This Sunday couldn't come quick enough. It was the big one in the Southern Region Division One North. A local derby between Penn & Tylers Green and Beaconsfield Town that would go a long way to deciding the outcome of the title. To add to that, the last game between the teams had been feisty to say the least. Beaconsfield edged a Combined Counties Cup game 2-1 at French School Meadow in a game that saw Penn's Nicole Jacobs dismissed for a lunge on Freya Harris that, thankfully, failed to connect. The previous league meeting, in October at Holloways Park, finished 1-1 with goals from Nicole Brown for The Rams and Tara Woodward for Penn (Undefeated).
Prior to kick-off Beaconsfield led the way at the top of the table with 44 points from 16 games played. Following today's game they still had to go to Abingdon and welcome Caversham to Holloways Park. There may also be another home game with Ascot United Reserves to come, after the game was postponed in early March.
Penn sat in fourth spot but, with their four games in hand, were still genuine title rivals. However, the outcome of this match was critical to them. Win it, and the other games in hand, and they could draw level with The Rams. Fail to win it and the opportunity was no longer in their own hands.
In the week leading up to the game Penn made two signings from nearby Wycombe Wanderers u23s. Ammara Qureshi and Daisy-Leigh Thompson, who had 35 appearances and 20 goals between them this season, came into the squad, with Thompson going straight into the starting eleven.
Prior to kick-off Beaconsfield led the way at the top of the table with 44 points from 16 games played. Following today's game they still had to go to Abingdon and welcome Caversham to Holloways Park. There may also be another home game with Ascot United Reserves to come, after the game was postponed in early March.
Penn sat in fourth spot but, with their four games in hand, were still genuine title rivals. However, the outcome of this match was critical to them. Win it, and the other games in hand, and they could draw level with The Rams. Fail to win it and the opportunity was no longer in their own hands.
In the week leading up to the game Penn made two signings from nearby Wycombe Wanderers u23s. Ammara Qureshi and Daisy-Leigh Thompson, who had 35 appearances and 20 goals between them this season, came into the squad, with Thompson going straight into the starting eleven.
Beaconsfield attacking from a corner With the onus firmly on the home side, it was little surprise that they came out of the traps quickly, immediately pushing Beaconsfield onto the back foot. No doubt the visitors had been told to keep it tight for the first 15 minutes, but they probably wouldn't have wanted to be pushed back quite as much so early on. Having said that, Lisa Phillips in the Rams goal, didn't have too much to do and with the pace that Beaconsfield possess, they could always pose a threat on the break. That was exactly the case after 15 minutes. Having soaked up a lot of pressure, they broke quickly and twice Lucy Casey came close to punishing Penn, the second of which was deflected wide for a corner. Katie Riddington then fired just over from outside the box after the corner was half-cleared.
Those efforts signalled something of a turning point in the half. Penn had been bossing possession but Beaconsfield were now beginning to get a foothold. Just past the halfway point Daisy-Leigh Thompson got a shot on target, but it was comfortable for Phillips. Then, on the half-hour mark, came a potential flashpoint when Freya Harris clattered Emma Gentle. A yellow card and a talking to for Harris as Gentle, after lengthy treatment, was thankfully able to continue.
The incident seemed to fire up the home side again. Almost immediately after the restart Phillips had to be at her best to get both hands on a corner, under great pressure from Rachael Harnby. Then, with six minutes remaining in the half, the home side hit their visitors on the break. The ball was played up the right before being delivered into the centre where Tara Woodward spotted the overlapping Ammara Qureshi, in a load of space on the left. The ball to the winger was perfect, allowing her to round the onrushing Phillips and slot into an empty net. 1-0. A great start to life at Penn for Qureshi who had only been on the pitch for a few minutes.
Beaconsfield responded by making three changes, one of which was the introduction of Sarah Davern into midfield. That proved to be a masterstroke because, four minutes after going behind, the Rams were awarded a free-kick some 20 yards out on the left corner of the penalty area. Davern took charge, smashing the ball high past Ivaldi into the top corner. A superb strike. 1-1.
