A thrilling game of two halves at Coopers saw the Women’s 3rd XI fight their way back from a three goal deficit to rescue an unlikely point against their Maldon counterparts.
Upminster started the day in second place in the table, while Maldon sat in mid-table following a win at Chelmsford in their previous game. The home side began strongly and created a number of early opportunities with Kara Smith being denied by the Maldon keeper and Vicky Waters firing narrowly wide from a well worked short corner. However, as the half wore on and the game became somewhat scrappy it was Maldon who began to take control of the midfield, and it was no surprise when some hesitancy in the home defence allowed Zoe Smith to prod the visitors in front. Upminster’s normal attacking fluency was not on show as the half wore on and it was no surprise when Maldon doubled their lead from a short corner four minutes before the break. Things got worse for the home side shortly after when a ball across the D was stabbed home at the back post to put Maldon three goals clear. Upminster were glad to hear the half-time whistle and the break gave them a chance to regroup after their most disappointing 35 minutes of the season so far.
A re-energised Upminster came out in the second half and looked a totally different side as they dominated possession from the start and played at a much higher tempo. Waters moved into a more advanced position and began to dictate the play, and when she linked with Izzie Bradley on the right Daisy Middlemiss was just unable to reach the resultant cross. However, 13 minutes into the second half Waters gave Upminster hope when she struck from the edge of the D to get her side back in the game. Upminster continued to press forward and this left space for Maldon on the break, and they nearly exploited this but were denied on two occasions by Caitlin Smith in the Upminster goal. Middlemiss and Hannah Scrivener saw half chances go begging as the home side continued to flood forward, and with ten minutes to go the deficit was reduced further when Waters forced the ball home from a short corner. Defenders Cara Robertson and Colette McLoughlin were by now playing further forward to add numbers to the home attack and Aimee Daltrey bravely continued after taking a nasty blow to her ankle with five minutes remaining. Skipper Molly Amrani and veteran Emma Thompson had to race back to thwart another Maldon counter attack before Naomi Hand found Waters in the D and the experienced forward forced a last minute short corner. With the final whistle having sounded, Maldon failed to clear the ball after the first shot and Shorter kept the ball alive before her cross to the far post was swept home by Bradley to level things up. Upminster travel to Crostyx next for a top of the table clash.
