks to Catherine for the photos; many more after the league table.
SECOND HALF