Penn almost got their noses back in front directly from the restart when Amber Cattell go in on goal. However, Phillips was able to block and grab the ball at the second attempt, sending the sides in level at the break.
HT Penn & Tylers Green 1 Beaconsfield Town 1. Plenty of scores being settled out on the pitch, but the one that really counted was all-square. Thanks to referee Christopher Ball for sharing the Penn team sheet at half-time. Nice to have a chat with him about the first-half too. It hadn't been the easiest game to handle so far.
Those efforts signalled something of a turning point in the half. Penn had been bossing possession but Beaconsfield were now beginning to get a foothold. Just past the halfway point Daisy-Leigh Thompson got a shot on target, but it was comfortable for Phillips. Then, on the half-hour mark, came a potential flashpoint when Freya Harris clattered Emma Gentle. A yellow card and a talking to for Harris as Gentle, after lengthy treatment, was thankfully able to continue.
The incident seemed to fire up the home side again. Almost immediately after the restart Phillips had to be at her best to get both hands on a corner, under great pressure from Rachael Harnby. Then, with six minutes remaining in the half, the home side hit their visitors on the break. The ball was played up the right before being delivered into the centre where Tara Woodward spotted the overlapping Ammara Qureshi, in a load of space on the left. The ball to the winger was perfect, allowing her to round the onrushing Phillips and slot into an empty net. 1-0. A great start to life at Penn for Qureshi who had only been on the pitch for a few minutes.
Beaconsfield responded by making three changes, one of which was the introduction of Sarah Davern into midfield. That proved to be a masterstroke because, four minutes after going behind, the Rams were awarded a free-kick some 20 yards out on the left corner of the penalty area. Davern took charge, smashing the ball high past Ivaldi into the top corner. A superb strike. 1-1.
Penn almost got their noses back in front directly from the restart when Amber Cattell go in on goal. However, Phillips was able to block and grab the ball at the second attempt, sending the sides in level at the break.
HT Penn & Tylers Green 1 Beaconsfield Town 1. Plenty of scores being settled out on the pitch, but the one that really counted was all-square. Thanks to referee Christopher Ball for sharing the Penn team sheet at half-time. Nice to have a chat with him about the first-half too. It hadn't been the easiest game to handle so far.
Penn piling on pressure Whereas Penn had started the first half strongly, it was Beaconsfield who were quickest into their stride in the second period. Dominque Carrington got her head to an early corner but couldn't quite get the effort on target. The Lucy Casey fired just wide on 50 minutes before the same player almost managed to squeeze a near-post corner in, only being prevented by a good piece of goalkeeping from Francesca Ivaldi. A minute later Casey was again testing the keeper, this time turning her defender in the box before striking goalward. Ivaldi making a good block with her feet.
Just past the hour mark Freya Harris chased down a loose ball just inside the Penn penalty area. It looked as if she had just kept it from going for a goal-kick when she was barged in the back by Emma Helmer. The referee immediately blew and pointed to the spot, much to the ire of the home bench, who believed the incident took place outside the box. However, they needn't have worried. After consulting with his assistant, the referee changed the decision to goal-kick. Presumably the ball had already crossed the line before the foul. Something of a lucky escape for Penn.
With 19 minutes of normal time remaining the inevitable happened. Henna Hussain, signed by Beaconsfield from Penn earlier in the season, picked up the ball just inside the right-hand side of the penalty area. She cut back onto her left foot before curling an absolutely unstoppable shot into the opposite top corner. No chance for Ivaldi. 1-2
Penn now needed to score twice in the remaining time to keep their season alive. They pushed forward but couldn't find a way past a Beaconsfield defence marshalled brilliantly by Gemma Whitchurch. Their resistance was finally broken completely by the left foot of Dom Carrington, who latched onto a ball on the edge of the box before guiding a low drive into the bottom corner of Ivaldi's net. 1-3
FT Penn & Tylers Green 1 Beaconsfield Town 3. From a neutral's perspective, the worst thing about this result is that the teams may well not play each other next season and, I for one, would be happy to pay to watch them go head-to-head more often. There's clearly no love lost between the teams and no-one was pulling out of tackle in the entire game. In the end, three very classy strikes proved to be the difference. Whilst the title race is not mathematically over, it would take a spectacular collapse from Beaconsfield in their final three games, plus either Penn or Ascot winning every game (that also depends on the outcome of the postponed Beaconsfield v Ascot game from early March). Next weekend Beaconsfield take a rest whilst Penn are back at home as they welcome bottom side Caversham United.
