Good win for the Ross Strikers
Ross Town Strikers 7 Droitwich Spa Ladies 1 Ross Strikers played Droitwich Spa Ladies in a Soccersite League Cup Match on Sunday afternoon. Ross had previously played Droitwich twice this season, in the League and in the Hospital Cup, and won on both occasions by the odd goal. The Strikers, looking resplendent in their new kit of red and white shirts with black shorts and socks, took only 3 minutes to take the lead when Lauren Allcoat of Droitwich made a last ditch tackle on Kath Ball but only to see the ball trickle past the hapless keeper and into the net. However Droitwich were undaunted by this reversal and equalised directly from the re start with a good shot from just inside the Ross penalty area. On 12 minutes Ross retained their advantage when Kate Bolton the Ross outside right ran at the Droitwich defence, beat two players and scored with a fine individual effort. Again Droitwich came back at Ross from the re start but were unlucky when a fine shot from outside the area hit the bar. Ross then began to get into their stride with Terri Thomas back after injury dominant in defence. It was another unfortunate own goal though which enabled Ross to extend their lead. Kate Bolton hit a cross shot which Lauren Allcoat tried to clear from the waiting Ross strikers but diverted unluckily into her own net. This was doubly unlucky for Lauren especially as she was probably the best Droitwich player on the day. On 25 minutes the Ross midfielder Cerys Pike drove the ball through a gap in the Spa defence to Kath Ball who then beat the keeper with a low hard shot. Kath has scored in every match this season bar one in which Ross only had seven players and on 30 minutes she scored her second of the match after good work by Demi Clay. Terri Thomas made some fine runs out of defence, sometimes beating six or seven defenders. She was unlucky on 38 minutes when after such a run she unleashed a shot from 30 metres but the ball smacked against the bar. The second half did not live up to the excitement of the first as Ross had a commanding lead of 5 – 1 and were in total control. It was not until the 85 minute that Ross made it 6 when Kate Bolton won the ball in the Droitwich penalty area, turned and shot hard and low past the Spa keeper. Kath Ball then scored her third and Strikers seventh when on 88 minutes the tireless Kate Fryatt won the ball, went past two defenders and passed to Cerys Pike who passed first time to Kath in space who then made no mistake with a clinical finish. This was a good display from Ross who had 11 players for a change. Hopefully the Ladies will be able to bring a few new players into the team in the near future, which will no doubt improve their prospects.