Result – 2-1 (win)
Taking the positives from the previous week, the ladies arrived in Letchworth raring to go and ready to battle.
After a quick celebration to wish Coach, Tendo, a Happy Birthday, the focus quickly returned to the game in hand. The first half focussed on Upminster building momentum and maintained a lot of possession to continuously pressure the Letchworth Goalkeeper, with forwards Riva Siggins, Megan Miller, Amy Byrne and Izzy Uzal forcing saves and seeing a lot of the action.
Player of the match Aimee Banks linked up play all over the pitch, earning her match status by matching Letchworth player for player and preventing them from breaking through the middle.
The second half finally broke the stalemate with Upminster goals coming in quick succession. A polished transfer found Defender of the Match Ellen Kozlowska who was able to carry the ball round the baseline. Although it found a Letchworth foot, the advantage given gave Siggins the chance to hit the first goal home.
Within 3 minutes of the first goal, Upminster struck gold once again with Kozlowska finding the long pass to Miller who was able to tee up Byrne for the second goal of the game.
Letchworth came back fighting, somewhat aggressively, in places earning themselves a green card for flooring youngster Imogen Hodges. This didn’t deter Upminster however as they maintained pressure within the Letchworth half for much of the remaining pitch time.
Tired legs gave Letchworth a final bite of the cherry as they battled to get through stick after stick. A tumble over a flat stick, in the D, resulted in Lucy Falzon receiving a dubious green card and gave Letchworth their only real opportunity of the second half which they converted.
Clearly, Coach’s birthday wish came true as Upminster received their first 3 points of the season, catapulting them into 7th place.
Happy Birthday Tendo!
