Buckland Athletic WFC

Report

Picture (c) Dave Roach

With another long away day, departing the same time as they had the week before, this was always going to be another tough challenge for Buckland as they travelled to a Southampton Saints side who had had an up and down start to the season.

We wanted to carry on from where we left off last week and get another three points on the board away from home and the ladies duly delivered on what again can only be described as a really nice surface to play football on.

After a slow start to the game, with Southampton having a few half chances, we really started to open up and with 20 minutes left of the first half it was one way traffic. Sarah Stacey was denied a goal for offside, which was dubious to say the least, and a few times we just fluffed our lines In front of goal or it didn’t quite happen for us in the final third.

Southampton couldn’t wait for the half time whistle as it really was a matter of minutes before we were going to break through. However, both teams managed to get to the half time break unscathed.

HT: Southampton Saints 0 – 0 Buckland Athletic

We re-grouped, had a chat about a few things, and went out and executed the plan superbly, playing on the front foot and putting pressure high up the pitch. After a few minutes of pressure, we finally got the breakthrough when the second phase of the corner got put back into the box by Laura Gough with Stacey on hand to nod home into an empty net 0-1.

Then, within a minute, we regained possession. Gough picked up the ball from 35 yards and half volleyed sublimely over the goalkeeper into the back of the net to really stamp our mark on the game at 0-2.

From there onwards, we really set the tone and dictated the game and the tempo, the Southampton goalkeeper making three or four fine stops to keep the score at 2-0. We completed another long away day by taking another three points back to Devon.

FT: Southampton Saints 0 – 2 Buckland Athletic

To summarise, this was a really tough game. Southampton made it hard to start with and played some very nice football. However, once we got to grips with the situation we were fine. My two centre halves were outstanding, along with my goalkeeper, and they dealt with all the threats. It was a super three points to get and keeps us at the right end of the table going into the Christmas period.