Match Report
Match Report - 07 Dec 2008, Bracknell Town Ladies FC Bracknell Town Ladies beat Henley Ladies
This afternoon's game was delayed to allow some time to thaw out parts of a pitch that had been frozen. After some bizarre warming up in an attempt to thaw the pitch out, the referee decided that it was playable.
Both teams had to adapt from the hard to the very soft surface which made for an interesting spectacle for the supporters that turned up. Henley settled the quicker of the two sides as they hustled an unsettled their hosts. The opening exchanges saw Bracknell conjure up a well struck shot from Libby Suchley which was dealt with competently by the Henley keeper. On 20 minutes, Henley's hard work was rewarded when their right back pushed forward to play a good cross into the Robins penalty area. The ball was held up by a Henley striker who held off her marker and played the ball across the face of the six yard box for her strike partner to finish from close range.
The Robins struggled to find any real rythm, giving the ball away with alarming regularity. They did still manage to create a couple of opportunities however with Emma Constable firing in a shot from the edge of the box which was parried by Henley's keeper for a corner. The resulting corner found the head of Elly Maggs which produced another save.
Henley were quicker to the ball and won the majority of second possession. Despite the tremendous work rate of the visitors, they were unable to really test Cox in the Robins goal.
The second half saw the Robins make a change with Ali Pankhurst coming on to add some steel and organisation to the Bracknell Tn midfield. Within two minutes of the restart, an excellent one and two touch passing movement carved open Henley's stout defence concluding with a well placed strike by the tireless Emma Constable from the edge of the penalty area.
Five minutes later, the Robins took the lead through an Elly Maggs strike again the opportunity being created on the back of another excellent demonstration how to pass and move with accuracy and pace. Henley continued to work hard and set about trying to get back on level terms but their final ball was found wanting all too often.
Bracknell had several good chances to extend the lead further but had to wait until the 75th minute for the game that finally sealed the 3 pints. Libby Suchley's corner was met by the head of Emma Constable who directed the ball past the Henley keeper and the defenders on the line.
Clearly a game of contrasting halves for the home team played in difficult conditions but they got the result they deservedby virtue of their second half performance. Bracknell's next opponents will be MK Wanderers in the quarter final of the Berks and Bucks Cup at Larges Lane.
Bracknell Town Ladies FC Bracknell Town Ladies 3 - 1 Henley Ladies