Points for Winchester L 1st XI as the game goes to the wire

Saturday saw Winchester take to the pitch for an away game against Maidenhead. With Winchester sitting bottom of the table with two points from 18 games and Maidenhead comfortably in 5th place, it looked like it should have been an open and shut case. 

With the scene set, no one was expecting Winchester to push forward right out of the gate, drive down the right side of the pitch with some lovely link up play and calmly slot the ball into the back of the Maidenhead net within the first 45 seconds!

The roar from the Winchester ladies told how much that meant to them and they kept the pressure on throughout the first half of the game holding the majority of the play and not giving Maidenhead more than a sniff of the ball. Although various chances were created throughout the half the Maidenhead goalkeeper was more than equal to them and at half time the score-line stood 1-0 Winchester.

Coming into the second half Maidenhead put the pressure on Winchester and broke down their play on more than one occasion leading to a few chances. A Maidenhead short corner led to a controversial appeal for a penalty stroke, but the umpire coolly managed the decision to decline. This motivated Maidenhead who played with even more intensity. They grabbed a goal after a tight passage of play down their right dropped the ball to their centre forward right in front of the left post who wasted no time lifting the ball past the Winchester keepers elbow bringing the score to 1-1.

The second tough call of the game came from a Maidenhead passage of play; with the umpire playing advantage on a late tackle from a Winchester player on the edge of the D,  Maidenhead failed to capitalise, and with the whistle then blown to bring the ball back for the offense, Maidenhead then popped the ball into the net – but too late – the whistle had blown. Maidenhead lost composure at this point and Winchester wasted no time capitalising on it. Some super possessional play led to Winchester forward Charlotte Gale creating something out of nothing, playing the ball across the goal to Ellie Davies to tap in on the post - leaving the Maidenhead keeper in the dust with only 5 minutes left on the clock.

Winchester pulled out all the stops and held their own against this tenacious Maidenhead side who were determined to salvage something of the game. In the dying seconds they won 2 short corners, both of which were cleared out solidly by Winchester keeper Shelley Mott to hold the score to 2-1 Winchester.

As the whistle blew there were tears in the eyes of the Winchester team as they celebrated the win, their first of the season, and a very well deserved 3 points.