MATCH REPORT

The weather was awful but the spirit in the Ladies 2's camp was buoyant going into this game on the back of two great wins. With a great squad, they definitely felt that they would be able to get something from the game. They took to the field and quickly realised that the St Ives outfit was strong and they would definitely have their work cut out. St Ives started on the attack and the back four of Julie Warby, Claire Sisson, Sarah Skate with George Synott just in front were working hard to keep them at bay. St Ives won a couple of short corners that were defended well, with young keeper Ellie Sandall organising her defence with maturity. It wasn't long though before St Ives breached the Sutton goal to go 1 nil up following some scrappy play. This Sutton team have grown immensely since the start of the season and the goal seemed to bring them to live. The midfield of Katie Whittaker, Penny Perowne and Lillie Tegerdine working well with each other to retain possession and find the forward pass to Aimee Betts, Annabelle Giles and Alison Whittaker. Following the first substitution, Sutton managed to turn defence into attack with a searching ball finding Annabelle Giles who sprinted past the St Ives defence before slipping the ball to Aimee Betts to finish with aplomb. 1 all! Game on ! Sutton continued to defend hard with Holly Murdoch helping the cause and the half ended with the game all square.

The half time team talk was of keeping their shape and trying to use the width to prevent going down the middle where St Ives were strong and the game restarted. St Ives went in front early in the second half with a well worked short corner and this was followed up in quick succession by a further two scrappy goals leaving Sutton 4-1 down. Sutton, however continued the fight and kept the score down with Sarah Skate excelling in defence and keeper, Ellie, making a number of good saves and clearances. Following a collision in the centre circle, an injury to a St Ives player saw Sutton stop play, but the whistle did not go and St Ives took the opportunity to score a further goal which gave the score-line a gloss which did not reflect the effort and commitment given by Sutton in this final game before the Christmas Break.

So disappointed with the result, but Sutton can be proud of their efforts in this game and in the first half of the season. This team is growing together and scoring some great goals and they find themselves in a good position in the table to push on after the Christmas break. Not surprisingly the player of the match votes were shared mainly around the defenders and keeper, with Katie Whittaker deservedly picking up a number of votes, but the player of the match, this week, went to Sarah Skate who gave absolutely everything and showed her versatility by playing a number of roles on the pitch.

Rest up, have a great Christmas, but WE WILL BE BACK!