HITCHIN TOWN LADIES REPORT

With no football at the moment here is a report of our Ladies victory last Sunday—it may be the last report for months to come.

Whilst the Premier League and other leagues across the nation had suspended their leagues until further notice our ladies just got on with it. Our Reserves fixture was postponed but our Firsts were away to Houghton. Houghton completed the double on HTLFC Firsts back in the 2016/2017 season so hopefully it was our time to cause an upset. It has been a nice run recently for the Firsts taking points off teams above and around them within the league after a heavy defeat to Herts Vipers in the League cup.

The game got underway and it was Houghton that were on the front foot opening the scoring within the first couple of minutes. It surely looked like it was going to be one of those games. Hitchin started to settle down and started to play their game and Houghton were unable to pick up from this. Chaffey sent a text book style cross into the box from a corner and found the head of Cain-Murnane who headed Hitchin level with Houghton.

Spavins was sent a ball from the Hitchin defence and with a mazy run turned into the box with her back to the goal as she was being closed down by the two oncoming Houghton defenders. The ball stopped dead and Spavins turned and fired it low into the far post bottom corner passing the hand of the Houghton keeper to put Hitchin in the lead.

Hitchin didn’t have it easy in the closing stages of the first half and Houghton pressured Hitchin down the hill but Hitchin had done enough to see the game out to half time.

Hitchin got the second half underway and Houghton resorted to playing the long ball over the top to try and tire the Hitchin defence. The Hitchin defence held strong but capitalised on the counter when Chaffey flicked the ball onto Evans who slotted the ball into the Houghton net making it the third goal for Hitchin.

Hitchin’s defence played a tight line causing the Houghton’s players to be caught offside repeatedly. The biggest talking point in the game was when the match official flagged for an offside and was overruled by the referee and the Houghton player tucked the ball into the Hitchin net. All was to play for now and could Houghton salvage a point?

Within the last few moments of the game the pitch was causing issues for both teams trying to take control. The weather hadn’t helped prior to kick off or even during the game. The referee blew for full time and Hitchin had managed to finally take three points from a game against Houghton. This was the first time Hitchin have won against Houghton since February 2016, a very deserved win for Hitchin that saw them cement 5th place.

I just want to say a massive thank you to Richard Klausner & Annie Piper who have stepped into the ‘manager’s chair’ during the season to run things in my absence due to work commitments. It has been a weight off my shoulder that people can step in when required to manage such a fantastic team in my absence. I also wish to thank all the players who have adjusted to a different playing style and just wanting to play a game of football. It is very difficult to have consistency when managers/coaches work shifts but the ladies have adjusted perfectly to this. It just shows how highly skilled & professional these players are that we have in our Ladies set up.

Please keep an eye on our social media pages and club website for information regarding the rest of the season in the Beds & Herts Women’s Football League.

BY CALLUM ELLIS