On a heavy pitch on which snow shoes might have been more appropriate footwear than football boots, Herne Bay kept alive their hopes of a top three finish with this narrow victory in the Kent derby.
“Heavy conditions, I walked out there before the game started, I’m not saying it wasn’t playable but it didn’t really suit our game”, said Herne Bay Ladies manager Anthony Deer, “we had to go a little bit more direct today, we found it tough”.
Tough indeed it was, although Aylesford initially dealt with the conditions better and took an early lead with an unstoppable 25 yard rocket from Laura Brown that rocked Herne Bay. But the visitors dug deep, having to forsake their normal passing game on a claggy stamina sapping pitch, and were indebted to two clinical finishes from two different players both scoring their first goals for the club. Even with those two goals in the bag, stalwart ‘keeper, Sarah Cooper had to pull of two blocking saves to preserve the destiny of all three points.
Rebecca Longley stabbed home the equaliser in the 12th minute after Aylesford had been penalised for a back pass on the right side of their own six yard box. It was her debut goal having signed earlier in the season and was greeted with much celebration and not a little relief. Bay might have added to that but for Amber Guyatt’s shot on the half hour mark ballooning over the bar and Nicola Morris’ shot inching past Ingram’s right hand post.
After the break, enter substitute Mollie Proctor, and with only her second forward run on goal, she was slipped in by Nicola Morris and powered the ball home from just inside the box. Like Longley’s it was a debut goal. Aylesford piled on the pressure looking for an equaliser. Chelsea Wallace, the ex-Gill who had been a target for signing earlier in the season by Anthony Deer, caused more than a few concerns down the left flank as Bay were often punished for losing the ball trying to play football rather than kicking for distance, a method almost mandatory on such a surface.
“It’s always nice to see new names on the scoresheet”, said Deer in praise of Longley and Proctor, “the pitch suited Aylesford more than it did us, we worked hard, we grafted and got the points. We’ve got eight weeks now before our cup final and we’ve got to prepare for that, use these games for that, and we can finish second or third in the league if we put our mind to it”.
Aylesford Ladies: Abbey Ingam, Laurel Collins, Chelsea Wallace, Rebecca Barr, Filipa Fernandes, Alison Draper, Alex Witham, Sophie Hayes, Laura Brown. Claire Williams, Zara Chapman.
Subs (roll on / roll off): none
Herne Bay: Sarah Cooper, Rebecca Longley, Nicola Morris, Bethany Nugent, Debbie Blackmore, Kate Foster, Carly Farrow, Harriett Chapman, Amber Guyatt, Alex Roy, Rachel Tracy.
Subs (roll on / roll off): Mollie Proctor
Referee: Chris Spalding
Player of the Match: Rebecca Longley (Herne Bay)
Aylesford Ladies (1) 1
Laura Brown 3
Herne Bay Ladies (1) 2
Rebecca Longley 12
Mollie Proctor 61
London & South East Regional Women’s Football League
Sunday 31st January 2016
at Aylesford Rec
Photo credit Peter Guise: Rebecca Longley celebrates Bay’s equaliser, her first goal for the club.