Back down at human scale, there was a remodelling afoot for Teddington Athletic, too – and things were happening in trios. In their third XI-a-side season, the home side were switching to a third different 11-player formation; by the end of the game, the change would have helped them register their second and third goalscorers of the campaign, but also to concede three goals for the third successive game, each one lost to a heartbreakingly late strike after battling back to 2-2. Three isn’t always the magic number, but there was more than enough good news to balance the blues.
Another “three” – US singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III – notes that desperation is the father of invention. So it was for the Teddington Athletic management, balancing a squad which is far greater in quality than quantity. The 1pm kick-off caused the withdrawal of Amy Hallett and cast serious doubt on the usage of Emily Bashford, whose afternoon hockey trial threatened to curtail her involvement here. After being down to 12 last week – effectively 11.5, considering Frances Clark’s injured foot – Teddington were now down to the bare minimum and possibly below it.
Things weren’t helped by news on the morning of the match that captain Carla Novakovic was suffering a heavy cold. But the Novakovics are extraordinarily resilient folk, and the skipper is always determined to play.
And so the management settled on the deployment, rather earlier than they would have ideally wished, of a formation they’d been considering as an alternative: the 3-4-3 popularised last season by Chelsea and others.
This time, the switch was partly necessitated by push factors: with Amy absent, only Millie Theobald had any real experience of playing in the back line, while Carla’s illness suggested a less sprint-heavy role in defence. But it was also facilitated by pull factors created within this marvellous set of players, namely the adaptability of last week’s full-backs. Newcomers Frances and Jen Neves, midfielders for their previous teams, had demonstrated impressive defensive diligence in a back four, but since the summer the managerial feeling has been that their natural attacking inclinations might be better suited to the wing-back roles; meanwhile Bash, whose 40 minutes at full-back against Hampton suggested she had the confidence and intelligence to switch into defence, could bring her fearless physicality and searing pace to the back line. From the outset, Teddington’s players have been encouraged to excel in multiple positions, and they have almost always responded well to that opportunity for growth.
So it was that Millie T found herself flanked by willing learners in Bash and Carla. In front of them, Fran and Jen added width to the central couple of Liz Kriebel and Giulia Clini, the latter deployed deeper than her usual station but fulfilling her remit with no shortage of guile and guts.
Up at the sharp end, the added wide threat of the wingbacks gave Emily Coulson and Ella Bothamley the option of tucking in closer to Ella Dodd and the goalposts. No formation exists in isolation – it’s a game of two teams – and knowing that Maidenhead tend to play a back three meant that the visitors would be asked the question of whether to mark zonally or one-on-one, the matching formations making it a straight shootout between two fine teams.
And after a mutually tentative start, it was Teddington who made the early running. In the fifth minute, Doddsy hit the post: having hassled a back three well-marshalled by Zuri Mullings into relinquishing possession, she beat the goalkeeper all ends up with a shot from a tight angle but watched it smack off the back stick. The rebound fizzed towards Emily – quite correctly stationed between the posts – but the left-sider couldn’t quite twist herself to nod the ball home before the defender recovered.
A minute later, the goalkeeper took two attempts to gather an angled Boz daisycutter, and the two Ellas up top were starting to cause mayhem. Winning a ball she had to right to, Boz found Doddsy, who returned the favour with a clever angled flick but Boz shot just wide of the near post. Then when Doddsy sent Boz free to curl over a dangerous cross, Emily couldn’t quite get across her defender – a potential area for improvement for Em, who has done it plenty of times in the past but has gone a bit too polite of late – and although Giulia collected the half-clearance, her shot was too weak to trouble the goalkeeper.
Considering the girls had only been told 40 minutes before the game, they were taking to it like ducks to a cliché. The front three were creating chances because the four midfielders were working hard, while the back three communicated and co-ordinated. It took half of the first half for Maidenhead to spring the offside trap, and when they did they were rewarded by a five-part defensive masterclass from Bash which is worth examining in stages.
First, she refused to give the attacker an easy time: even if all else fails, defenders should never be less than awkward. Then she held her up, getting herself between attacker and goal. Then she pushed her out to the margins, from where goals are less likely to occur. When she spied her chance, she nipped in and dispossessed the forward – and then she sought to send the ball forward, and although her pass towards Fran was blocked, it was hit with such conviction that it was only deflected out for a Teddington throw. Here was a player with less than an hour’s experience in defence nevertheless displaying her footballing ability, and it was one of the finest ten-second periods of defending you could wish to see.
Still Teddington pressed. Liz sent a well-positioned free-kick over the bar, then Jen excellently intercepted a Maidenhead goal-kick and sent through a clever little pass that Doddsy couldn’t quite reach.
The front seven were displaying a pleasing fluidity. When Doddsy dropped deep to link the play, the two wide forwards drifted in and combined impressively: Boz’s little first-time flick round the corner with the outside of the boot sent Emily clean through, but she couldn’t muster the necessarily hammer to beat the goalkeeper.
It’s a sign of Teddington’s defensive resolution that it took until seconds before the half-hour for the first well-constructed attack – who, let it not be forgotten, last season won the cup and easily outperformed all the top-flight teams bar Wimbledon. The chance came from a free-kick midway inside the Teddington half (perhaps interestingly, on almost precisely the spot from which Hampton scored their first in the previous game); a few quickfire passes later, a right-wing cross was fired first-time just wide of the near post.
If it was a warning, Teddington didn’t take it. Maidenhead took the lead on 32 minutes through a ball over the top; Frances did well to dig back but couldn’t prevent the fleet-footed forward fizzing a rising shot just past Ruby Rudkin’s head.
