Ladies 1s H v Brighton & Hove

The ladies 1st xi completed a very successful season with a 2-2 draw at home against Brighton. This saw them finish 4th in the Southeast premier division. Folkestone knew that Brighton would be a tough opposition as they have had a good run of form in the second half of the season but Folkestone started strongly and with purpose and controlled the tempo of the game by passing neatly between the midfield and defensive units. Towards the middle of the first half, a nice transfer around the back and a neat switch of positions in the midfield saw Emily Hamlyn pass the ball neatly up the line to Sofie Goode who then produced an impressive pass into forward Nicki Ball who slotted it to Claire Carter who hit the ball into the goal. Ops managed to defend their lead in the first half by holding back the Brighton attack and defending some short corners well. Brighton attacked with purpose at the beginning of the second half and very quickly won a short corner which they converted. Folkestone knew that they would have to work hard to gain back the lead but for the next 10 minutes, Brighton had the run of play and eventually won a lucky short corner which they converted to take the lead. As Folkestone have demonstrated so many times this season they showed determination and team spirit to not be beaten and regained the possession that they had maintained in the first half. Some positive play by the defence pushed Brighton back into their own half and a long corner was won by good work from the forwards. Hamlyn stepped up quickly to take the long corner before the Brighton defence were set and slipped it to Ash Taylor who made a first time pass into the D to Cleo Steer who neatly played the ball around the keeper and into the goal. Folkestone had managed to level the game again. Folkestone continued with confidence and managed to attack the Brighton defence a few more times. A lovely ball played down the left from Steph Mill to Becky Wyatt saw an excellent opportunity for Ball to slot a third goal into the net only for the umpire to disallow it as he blew for a short corner as the goal went in. Folkestone saw out the game with excellent game management to take a point which took them to 4th position in an extremely competitive league.