Leek ladies 1sts 4-0 Telford Ladies 1sts
LEEK Ladies firsts went into this match following a good run of form, and were able to keep the pressure on the other teams at the top of the table with a comfortable win.
And the home team certainly showed their intent when Hazel Meredith swept the ball neatly into the back of the net after only 30 seconds, following a sweet pass into the penalty spot from Katie James.
It took only five more minutes for Leek to increase their lead.
An attempted arial from Meredith in midfield, didn’t quite find its intended flight path, but was picked up by James nevertheless.
James drove down the left wing, beating severeal defenders, and outwitted the keeper to slot home neatly for Leek’s second.
Leek started the second half in similar fasion to the first, scoring just one minute in.
Lauren Fern, who ran the flanks well all game, slipped the ball in from the right to Meredith, who placed it into the bottom right corner of the Telford goal.
The final goal came 15 minutes from the end, when Leek’s pressure was rewarded with a short corner.
In a slight variation to a well rehearsed short corner routine, James dragged the ball out to Laura Askew at top D, who sliped it right to Nic Sutton, then on to Meredith.
Meredith finished in her usual fashion, driving the ball through the visiting keeper and into the back of the net.
In a game which saw players from both sides in the sin bin, Leek dominated for large portions of the game, and the win was well fought and well deserved.
The final score of 4-0 to the home side ensures that Leek stay in contention for a top two finish this season.
Burton Ladies 1sts 1-2 Leek ladies 1sts
SUNDAY saw Leek ladies firsts pick up a great win against league winners Burton.
With three games left, Burton have already won the league, without losing a game up until this point.
Burton started to apply pressure to the Leek defence from the start, but Hopper, Sutton and Wall stood strong and thwarted any attempts.
Leek soon picked up on Burton’s game play, stopping the long ball shots from the 25.
Cordon did a fine job of blocking out the long ball crosses and protected the defence with some timely tackles.
Burton had a number of short corners but shot stopper expert Fergusson was on hand to tempt the ball off the back line.
From defence, Leek built their game play and started to pass the ball with confidence and precision, and after Katie James made an outstanding run through the middle, she found Hazel Meredith far left, who slipped the ball to newcomer Deaville to win a short corner.
Askew sprung a surprise slip left to Sutton, who calmly slotted the ball past the keeper.
Leek entered the second half with the same tempo, defending with a calm and collected manner.
Askew put a tackle in after the striker performed an air shot and the short was given against her, Burton converted this despite Ferguson’s best efforts.
Leek started to apply to the attack again and a short corner was once again converted, raising the percentage conversion.
The ball was pushed out by Deaville at pace, Askew attacked the ball and punched it towards the keeper, where Meredith stole the ball form the keeper’s pads, dragged it back and fired home the winner.
Leek played out the game keeping hold of the ball, using possession as a weapon against Burton.