Penn & Tylers Green: 1.Ivaldi, 3.Helmer, 18.Mackay, 4.Harnby, 6.Gentle, 25.Thompson, 5.Scott-Green, 7.Ludgate-Williams, 10.Cattell, 11.Lovelock, 17.Woodward. Subs: 12.Jacobs, 27.Bradley, 20.Qureshi, 9.Stopforth, 2.Brockwell
Beaconsfield Town: 1.Phillips(c), 2.R.Harris, 3.Kingston-Wheeler, 4.Hill, 5.Whitchurch, 6.Vittese, 7.F.Harris, 8.Riddington, 9.Casey, 10.Carter, 11.Hussain. Subs: Carrington, Thomson, Kingston, Davern, Smith
Ground Number: Re-visit
Att:
Entrance: £5.00
Programme: N/A
Just past the hour mark Freya Harris chased down a loose ball just inside the Penn penalty area. It looked as if she had just kept it from going for a goal-kick when she was barged in the back by Emma Helmer. The referee immediately blew and pointed to the spot, much to the ire of the home bench, who believed the incident took place outside the box. However, they needn't have worried. After consulting with his assistant, the referee changed the decision to goal-kick. Presumably the ball had already crossed the line before the foul. Something of a lucky escape for Penn.
With 19 minutes of normal time remaining the inevitable happened. Henna Hussain, signed by Beaconsfield from Penn earlier in the season, picked up the ball just inside the right-hand side of the penalty area. She cut back onto her left foot before curling an absolutely unstoppable shot into the opposite top corner. No chance for Ivaldi. 1-2
Penn now needed to score twice in the remaining time to keep their season alive. They pushed forward but couldn't find a way past a Beaconsfield defence marshalled brilliantly by Gemma Whitchurch. Their resistance was finally broken completely by the left foot of Dom Carrington, who latched onto a ball on the edge of the box before guiding a low drive into the bottom corner of Ivaldi's net. 1-3
FT Penn & Tylers Green 1 Beaconsfield Town 3. From a neutral's perspective, the worst thing about this result is that the teams may well not play each other next season and, I for one, would be happy to pay to watch them go head-to-head more often. There's clearly no love lost between the teams and no-one was pulling out of tackle in the entire game. In the end, three very classy strikes proved to be the difference. Whilst the title race is not mathematically over, it would take a spectacular collapse from Beaconsfield in their final three games, plus either Penn or Ascot winning every game (that also depends on the outcome of the postponed Beaconsfield v Ascot game from early March). Next weekend Beaconsfield take a rest whilst Penn are back at home as they welcome bottom side Caversham United.
Penn & Tylers Green: 1.Ivaldi, 3.Helmer, 18.Mackay, 4.Harnby, 6.Gentle, 25.Thompson, 5.Scott-Green, 7.Ludgate-Williams, 10.Cattell, 11.Lovelock, 17.Woodward. Subs: 12.Jacobs, 27.Bradley, 20.Qureshi, 9.Stopforth, 2.Brockwell
Beaconsfield Town: 1.Phillips(c), 2.R.Harris, 3.Kingston-Wheeler, 4.Hill, 5.Whitchurch, 6.Vittese, 7.F.Harris, 8.Riddington, 9.Casey, 10.Carter, 11.Hussain. Subs: Carrington, Thomson, Kingston, Davern, Smith
Ground Number: Re-visit
Att:
Entrance: £5.00
Programme: N/A
 Tara Woodward |  delivers a free-kick |
Beaconsfield looking for more goals
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