LSHC Ladies First v Cambridge City 4s

Played Away on 16th February 2019
Next Match
16th Feb 2019 Mens' 2nd - Away vs Alford and District 1s

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Lorraine Wallis profile

Position:
Goalkeeper
Favourite Food:
Italian
Lookalike:
Demi Moore
Appearances:
21
Goals:
0

Long Sutton travelled to Cambridge City on the back of last week's win but knowing that they remain in the relegation dog fight. A win against City would very much take them out of the relegation zone and land their opponents in it. This was not lost on City and upon arrival it was evident that this was a very different City side to the one that had travelled to Sutton earlier in the season and been comprehensively beaten.

The game started at a frantic pace with City attacking Sutton straight from the off but the defence of Burton, Sullivan, White and Cooper were in no mood to give anything away, however a foray into the D and cross along the goal line needed a smart save from Wallis to keep City out. Numerous short corners were won but the Sutton back line are finally sorting out their defensive duties at this set piece and nothing was given away. City continued to attack however and the possession that they had was reminiscent of Manchester City rather than Cambridge, however Sutton were not bothered about this statistic and the screens of Parr and the heavily strapped Walker were soaking up all the pressure. With the speed across the midfield of the Gittins twins and Amber Jones Sutton slowly began to work their way into the game and very nearly took the lead. A quick ball out of defence found its way to Baker who set off on a mazy run and very unselfishly threaded the ball sqaure to Connie Gittins. The City keeper made a smart save but Gittins was quickly onto the rebound and rounded the stranded keeper but a stick from a City defender took the ball agonisingly wide of the goal. A reminder to City though that they would not have the game all of their own way. Sutton were extremely glad that they had been afforded the luxury of a sub and Collingwood-Smith was being used to great effect from the side-line to allow Sutton players a breather. Another reminder of the difference between the two sides though City although a ladies 4th team had the luxury of 4 subs.

Half-time came and the game was still all square. A few of the more experienced members of the team wondered if Sutton would be able to keep up the pace of the game for another 35 mins, however these thoughts were kept to themselves and the team talk was buoyant. A few minutes in to the second half and those thoughts returned with City attacking immediately and again wining themselves a number of short corners but again the defence stood strong. Keeper Wallis was loving the new City Pitch and found herself on a number of occasions in the right place at the right time when City were peppering the goal. City were becoming increasingly frustrated and the game, on occasion threatened to boil over. With 5 and half minutes to go Connie Gittins was forced off with an injury having taken a stick to the knee. Sutton came together and reminded themselves that they did not want all of the hard work to come to nothing with so little time left. They needed to keep possession. City were throwing players forward in a last attempt to take all three points but Sutton kept their heads to see the game out for a draw that felt like a win.

Some of the other results in the league went Sutton's way, others didn't but Sutton can only concern themselves with how they play and if they can keep up the momentum of the last couple of weeks, they will at least give themselves a fighting chance of maintaining their Division 2 status.