Tuesday 15 December 2009

A successful end to 2009!

Dawlish vs. Sidmouth II

The rearranged fixture against Sidmouth, due to the pitch being flooded on the originally scheduled date, was the last match of 2009 for Dawlish so they were looking to finish on a high.

Dawlish started strongly and quickly took control of the game as the forward line used speed and skill to break past the Sidmouth defence. Twice Helen Nicholson was denied by the Sidmouth keeper but the Dawlish forwards kept on the pressure and Mel Barnes’ confident strike rewarded them with a 1-0 lead.

With the two Dawlish wings running at the Sidmouth defence and backed up by a strong Dawlish midfield it was not long before the home team furthered their lead with a strike from Nicholson. Sidmouth were unable to take any control over the match and appeared to be trapped in their own half. Following a succession of long corners from the right Nicholson added her second to make the score 3-0 at half time.

Having failed to take any control of the game in the first half Sidmouth came out for the second with a change of formation and tactics; man marking the Dawlish centre forward and putting pressure on the forward runs of Liz Reed and Lottie Young in the middle.

Although the change in Sidmouth tactics did not see them take control of the match it did slow down the Dawlish attack. Following a break in play Sidmouth secured a short corner and scored from the rebound. Dawlish continued to pile on the pressure, despite the visitors consolation goal, with some strong work on the right from Jess Green and Anne Darby. The home side were unlucky not to get more out of the second half with some questionable decisions and some very near misses but the score remained at 3-1 for the final whistle.

After a slow start to the season and two straight defeats Dawlish have come back well and finish 2009 third in the league behind local rivals Teignmouth who are ahead on goal difference.

No comments:

Post a Comment