Match Report

Hoddesdon Town Owls Ladies 4 St Ives Town 5

Eastern Region Women’s Football League – League Cup 2nd Round – 28/10/18

St Ives travelled to Hoddesdon on Sunday for this league cup 2nd round tie, and emerged as 5-4 winners in a thrilling encounter.

The league game between these two sides just a few weeks ago ended 0-0, but this game started with both sides determined to attack as much as possible and it soon became clear that this tie was very unlikely to be goalless for long. Hoddesdon took the lead after just 8 minutes before Tierney Coulson equalised with a fantastic effort from the edge of the box. Both sides continued to attack freely, while both defences came under pressure frequently and keepers were put to the test. Ives took the lead when Tierney Coulson doubled her tally with a neat header from close range from an accurate Sasha Smith free kick before Hoddesdon levelled again with a long range free kick. With virtually the last kick of the first half, Hoddesdon took the lead again in this pulsating game. Ives defender Ellie Brown unfortunately suffered a dislocated jaw in the process of trying to defend the ball, and was taken to hospital. Everyone at St Ives Town wishes Ellie a speedy recovery.

The Ives players all spoke of trying to win the game for Ellie at half time, but found themselves 4-2 down as the hosts extended their lead after just a couple of minutes of the second half with a well worked goal. Determined not to be beaten without a fight, St Ives continued to attack the hosts goal and gave themselves hope mid way through the second half with another Tierney Coulson goal, this time a powerful shot into the top corner. With just 10 minutes to go, a hand ball gave Ives a chance to level up the game. Georgia Stancombe showed no signs of pressure when she confidently put the ball into the net to make the score 4-4. With just 1 minute left on the clock, and the game looking certain to go to extra time, Sophie Marjoram pressured the home defence into a mistake before the ball was fed in to Tierney Coulson who made no mistake as she smashed the ball into the roof of the net to win the game for the Saints. A win for Ives looked very unlikely just after half time, but huge credit to the players for continuing to believe and come back from 4-2 down to win the game 5-4 and progress to the 3rd round. Player of the Match was Tierney Coulson, who scored 4 terrific goals and put in a brilliant all round performance. As the whole team said after the game, this win was for Ellie!

Match report by Darren Marjoram