1st Half
With both Teams requiring a win to guarantee their East Premier Division status early play was tentative whilst the late drama could not be foreseen unless you’re Sergio Aguero.
Upminster’s initial high press saw Drew Bailey’s searching pass give Alexa Marston something to chase down as Upminster kept play in and around Blueharts area, but being unable to create a clear opening Blueharts countered applying pressure onto the Upminster defence as they looked for their own opportunity sending long passes into and past the goal.
Playing out from the back Bella Boyle, Bailey, and Lucy Falzon kept Upminster on the front foot, looking to find Izzy Uzal & Freya Long in the wide channels.
With Marston overturning possession Emily Davies was put through on goal, the Blueharts GK doing just enough to force her wide.
Opportunities to test either GK were few and far between as both defences worked tirelessly breaking up play as the ball was sent into the D.
As the half came to a close Imogen Hodges & Davies persistence earned Upminster a S/Corner from which Lauren Slater-Harvey’s strike was well saved by the Blueharts Keeper.
2nd Half
As both teams went in search of the opening goal Blueharts pressed forward as Upminster failed to keep possession Boyle, Falzon, Rosie Pettingill and Slater-Harvey continued to be on hand to clear the danger whilst Davies’ constant forward runs gave Upminster an outlet forcing the Keeper to save an early effort.
Continuing to maintain play in the Upminster half Blueharts attacked from out wide driving in from the baseline, with the tension increasing a poor back pass went straight to the Blueharts forward, as GK Charlotte Triggs came out to block, the forward was able to go round her and despite Boyle’s effort on the line Blueharts opened the scoring 0-1.
With Blueharts looking to increase their lead Upminster had to dig deep, battling for every ball Falzon pressed forward at every opportunity, an Upminster S/Corner saw Boyle’s effort go wide.
As Upminster went in search of the equaliser Marston’s forward run into the D was pushed wide whilst Blueharts saw them go forward in numbers sending efforts across the goal as Slater-Harvey & Bailey’s strength in their tackling kept them at bay.
Blueharts pressure resulted in a series of S/Corners Triggs saving a direct hit, the follow up hitting the post and being smothered by a combination of Triggs, Slater-Harvey and Boyle efforts.
With Upminster pressing forward, Falzon and Marston took the ball towards the Blueharts area but were stopped by strong defending, Blueharts then took play into the corner as the Umpires signalled 2 minutes remaining.
Kerry Hodges and Marston regained possession in a final drive forward saw Falzon outside the Blueharts D her pass into the D produced a S/Corner as the final whistle sounded.
Knowing a draw might be good enough for Upminster, some players and spectators could not watch, having gone too early Blueharts lost a defender, from the retake Uzal’s injection saw Slater- Harvey’s strike deflected in by Uzal to spark loud cheers and emotional scenes from the Upminster players and large home crowd.
