Match Report
Match Report - 12 Oct 2008, Bracknell Town Ladies FC Bracknell Town Ladies beat Chippenham Town LFC
On a very warm afternoon the Robins added to the discomfort of their plucky visitors by killing the game as a contest in the first 45 minutes. The Robins signalled their intent with Patterson, Whittaker and Pankhurst all getting their shots off early before finding their range.
Patterson broke the deadlock on 10 minutes with a trademark strike from outside the 18 yard box. This was the icing on the cake that the hard work of Angie Barton, skipper for the day in Libby Suchley's absence, after she had dispossessed her opponent inside the defensive half and broke forward. Her pass found Emma Constable who in turn set Patterson up for the strike.
It took a further 3 minutes for the lead to be extended when Elly Maggs was fouled in the attacking third. Pankhurst decided to test the Chippenham keeper and struck the ball firmly high to the keepers left. She was unable to hold onto the ball and Maggs was on hand to stab the ball home.
The occasional break from Chippenham threatened to upset the home side as their combative striker forged a lone path towards goal. When the Robins defensive unit was breached the dominating presence of Cox in goal came to the rescue.
The third goal arrived on the half hour when a cross from the lively Whittaker found Maggs in the box. Maggs controlled with one touch and fired home with her second to give the hosts a comfortable lead.
The second half was a less fast paced affair as the heat and the fact that the game was all but won affected both sets of players. Chippenham relied on the odd breakaway only to find either the commanding presence of Barton, Boyle and Campbell in the way or the additional cover provided by the alert Cox who maintained her concentration throughout despite large periods of inactivity. The Robins at times, lacked patience in their build up play and as a consequence conceded possession. The hard work was done time and again as they sought to regain possession from a tiring Chippenham team. However, on the occasions where they breached the Chippenham defence, goal scoring opportunties came and went as several players came close to adding to the scoreline. The closest was from Constable who connected at the near post area from a corner, the ball narrowly missing the angle of crossbar and post.
The Robins continued to work hard but too often their desire to add to the goal tally resulted in rushed attempts at goal when perhaps a bit more time could have been taken to be sure of hitting the target.
In the 85th minute, the hard working Turner found herself in possession on the edge of the penalty area in a one on one situation. She was clearly determined to try and carve out the goal scoring opportunity she craved as she ran aggressively at her defender who could only manage to commit a foul and thus concede the inevitable penalty. This was the opportunity for Elly Maggs, who has worked hard to recover from a long term knee problem, to claim her first hat trick of the season in her newly adopted role of striker. Maggs placed the ball and walked calmly back as she prepared to take the resulting spot kick. She ran with purpose and with sound presence of mind disguised her intentions as she sent the keepr the wrong way and fired the ball into the right hand side of the goal.
Another good result as the Robins march forward into the next round of this prestigious competition with room to spare.
Bracknell Town Ladies FC Bracknell Town Ladies 4 - 0 Chippenham Town LFC