Giulia almost equalised within a minute, with a subtle floating effort which looked very much like it was heading for the helpless goalkeeper’s top corner but didn’t quite dip enough. Usually a No.10, Giulia was impressive in a deeper role, especially considering she was heroically carrying on despite a leg injury which might have seen her substituted had Teddington had the option. Instead she saved her energy and legs a little by sitting deeper and letting Liz do more of the forward-ranging – as was proven a few minutes later when the American pulled a box-edge snapshot just wide of the near post after typically good holdup play from Doddsy.
In the last minute of the half Liz almost turned provider when her gorgeous left-wing corner somehow evaded a host of home heads in the six-yard box; Maidenhead’s clearance was collected by Jen, whose deep cross deceived the goalkeeper but arced just past Doddsy.
There was still time afore the oranges for Fran to execute one last burst down the left, dispossessing her opponent then turning her inside out before a cross that Doddsy couldn’t quite reset for the lurking Emily. It was a strong end to a good half, score notwithstanding.
And Teddington set about the second period in similar fashion, with good combination play down the left – Liz and Emily combining to feed the overlapping Fran, whose cutback reached Doddsy but unfortunately also tripped her up. Maidenhead responded with a through-ball to an unopposed forward whose fierce shot was repelled superbly by Ruby’s strong left arm.
That set the tone for a see-sawing half of mutual attacking intent, and fittingly it was Teddington who bagged first, five minutes in. Again, the ball was won in midfield by Jen, thoroughly enjoying the increased involvement. Her searching ball allowed Boz to outmuscle the defender and cross to Doddsy, who had the confidence to take a touch and turn to shoot – hard enough to go in despite Zuri’s desperate goal-line attempts.
Maidenhead replied with a couple of probing through balls, but Ruby was quick off her line to clear the first while Carla got back to snuff out the second. Fran’s threat down the left wasn’t quite matched by the final ball, and back came the visitors: Ruby was happy to watch one effort float wide of the far post, but a minute later she was a lot more worried about the unmarked girl at inside-right whose first-time effort smacked against the near upright. The goalkeeper was on the post and ready, but she’d have done well to stop a ball that was travelling at some speed.
Fifteen minutes after the break, the home side took the lead. A through-ball petering out just before the Maidenhead box presented Zuri and the goalkeeper with something of a communication problem, and the hasty clearance landed with Liz 35 or so yards out. This was the sort of chance that the American lives for, spending time before and after every training session shooting from distance, and she wasn’t to be rushed: calmly controlling the loose ball and advancing a crucial few yards, she casually clipped the ball over the retreating goalkeeper and into the net.
Wondering what might have been is tempting and intriguing but ultimately pointless. With Teddington pressing them less – a combination of game management and straightforward fatigue – Maidenhead started to pass the ball and find gaps. One cross-field move found an unmarked inside-right but she couldn’t control a snapshot which sailed high and wide.
The equaliser on the hour was much simpler, much to Teddington’s annoyance. From a left-wing corner, a runner wasn’t picked up – "My fault", Emily later admitted with as much commendable honesty as understandable ruefulness – and the excellent first-time shot flew past the helpless Ruby.
Three minutes later, Teddington’s mini-Mignolet stopped Maidenhead retaking the lead after a good move ended in an acrobatic shot and the sort of reaction save that prompts a mixture of gasps and applause from both sets of spectators.
If the tide was turning, Teddington rowed against it with 30 seconds of utter mayhem in the Maidenhead box. Jen again did well to send Boz down the flank, and the cross created all manner of chaos – Doddsy not quite applying the finish, the goalkeeper sprawling, Jen having an attempt cleared in the six-yard box.
With 10 to go Ruby pulled out another gasp-inducing save, instinctively pushing wide a 10-yard volley, but she was finally beaten again as Teddington entered what is rapidly becoming a dangerous zone: the last five minutes. Again, the chance came from a through-ball, but this time Ruby stayed on her line and the forward, coming in on a slight angle, was savvy enough to hammer it into the big gap past the goalkeeper’s right hand.
Maidenhead weren’t finished, but neither was Ruby. As Teddington pushed on and left gaps, she tipped a strong last-minute shot over the bar, and although she was as much as spectator as the rest of us when the visitors hit the post from an injury-time corner, a two-goal difference would have slightly flattered Maidenhead and would certainly be unjust deserts for Teddington.
The girls worked their socks off for each other, with those in new positions displaying an impressive understanding of their redeployment. There’s no doubt that the team tired toward the end, understandably, and a deeper squad will help by offering revivifying substitutes of similar quality.
Some absences are unavoidable for girls with hectic extracurricular schedules, but there is certainly a conversation to be had about commitment, because there’s only so often the players and management can shuffle the pack into a playable hand.
Indeed, Teddington have already been forced to postpone the scheduled game at Fleet on October 15th, for which only nine girls were available; the team is only allowed to reschedule one more game this season (with 27 days’ notice) before such postponements default to forfeits. For each of the next seven weekends, at least one girl will be unavailable, leaving Teddington scrambling across to cover the gaps: as has been shown, you can’t do that forever.
Help is arriving: experienced defender Sarah Dillamore is available for the next game after missing the first two, and potential additions are being investigated. Every process of reconstruction involves a little destruction, but it’s time for Teddington to build again.
TEDDINGTON ATHLETIC: Ruby Rudkin, Carla Novakovic, Millie Theobald, Emily Bashford, Jen Neves, Giulia Clini, Liz Kriebel (1), Frances Clark, Ella Bothamley, Ella Dodd (1), Emily Coulson.
Thanks to Catherine for pics; more after the table.
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